The Faculty of Dentistry (FKG) UNHAS held a guest lecture at the Molar Room, FKG on Thursday, March 16th 2023. In this guest lecture, Prof. Marco N. Helder, Ph. D, presented “Regenerative Medicine and Oncological Treatment: One Solution for All?”. Helder’s research focused on oncology (developing therapeutic modalities for oral cancer and osteosarcoma) and tissue engineering concepts for musculoskeletal disorders. In his guest lecture, he disclosed that he had set a dual target, drug-containing nanoliposome for eradication of (metastatic) osteosarcoma, and is currently using a similar approach for ameloblastoma.
Prof. Helder revealed that he was developing a project to use Adipose-derived Stem Cells (ASC) for bone and cartilage tissue engineering, strongly emphasizing translational research and clinical applications. In addition, he has been and is currently involved in translational research projects using stem cell technology to treat gynaecological prolapse, knee and finger joint defects, heart repair, and connective tissue repair.
He coordinated a ZonMW-sponsored phase I/II clinical trial on applying ASC for bone augmentation in the maxillary sinus floor elevation model. In addition, he was the coordinator of two European projects: the EU FP7 project “Biomimetic Nano-Fiber-Based Nucleus Pulposus Regeneration for the Treatment of Degenerative Disc Disease (acronym: NPMimetic)”, and The Eurostars-Eureka! project E!11439 “Rapid and low-cost 3D printing service for personalized biocompatible facial prostheses” (acronym: Faceprint). The guest lecture ran smoothly until 12.00 Central Indonesia Time (CIT) with hundreds of participants attending.