Federico Gonzalez Grassi

• Established laboratory's human iPSC culture, differentiation, and engineering pipeline.
• Optimized experimental approaches using human iPSCs as model systems to address PI's scientific questions.
• Designed and generated essential tools including constructs, cell lines, and differentiation protocols.
• Developed assays for validation and quality control of engineered iPSCs.
• Providing expert guidance to postdoctoral researchers, enhancing project efficiency and addressing knowledge gaps in iPSC technology.

• Reviewing European Research Council (ERC) Grant pre-submission proposals, providing expert evaluation and feedback.
• Offering strategic guidance to enhance project content, structure, and style, aligning proposals with ERC standards and increasing success probability.

• Establishing patient-derived breast cancer organoid platform for translational and functional genetics studies
• Developing genome engineering workflows for patient-derived breast cancer organoids and cell lines.
• Assisting in generating FFPE-derived sample preparation libraries for RNA-Seq analysis
• Supervising and mentoring 1 PhD student.

• Built and streamlined company's iPSC CRISPR pipeline.
• Established gene editing, gene modulation, and reporter integration strategies and workflows.
• Established assays for validating and quality controlling engineered iPSC
• Implemented NGS approaches for clone validation.
• Made 4 on-site visits to train genome engineering team on critical pipeline steps or participate to strategic meetings involving genome engineering expertise.
• Provided remote guidance and support to genome engineering team.
• Assisted in evaluating candidates for CRISPR-related position.

• Pioneered cost-effective method for animal cell differentiation in food production through engineering oligopotent stem cells (OSCs) from PSCs by genetic inactivation of lineage specifier genes, leading to inventor status on patent WO2010105257.
• Coordinated patent development process, including experimental design, team coordination, and application preparation and review.
• Established human iPSC and Duck ESC genome engineering and NGS genotyping workflows.
• Provided on-site training in knockout clonal iPSC/ESC line generation.
• Offered expert guidance on stem cell research, particularly for non-model animal embryonic stem cell lines, helping team overcome challenges efficiently.
• Actively participated in team meetings, providing expertise in cell engineering and differentiation.

• Developed and established comprehensive functional genetic toolbox in human iPSCs including 20+ AAVS1 TALEN-targeted lines for CRISPR-mediated gene knockout, repression, activation, methylation, and demethylation.
• Generated 20+ single/combined fluorescent reporter iPSC lines for 3D kidney organoid lineage commitment studies (SIX2, WT1, PAX8, HNF1B, LHX1, OSR1) using selection-free donors and the iCRISPR platform.
• Generated 100+ gene knockout lines in kidney developmental genes for 3D kidney organoid lineage commitment studies.
• Created 20+ patient knockin lines in kidney disease genes (WT1, VHL, NPHP1, PKD1, NPHS2, ACE2) for 3D kidney organoid disease modeling.
• Streamlined high-throughput clonal expansion and NGS-based genotyping for CRISPR-edited clones
• Supervised and mentored 2 PhD students, 1 laboratory technician, and 2 Master's students.

• Investigated role of homologous recombination DNA repair genes (e.g., BRCA1, BRCA2) in cellular reprogramming.
• Developed the iCRISPR platform: a rapid, multiplexable, and inducible genome editing platform for human pluripotent stem cells (>500 citations).
• Initiated project modeling pancreatic cancer using hPSC-derived 3D pancreatic organoids.
• Supervised and mentored 2 PhD students, 1 laboratory technician, and 3 PhD program rotation students.

Pioneered transgene-free iPSC generation using transient expression of polycistronic episomal reprogramming vectors, leading to inventor status on patent WO2010105257.

• Engineered 100+ episomal, transposon, and viral vectors for cell fate manipulation in somatic cells and iPSCs.
• Developed pluripotency- and lineage-specific fluorescent reporter vectors (e.g., UTF1, NGN3) for monitoring reprogramming and differentiation.
• Established 50+ transgene-free patient-derived iPSC lines from 10 disease backgrounds (including Gaucher, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's) using FLP-excisable reprogramming transgenes.
• Led collaborative efforts to establish novel reprogramming pipeline within lab.
• Partnered with Sanofi Aventis scientists to help establish human iPSC-derived research program in Toulouse.
• Supervised and mentored 1 laboratory technician.

• Engineered 12 pluripotency reporter embryonic stem cell lines: 6 mouse and 6 human lines (including Nanog, Oct4, Sox2), using ET-engineered Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes (BACs) as transgenes.