Research
Victoria graduated in 2016 and has moved to Stanford University where she is a postdoctoral research fellow in Prof Irving Weissman's team.
The following text relates to Victoria's PhD project at the University of Cambridge.
Supervisor: Professor Roger Pedersen
Title: The role of HAND1 and HAND2 during human pluripotent cell differentiation into cardiac progenitors
Abstract: Human embryonic stem cells provide a model system for human cardiac differentiation and therefore provide valuable insights into human cardiovascular development. The proposed research aims to investigate the role of the cardiac transcription factors HAND1 and HAND2 in the generation of human cardiac progenitors and their role in Congenital Heart Disease.
Congenital Heart Disease is caused by the aberrant formation, expansion, and lineage-specific differentiation of defined subsets of cardiac progenitors. Thus resulting in unfaithful cardiovascular development and ultimately structural defects in the heart.
Pivotally, elucidating the role of HAND1 and HAND2 in cardiogenesis has the unique potential to impact upon translational research as well as developmental studies.
Publications
Contributions of Mammalian Chimeras to Pluripotent Stem Cell Research. Mascetti VL, Pedersen RA. Cell Stem Cell. 2016 Aug 4;19(2):163-75.
Robust derivation of epicardium and its differentiated smooth muscle cell progeny from human pluripotent stem cells. Iyer D, Gambardella L, Bernard WG, Serrano F, Mascetti VL, Pedersen RA, Sinha S, Talasila A. Development. 2016 Mar 1;143(5):904.
Human-Mouse Chimerism Validates Human Stem Cell Pluripotency. Mascetti VL, Pedersen RA. Cell Stem Cell. 2016 Jan 7;18(1):67-72.
Brachyury and SMAD signalling collaboratively orchestrate distinct mesoderm and endoderm gene regulatory networks in differentiating human embryonic stem cells. Faial T, Bernardo AS, Mendjan S, Diamanti E, Ortmann D, Gentsch GE, Mascetti VL, Trotter MW, Smith JC, Pedersen RA. Development. 2015 Jun 15;142(12):2121-35.
Robust derivation of epicardium and its differentiated smooth muscle cell progeny from human pluripotent stem cells. Iyer D, Gambardella L, Bernard WG, Serrano F, Mascetti VL, Pedersen RA, Talasila A, Sinha S. Development. 2015 Apr 15;142(8):1528-41.
NANOG and CDX2 Pattern Distinct Subtypes of Human Mesoderm during Exit from Pluripotency. Mendjan S, Mascetti VL, Ortmann D, Ortiz M, Karjosukarso DW, Ng Y, Moreau T, Pedersen RA. Cell Stem Cell. 2014 Sep 4;15(3):310-25.
Naiveté of the human pluripotent stem cell. Mascetti VL, Pedersen RA. Nat Biotechnol. 2014 Jan;32(1):68-70.
Synthetic organs for regenerative medicine. Pedersen RA, Mascetti V, Mendjan S. Cell Stem Cell. 2012 Jun 14;10(6):646-7.
