Exclusive Interview with the EVCNA MOVE award recipient Dr. Bernd Giebel

On 13rd December, 2023, the Editorial Office of Extracellular Vesicles and Circulating Nucleic Acids (EVCNA) had an exclusive interview with Dr. Bernd Giebel. This discussion revolved around his idea as one of the initiators of the MOVE project and his current research projects on the therapeutic potential of EVs released from mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs).

Dr. Giebel, a professor at the Institute for Transfusion Medicine and University Hospital Essen and one of the initiators of the MOVE project, is also an active as a member of the International Society of Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV).

During the interview, Dr. Giebel shared his research journey, ongoing projects, and progress, and elaborated on the technologies for EV preparation and characterization. In addition, Dr. Giebel talked about his future research plans and goals and gave several valuable suggestions for researchers to begin their journey in this field.

Here's what went down:

Q1: Congratulations again on receiving the EVCNA MOVE award! We all know that you are the president of German Society of Extracellular Vesicles (GSEV) and one of the initiators of the MOVE project, could you please share with us how you come up with the idea of MOVE? What is the difference between the positioning of MOVE and GSEV?

Q2: We learned your career has spanned work in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells to extracellular vesicles (EVs), could you please share with us your research journey?

Q3: One of your current research interests is mainly focused on deciphering the therapeutic potential of EVs released from mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs). Could you please share with us the latest research progress in this area?

Q4: Extensive research in the past decade has established that the breadth of EV applications is wide.  However, the efforts on standardizing isolation and purification methods have not brought us to a point that can match the potential of extracellular vesicles for clinical use. We learned that your research is also involved in improving technologies for EV preparation and characterization. What is the biggest challenge you face in optimizing and qualifying the MSC-EV production for the clinical setting?

Q5: How long should we go for the optimization and standardization of large-scale production of MSC-EVs for clinical use?

Q6: What kind of suggestions would you like to give to early-career scientists?

Q7: What are your goals for the next 5 years?

Editor: Sally
Language Editor: Catherine Yang
Production Editor: Yan Zhang
Respectfully submitted by the Editorial Office of Extracellular Vesicles and Circulating Nucleic Acids