TdB Interviews

Peter Corridon (Associate Dean for Student Affairs (Acting) and an Assistant Professor of
Immunology and Physiology, Khalifa University)
Affiliation: Department of Physiology and Immunology, Khalifa University
Profile: https://www.ku.ac.ae/college-people/peter-corridon

1. Could you tell us more about yourself?
My research has revolved around fluorescent molecules for the past 15 years. This has helped me with my graduate and post-doctoral studies, as well as progressing within academia, where I am currently serving as the Associate Dean for Student Affairs (Acting) and an Assistant Professor of Immunology and Physiology at Khalifa
University, Abu Dhabi. I am a Medical Biophysicist, and my expertise lies within the areas of mathematics, physics, engineering, biomedicine, and microvascular surgery.

2. Could you briefly describe your work?
My work focuses on replacing the lost/damaged tissues. So, basically my team works on extracellular matrix and microvascular remolding that supports tissue/organ regeneration and replacement and uses functional dynamic imaging to study these processes.

3. What product(s) did you buy from TdB Labs AB and what is it going to be used for (application area)?
Back in 2010, I had bought FD4, FD150 and TD150 for gene delivery and intravital microscopic studies, while currently we have bought FITC-dextran 150 (1g), FITC-dextran 4 (5g), TRITC-dextran 4 (1g), and Antonia Reddextran 150 (50 mg) that would aid in building bioartificial tissues.

4. How satisfied are you with the quality of the products you received?
I am extremely satisfied with the quality of your products, and this is supported by the fact that I have remained one of your loyal customers for over a decade.

5. Why did you choose TdB Labs when you buy your chemicals?
Based on my experience, I could swear by the products from TdB Labs AB that are based on the tight distribution of large molecular weight substances and quality of the fluorescence in-vitro and in-vivo.

6. How did you become aware of TdB Labs?
This was way back in 2009-2010 in Indianapolis through your current collaborator, Ruben Sandoval when I was pursuing doctoral education under him.

7. What do you value the most when you buy chemicals?
Quality of the chemicals is of utmost importance, but also having a reliable customer service and close collaboration with the customer holds value.

8. How would you describe TdB Labs’ customer service?
Second to none!

9. How likely is it that you would recommend TdB Labs to a friend or colleague?
Highly likely.

10. What do you appreciate the most about TdB Labs?
Making compounds that enable impossible or difficult research, using the same compounds for new purposes, and having the unique ability to visit and talk to scientists are some of the things that I appreciate the most about TdB Labs AB.

11. Did you find any unique qualities in TdB Labs as compared to other companies?
As mentioned earlier, the possibility for customers to be in personal contact with the scientists and discuss about their projects is a unique quality. TdB Labs AB has also consistently maintained a high level of quality in their products over the years that has generated loyal customers like me over time.

12. Is there anything that we could improve?
Finding a way to distribute your products in the UAE.

Benjamin Heller Sahlgren (Doctoral student, Karolinska Institutet)
Affiliation: Vascular biology division, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet
Profile: https://staff.ki.se/people/benjamin-heller-sahlgren

1. Could you tell us more about yourself?
I received my scientific education from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm where I pursued a Bachelors’ and Masters’ degree in Biomedicine. I particularly enjoyed science and working in the lab further prompting me to initiate my doctoral education at KI.

2. Could you briefly describe your work?
My work deals with studying energy substrate selection in endothelial cells, a process involved in metabolic disorders including but not limited to diabetes, stroke, and Alzheimer’s.

3. Which product did you buy from TdB Labs AB and what is it going to be used for (application area)?
We bought 2-ARDG (2-Antonia Red Deoxyglucose) from TdB Labs AB, that was produced as a CSP (Customer Specific Product) for us. The 2-ARDG molecule is a fluorescent tracer that we use to measure glucose uptake in cells.

4. How satisfied are you with the quality of the product you received?
We are very much satisfied with the product as it has worked quite well so far. However, our work involving the product is still in its infant phase and would require more experiments to confirm the specificity of the 2-ARDG tracer.

5. Why did you choose TdB Labs when you buy your chemicals?
The product that we required (2-ARDG) didn’t exist elsewhere, whereas TdB Labs AB provided the opportunity to produce it as a CSP for us. We already knew that TdB Labs AB is a company that works with carbohydrates and a lot of fluorophores as we have ordered and bought a lot of dextrans from you in the past that has worked very well. Moreover, your products are also very reasonably priced as compared to the ones that are in the market. So, based on this experience, we decided to choose TdB Labs AB for buying our chemicals.

6. How did you become aware of TdB Labs?
From my colleague who has bought dextrans from you in the past.

7. What do you value the most when you buy chemicals?
When buying chemicals, I value a good and a reliable customer service from the company of purchase as it facilitates easy contact to the relevant person in case of any type of inquiries. At the same time, products having high quality is of the utmost importance and reasonable price also hold a high value.

8. How would you describe TdB Labs’ customer service?
I had a good experience with TdB Labs’ customer service as the responses received were not only prompt, but I also had a direct personal contact with one of the chemists for scientific discussions that made the entire journey quite easy and reliable.

9. How likely is it that you would recommend TdB Labs to a friend or colleague?
Extremely likely.

10. What do you appreciate the most about TdB Labs?
I deeply appreciate all the hard work put in by the employees at TdB Labs AB in producing a product that was quite specific for us. I also immensely appreciate the possibility of being able to have a personal contact with one of your Senior Research Scientists, Raffaello for the scientific talks and meetings about our product. He seemed extremely passionate and knowledgeable in his field that further increased my confidence in buying a product from TdB Labs AB.

11. Did you find any unique qualities in TdB Labs as compared to other companies?
I would say that the prompt and direct customer contact in case of any type of inquiries would be the unique quality in TdB Labs AB.

12. Is there anything that we could improve?
Not sure yet as so far, I only had good experience.