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Welcome to the Viswanathan lab

Background - Dr. Viswanathan is a Scientist at the Krembil Research Institute at University Health Network (UHN) and an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering (BME) and at the Division of Hematology (Department of Medicine) at the University of Toronto. Dr. Viswanathan has worked in industry, developing regenerative medicine products at Johnson and Johnson before returning to academia to run the Cell Therapy Program at University Health Network as Associate Director with Dr. Armand Keating. She enabled over 10 cell therapy trials, both investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored ones during her time at the cell therapy program and garnered a national and international reputation as a translational scientist with cell manufacturing and regulatory expertise. Dr. Viswanathan set up her own independent lab at UHN in 2015.

As a translational scientist, Dr. Viswanathan serves as a national regulatory and cell manufacturing consultant for projects across Canada. Dr. Viswanathan chairs the Cell Therapy Stakeholder Group, a bilateral group that engages Health Canada on cell therapy related policy issues. Dr. Viswanathan is a past member of the Stem Cell Oversight Committee that advises the Governing Council of CIHR. Dr. Viswanathan is a founding member, and team leader of the Manufacturing Committee of a network of Pan-Canadian cell manufacturing facilities called CellCAN. Dr. Viswanathan is leading international efforts to standardize MSC nomenclature and create reference material(s) for MSC research; she sits on the Standard Council of Canada’s Mirror Committee for International Organization for Standardization (ISO TC276) on Analytical Methods and Bioprocessing, and is on the steering and working committee of an international Standards Coordinating Body (SCB), and has recently been appointed as formal liaison between ISO TC276 and the International Society of Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT). Dr. Viswanathan is Associate Editor of Cytotherapy, official journal for ISCT and has recently been elected to ISCT’s Board of Directors.