CONCURRENT SESSIONS

Concurrent Track: Clinical Applications

Highlighting cellular therapy and tissue engineering research moving toward the clinic; examining manufacturing and upscaling; presenting clinical trial updates.

*Additional invited and abstract-selected speakers to be determined. Session descriptions and titles may change slightly.

Revolutionizing Therapies for Genetic Diseases

Michael Pepper, MBChB, MD, PhD, Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Claire Booth, PhD, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, UK

  • This session delves into groundbreaking advancements in gene therapies, with a special emphasis on the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) system. We will explore the latest developments in gene addition and gene editing techniques, including CRISPR/Cas9 and prime editing, and their applications in treating genetic diseases affecting the blood, central nervous system (CNS), skeletal systems, and more. Additionally, the session will highlight the emerging strategies in in vivo gene therapies, specifically targeting HSCs and immune cells, to offer innovative solutions for genetic disorders. This session will also discuss the regulatory, accessibility, and economic aspects of these advanced therapies.

Building an Enhanced Immune System to Fight Disease

Megan Levings, PhD, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute and University of British Columbia, Canada
Sonja Schrepfer, MD, PhD, Sana Biotechnology, USA

  • This session focuses on the latest advancements in immunotherapy, emphasizing the development of an enhanced immune system. We will explore cutting-edge innovations in design and development, targeting a range of conditions from solid tumors and metabolic dysfunction to fibrosis and autoimmune diseases. The session will include discussions on the use of CAR T cells, pluripotent stem cell-derived-macrophages and natural killer (NK) cells, all of which are currently undergoing clinical trials. Additionally, we will cover the concepts of hypoimmune cells and the immune privilege of transplanted cells.

Clinical Translation of Bioengineered Tissue-based Therapeutics

Ryuichi Okamoto, MD, PhD, Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan

  • This session explores the forefront of tissue replacement therapy, focusing on the clinical translation of advanced methodologies, including bioengineered 3D tissues, organoids, and organs. We will cover transplant-based and ex vivo device-based regenerative therapeutics, using organoids for endocrine, digestive, urogenital, and neurological applications, as well as the emerging field of xenotransplantation therapeutics. This session also invites an ethics speaker to discuss the regulatory, accessibility, and economic aspects of these advanced therapies.

Reprogramming and Rejuvenation for Dysfunctional Organs

Maria Pia Cosma, PhD, Centre for Genomic Regulation, Spain

  • This session delves into the revolutionary realm of altering cellular programs to restore and enhance organ function for disease treatment. We will explore cutting-edge advancements in in vivo reprogramming-based therapeutics, mRNA-based treatments, and genome editing technologies. The focus will be on how these innovative approaches can fundamentally change the treatment landscape for various organ dysfunctions and diseases.

Disease Modeling and Drug Discovery

Examining advances in using stem cells, both in vivo and in vitro, to model development and disease, with applications for drug discovery and therapeutics.

*Additional invited and abstract-selected speakers to be determined. Session descriptions and titles may change slightly.

Stem Cells in Drug Discovery: From Concept to Application 

Paul D. Pang, PhD, Greenstone Biosciences, USA
Benedetta Artegiani, PhD and Delilah Hendriks, PhD, Princess Maxima Center, Netherlands

  • Drug discovery using stem cell models has advanced several compounds to the clinic. Investigators from academia and industry will present approaches for screening, testing, and developing novel drugs for clinical application using stem cell-derived disease models.

Insights into Disease Mechanisms from Stem Cell Research 

Valerie Gouon-Evans, PhD, PharmD, Boston University, CReM, USA
Thomas Eschenhagen, MD, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, Germany

  • Recent advances in stem cell research have uncovered fundamental pathophysiological processes in solid organs. This session will present the use of in vitro and in vivo systems, including iPSCs, organoids, and whole animal models, to study these biological processes of disease and uncover potential treatment modalities.

Stem Cells and Infectious Disease 

Sina Bartfeld, PhD, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
Kazuo Takayama, PhD, Kyoto University, Japan

  • The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted how stem cells are activated and can give rise to clinical manifestations of infectious diseases. Stem cell therapy is a promising avenue for treating a range of infectious diseases. This session will showcase advances in using stem cell-based models to study infection and immune responses, paving the way for drug discovery and treatment design for these diseases.

Stem Cell Models of Tissue Injury and Repair

Sumru Bayin, PhD, The Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge, UK
Patrick C. H. Hsieh, MD, PhD, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taiwan

  • Using stem cells to study disease processes is a powerful tool for translating research from bench to bedside. This session will highlight stem cell-derived models that provide insight into responses to injury, regeneration, and tissue repair, enabling the dissection of the molecular and cellular basis of these diseases to develop treatment options.

