Spotlight on the shortlist: Ismail H. Dilogo’s lab, Universitas Indonesia
As part of our Award spotlight, we’re finding out what makes each of our shortlisted labs tick. This post highlights the members of Ismail H. Dilogo’s lab at the Universitas Indonesia (Indonesia).
Stem Cell Medical Technology Integrated Service Unit, CiptoMangunkusumo Central Hospital – Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia (Unit pelayanan terpadu teknologi kedokteran [UPT TK] Sel Punca, Rumah Sakit Cipto Mangunkusumo-Fakultas Kedokteran Universitas Indonesia [RSCM-FKUI]), Jakarta, Indonesia is one of the two leading stem cell production laboratories in Indonesia. In Indonesia, there are eleven hospitals, which are eligible in administering research-based stem cell therapy and RSCM (the hospital to which our laboratory is attached) is one of the two hospitals that supervise research-based stem cell therapies in the other nine hospitals.
Our laboratory began stem cell production for patients in 2014. The first product that was used was bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells, followed by adipose and umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Attempts to culture mesenchymal stem cells were begun in 2009. These days, our products are used in various clinical trials by various teams in RSCM and in the future, we will supply the needs of other hospitals.
The head of our facility is Ismail H. Dilogo, MD, PhD, orthopedic surgeon. In our facility, we have GLP and cGMP lab, and one closed system facility for umbilical cord processing. The coordinators of the GLP, cGMP Lab and umbilical cord blood processing facilities are Jeanne Adiwinata Pawitan, MD, PhD, Isabella K. Liem,MD, PhD, and Iqbal Fasha, SSi respectively.
As our lab is appointed to supervise the other nine hospitals, we also have a teaching program of which Rahyussalim, MD, PhD, orthopedic surgeon is the coordinator. As we are doing basic and clinical research, we also have a research and technology coordinator (Gita Pratama, MD), and a medical technology coordinator (Cosphiadi Irawan, MD, PhD). Our lab cooperates with a government-owned pharmaceutical company, PT Kimia Farma Tbk (Indonesia), which provides equipment and a quality control officer: Ines Soepinarko, Apt, MARS. In addition, our lab also has many clusters that consist of expert clinicians in the hospitals, who work in teamwork in stem cell therapy for various diseases.
Please introduce your lab, highlighting any key members.
| Name | Position | Hobbies and interests |
| Ismail H. Dilogo, MD, PhD | Head of UPT TK SP Bone defect cluster coordinator | Travelling, culinary, badminton |
| Jeanne A Pawitan, MD, PhD, Prof | GLP and analysis lab coordinator | Travelling, painting, reading, music |
| Isabella Kurnia Liem, MD, PhD | cGMP lab coordinator | Studying |
| Iqbal Fasha, SSi | Cord blood processing facility coordinator | Travelling and Reading |
| Rahyussalim, MD, PhD | Teaching industry coordinator, spinal cord injury cluster coordinator | Reading, studying |
| Gita Pratama, MD | Research and technology coordinator | Watching movies, travelling |
| Cosphiadi Irawan, MD, PhD | Medical technology coordinator, internal disease cluster (DM, PAD, renal failure) | Travelling, mountain/sea view, sport and watch good movies |
| Ines Soepinarko, Apt, MARS | Quality control officer | Travelling |
| Fajar Mujadid, M.Biomed | Lab. Officer | Outdoor activities (cycling, jogging, swimming, snorkeling) |
| Novialdi, Apt | Lab. Officer | Traveling |
| Tera Kispa, SSi | Lab. Officer | Swimming and learn about experiential learning |
| Muthia Rizkita, SSi | Lab. Officer | Travelling |
| Ria Anggraini, SSi | Lab. Officer | Travelling and reading |
| Erlinda Dyah, Amd | Lab. Officer | Cycling |
| Gilang Ainan, SSi | Lab. Officer | Futsal |
| Bramantyo Al Fauzi, SSi | Lab. Officer | Badminton |
| Tri Kurniawati, SSI | Administration coordinator | Reading, Travelling |
| Ulfah Fitria, Amd | General administration | Swimming, reading |
| Rudi Kurniawan | Public relation | Listening music & movie |
| Wahyudin | Logistics officer | Watching football, gaming |
| Widya Artini, MD, opthalmologist | Ophthalmology cluster coordinator | Travelling |
| Teguh Santoso, MD, PhD, cardiologist | Myocardial infarction cluster | Reading |
| Teguh Ranakusuma, MD, neurologist, Prof | Spinal cord injury cluster member | Reading |
| Andry Lubis MD, orthopedic surgeon | Osteoarthritis cluster member | Music |
Why did you nominate yourself for the inaugural RegMedNet Award for Cultivating Excellence?
Our lab is the only stem cell production lab in Indonesia that is doing clinical trials based on Evidence Based Medicine, not just by trial and error. For every clinical trial, we establish a team that consists of clinicians with related expertise and basic scientists to handle the preparation of the needed cells. We discuss thoroughly the pros and cons of the trial, and set the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the patients to be enrolled. All trials have passed ethical assessment from the Ethical Committee of Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia.
What is your lab’s proudest achievement to date?
We have gained a prestigious research grant of 4.1 billion rupiahs from the government to develop our lab to attain an ultimate goal of becoming “the center of national production of stem cells and metabolites”.
What are your lab’s plans for the future (new research topics, new funding sources, new equipment etc)?
We have various research topics, from basic stem cell studies, to optimizing various steps of production, and animal studies using various animal models, for example grade 3 burns, chronic stroke, bone fractures, diabetic and diabetic keratopathy. Treatments for these include various stem cells in various vehicles and delivery, as well as in combination with secretome, or stem cell secretome alone. Clinical trials are ongoing for various conditions, such as bone defects, osteoarthritis, spinal cord injury, diabetes type 2, periarterial disease, chronis stroke and glaucoma.
New research topics will be developed for renal failure, conditions related to autoimmmune diseases, sequelae of leprosy (nerve regeneration) in human and tissue engineering of the liver (ex vivo) in collaboration with stem cell and tissue engineering center in our Faculty. We also plan to develop basic researches on NK cells, and large production and packaging of stem cells secretomes.
New funding sources will be obtained by writing research proposals concerning the planned research above, and applying for funding to the Indonesian Government, and foreign funding agencies. We will also write a joint research proposal together with foreign collaborators (National University of Singapore Tissue Engineering Program, NUSTEP Singapore). For that purpose, a member of our lab will be a visiting professor in Singapore for 3 months (20 August — 17 November, 2017), that will be financed by Indonesian Government through the 2017 SAME program.
New equipment will be purchased using research grants. For next year we plan to buy a bioreactor. To decide which type of bioreactor that we should buy, we are currently doing research in culturing mesenchymal stem cells using microcarriers in a spinner flask, and comparing with conventional 2D cultures (hyperflask). If the grant is enough, we also want to buy two new handy flowcytometers; one only for analysis, and the other for sorting.
Find out more about the labs in our Award shortlist here.