Prof Majlinda Lako
Co-founder
Majlinda Lako graduated in Biochemistry and Genetics from the Faculty of Natural Sciences in Tirana, Albania. In 1993, she began her PhD studies in Human Genetics, joining the laboratory of renowned geneticists Prof. Tom Strachan and Prof. Susan Lindsay in Newcastle. During her PhD, she cloned and characterized novel genes involved in brain development, sparking a long-standing interest in pluripotent stem cell biology, which she later pursued at Durham University.
In 2003, Majlinda established her research group at Newcastle University’s Institute of Genetic Medicine. There, she pioneered the establishment of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), while also developing robust methods for generating light-responsive retinal organoids for disease modeling, drug discovery, and therapeutic applications. Her group’s core focus is the developmental biology and disease of the eye.
