Professor Tobias Cantz

Tobias Cantz, MD, is principal investigator and associate professor for ‘Translational Hepatology and Stem Cell Biology’ at Hannover Medical School, Germany. He is deputy speaker of the REBIRTH-Center for Translationale Regenerative Medicine, and head of the work groups ‘public outreach’ and ‘ethical, legal, and social aspects’ of the German Stem Cell Network.

Research of Tobias Cantz focuses on the development of improved protocols for the generation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) to provide patient-specific stem cells that can be investigated as surrogate for the diseased cell phenotype. Interested in the pathophysiology of liver disease, the lab is also refining differentiation protocols, which will provide hepatocyte- and cholangiocyte-like cells to study disease mechanisms as well as impaired liver regeneration. With respect to genetic correction of hereditary diseases, modulators of CRISPR/Cas9 mediated genetic engineering applications are currently evaluated that would facilitate homology-driven- or prime-editing-mediated repair in hepatic cells.

As comprehensive approach, the lab is also evaluating direct reprogramming strategies for the generation of hepatic cells for disease modeling approaches and for putative therapeutic applications from fibroblasts.