Organ Generation and Regeneration

Research advances in stem cells and tissue biology relevant to normal organ formation during development, including experimental strategies for ex vivo organ engineering and in vivo replacement. This also includes research into organ regeneration following injury or damage.

*Additional invited and abstract-selected speakers to be determined. Session descriptions and titles may change slightly.

Animal Models of Regeneration 

Mayssa H. Mokalled, PhD, Washington University School of Medicine, USA
Tatiana Sandoval-Guzmán, PhD, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany

  • This session will cover our basic understanding of organ regeneration from animal models and explore the potential for translating this knowledge into human organ regeneration.

In Vivo and In Vitro Organ Generation 

Hiromitsu Nakauchi, MD, PhD, Stanford University, USA and University of Tokyo, Japan
Liangxue Lai, PhD, Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

  • This session will discuss advances in organ generation in chimeras (in vivo) and in vitro using a combination of cells, biomaterials, bioprinting, and other bioengineering technologies.

Aging and Regeneration

Emi Nishimura, MD, PhD, The University of Tokyo, Japan
Anissa Widjaja, PhD, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore

  • This session will explore the mechanisms of stem cell science and depletion in the context of aging, and how reversing these mechanisms can enable reprogramming, regeneration, and rejuvenation.

Engineering Regeneration

Tae-Eun Park, PhD, UNIST, Korea
Linna Zhou, PhD, Nuffield Department of Medicine and Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, UK

  • This session will highlight the latest engineering technologies for stem cell research, including the use of stem cell-derived organoid models, engineered models of the niche, single-cell/spatial omics, computational tools, and more.

Pluripotency and Development

Understanding pluripotency and lineage commitment; exploring embryo and organ development.

*Additional invited and abstract-selected speakers to be determined. Session descriptions and titles may change slightly.

Metabolic Underpinnings of Stem Cells

Mireille Khacho, PhD, University of Ottawa, Canada
Marlen Knobloch, PhD, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

  • This session will delve into the metabolic requirements that are critical for stemness, including the mechanisms underlying the exit from naïve pluripotency and the maintenance of lineage and cell identity.

Evolutionary Perspective of Development and Regeneration

Ayelet Voskoboynik, PhD, Stanford University, USA
Florian Raible, PhD, University of Vienna, Austria

  • The session will explore a comparative approach to further our understanding of development by using multi-model systems, the session aims to highlight fundamental unifying principals of development.

Fate Choices in Development and Regeneration 

Jacob H. Hanna, MD, PhD, The Weizmann Institue of Science, Israel
Bhavana Muralidharan, PhD, Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine, India

  • This session will cover the molecular, systemic, and genetic interplay in fate choices during development.

Technologies to Study Development and Physiology 

Nicolas Rivron, PhD, ENG, Institute of Molecular Biotechnology, Austria
Alex Gould, PhD, The Francis Crick Institute, UK

  • This session will discuss current technologies that have revolutionized our understanding of early embryo development and the maintenance of pluripotency both in vivo and in vitro.

Somatic Stem Cells and Cancer

Exploring somatic stem cell homeostasis and ageing, stem cell-niche interactions, and stem cells in cancer.

*Additional invited and abstract-selected speakers to be determined. Session descriptions and titles may change slightly.

Niche Regulation in Stem Cells and Tissue Regeneration 

Ya-Chieh Hsu, PhD, Harvard University, USA
Honglin Wang, PhD, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, China

  • This session will explore the intricate interplay between the niche and stem cells, uncovering mechanisms of microenvironmental regulation that drive tissue regeneration and repair.

Metabolism, Stem Cells, and Cancer

Ton Rabelink, MD, PhD, Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands
Stephanie Ma, PhD, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 

  • This session will delve into the connections between cellular metabolism, stem cells, and cancer, unravelling the intricate relationships that hold potential for innovative therapeutic approaches.

AI and Cancer Evolution 

Bissan Al-Lazikani, PhD, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA
Jiguang Wang, PhD, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong

  • This session will highlight how advancements in big data and deep learning are transforming our understanding of the biology of malignant lineages and cancer treatment, from the integration of multimodal data to the generation of virtual patients and in silico clinical trials.

Stem Cells and Cell Metastasis 

Eduard Batlle, PhD, Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) & ICREA, Spain
Samra Turajilic, PhD, The Francis Crick Institute, UK

  • This session will explore how our understanding of metastasis, which causes over 95% of cancer deaths, is transforming - from a wholly abnormal process dependent entirely on malignant lineages to a hijacked normal process that also repairs tissues.

Ethics, Policy & STANDARDS

The ISSCR standing committees representing these three areas integral to stem cell research and regenerative medicine will each design a session for the annual meeting program to be held during the concurrent track sessions in the program.

*Invited and abstract-selected speakers to be determined. Session descriptions and titles may change slightly.