Abbreviated in-house qualification of real time mycoplasma detection kit

Sowmya Viswanathan

Associate Director, Cell Therapy Program, Philip S. Orsino Cell Therapy Facility

Dr. Viswanathan is a Scientist at the Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, and an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering and at the Department of Medicine of the University of Toronto. Her research is focused on developing anti-inflammatory cell based therapies including next generation mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapies and immunotherapies. Dr. Viswanathan’s lab is also focused on bioprocess optimization and translation of these cell-based therapies into clinical investigations. Dr. Viswanathan is a co-Principal Investigator of a recently completed trial using autologous MSCs to treat knee osteoarthritis patients, a North American first.

As a translational scientist, Dr. Viswanathan chairs a Cell Therapy Stakeholder Group that engages Health Canada on cell therapy related policy issues. She serves on several committees at the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT) including the Mesenchymal Stromal Cell (MSC) committee and the North American Legal and Regulatory Affairs Committee. She is Associate Editor of Cytotherapy, the official journal for ISCT, and serves as an elected member of ISCT’s Board of Directors.