DDNews pre-show coverage of

ISSCR 2014 sponsored by

Life Technologies

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia—In a sense, the fact that this year the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) is convening merely its 12^th annual meeting speaks volumes about the entire stem cell field, which has burst into full bloom over the past decade. Society President Dr. Janet Rossant notes that even the short span of a dozen months since the 2013 meeting has witnessed remarkable growth and change, much of which will be the focus of this year’s event in Canada, which runs from June 18 to 21 at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia.

 

“We’ve seen advances in the fundamental biology of stem cells,” she says, “with studies showing how pluripotent stem cells are made. Pluripotency is a state and we have seen new insights into using small molecules to reprogram adult cells to pluripotent cells and to make fibroblasts become nerve, muscle and islet cells for repair and drug screens as well. We are looking forward in the near future to clinical trials of stem cells to treat diseases such as macular degeneration.”

 

The meeting will bring together approximately 4,000 stem cell scientists, bioethicists, clinicians and industry professionals from more than 50 countries to present and discuss the latest research and technologies within the field.

 

“The ISSCR is thrilled to bring the 12^th annual meeting to Canada, the birthplace of some very early and important stem cell discoveries and an important ongoing contributor to the field,” Dr. Rossant observes.

 

The 2014 Annual Meeting Program Committee is chaired by Fiona Watt of King’s College London. Watt and the committee have worked together over the past year to assemble a diverse program and an international contingent of stem cell researchers, clinicians and industry professionals to share the newest research, technologies and clinical advancements. Speakers will continue to be selected from submitted abstracts to add further depth to the planned program.

 

“Each year, the ISSCR endeavors to bring together established, emerging and future leaders in stem cell research to explore a broad range of important topics in our field,” Watt says. “This year is no exception, and we look forward to hearing from the recipient of the ISSCR-BD Biosciences Outstanding Young Investigator Award, Valentina Greco, who has made significant early-career contributions to stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.”

 

The meeting will open with the Presidential Symposium on Wednesday, June 18 from 1 p.m. to 3:20 p.m. local time. A prestigious lineup of speakers will present the cutting edge in stem cell research, from its underpinnings in developmental biology through to its potential therapeutic applications. The symposium is also the stage for the formal recognition of the 2014 recipients of the McEwen Award for Innovation and the ISSCR Public Service Award. Another prestigious award, the ISSCR-BD Biosciences Outstanding Young Investigator Award mentioned by Watt, will be presented during Plenary V, followed by an award lecture.

 

The 2014 McEwen Award for Innovation will be presented to Dr. Azim Surani of the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, in recognition of his work on the cellular and molecular specification of the mammalian germ cell lineage. His research has helped uncover how the germ line is established and what molecular mechanisms are responsible for reprogramming the epigenome to achieve the totipotent state.

 

The 2014 ISSCR-BD Biosciences Outstanding Young Investigator Award, as noted earlier, will be presented to Greco, who is at Yale University, for her research into the interactions between stem cells and their niches, including the first direct, real-time visualization of stem cell divisions in living animals.

 

The fourth annual ISSCR Public Service Award will be presented to Dr. Paolo Bianco of Sapienza University of Rome, Dr. Elena Cattaneo of the University of Milan and Dr. Michele De Luca of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, in recognition of their recent involvement in public debate and policy-making in Italy and their championing of rigorous scientific and medical standards and stringent regulatory oversight in the introduction of new stem cell treatments into the clinic. This award will be presented during the June 18 Presidential Symposium.

 

“This year’s Presidential Symposium goes back to basics with a focus on the developmental biology underpinning current research,” Rossant says. “Understanding the players and pathways that give rise to complex tissues or organisms is crucial to unlocking the power of stem cells and we will hear some remarkable stories of how this is happening in this session and throughout the meeting.”

 

As the society’s president, Rossant was the key organizer of this year’s Presidential Symposium from her vantage point as a senior scientist in the Developmental & Stem Cell Biology program and chief of research at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. She is also a university professor at the University of Toronto and a professor in the Departments of Molecular Genetics, Obstetrics/Gynaecology and Paediatrics at the University of Toronto. Her research interests center on understanding the genetic control of normal and abnormal development in the early mouse embryo using both cellular and genetic manipulation techniques. Her interests in the early embryo have led to the discovery of a novel placental stem cell type, the trophoblast stem cell. She is deputy scientific director of the Canadian Stem Cell Network and directs the Centre for Modeling Human Disease in Toronto, which is undertaking genome-wide mutagenesis in mice to develop new mouse models of human disease.

 

The Presidential Symposium, she proudly points out, will include the following: Dr. Brigid Hogan of Duke University Medical Center in the United States, Dr. Gordon Keller of the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University Health Network in Canada, Dr. Olivier Pourquie of the Strasbourg University Medical School in France and Dr. Lorenz Studer of the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in the United States.