Agenda

In the first part of the summit, you will have the chance to look at the latest breakthroughs in the stem cell research. Notable experts in the field will walk you through new findings in stem cell biology, the application of innovative tools to improve stem cell manipulation, as well as how research has paved way for medical applications.

• Current stage of international stem cell research
• Improvements in research technology and methodologies
  • Isolation
  • Expansion, generation
  • Differentiation
  • Delivery
  • Integration
  • Transplantation

• The vast differences of cells cloned from same parent cell
• Using deep learning algorithms in combination with 3D imaging to predict cellular activities
• The applications of machine learning in medical research and treatment developments

•  The differences between using self-donated iPS cells and donated iPS cells from others
• Donated iPS cells transplantation in treating degenerative eye conditions: procedures, challenges, and initial results
• Expectations of how donated iPS cells will respond

• CRISPR potentials in stem cells research
• Correcting faulty genes in iPS cells
• Increasing stem cells differentiation speed

• The potentials and applications of 3D printing in medical and stem cell context
• Challenges in 3D-printing cells and possible complications in medical application
• Current developments of bio-printing technologies

Tissue engineering and organ regeneration are among the fastest moving areas of stem cell applications that have gathered a lot of excitement in the medical field. Achievements in the field promise a transformative impact on future health care.

In the next section of the summit, you will discover the state of development of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine through various case studies on how researchers have overcome challenges and successfully create tissue/organs from stem cells.

• The obstacles of growing working organ and mimicking blood vessel networks
• Growing beating human heart tissue on spinach leaf – Progress and Result
• Future directions for tissue engineering

• Using perfusion decellularization to produce acellular, bioactive renal ECM scaffolds from kidney sources
• Current shortcomings of kidney regeneration techniques
• Utilization of hPSC differentiation into kidney-specific lineages in the generation of mature kidney cell types

The use of stem cell in research and medical treatment still comes with countless challenges. During the past decades, scientists have been working relentlessly to overcome these challenges and only by overcoming them could effective treatments be delivered to awaiting

In the last part of Day 1 of the summit, our speakers will lead you to discover the answer to pressing issues, including stem cell expansion, delivery, differentiation, and integration. You will also have the chance to discuss the cancer risk of stem cell therapy and look at case studies of how it can be addressed.

• Hemopoietic stem cells are heterogeneous
• Which ones are clinically relevant and how are they distinguished?
• What is known about expansion in vivo?
• Is expansion in culture achievable?
• What mechanisms specify and regulate expansion?

Norman Iscove is a Senior Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto. He is a pioneer in hemopoietic stem cell research with numerous contributions that advanced the field in both methodology and concept. In recent years his group identified distinct stem cells in the mouse, resolving those that engraft permanently from more abundant multipotent stem cells with prodigious but nevertheless time-limited potential. Current work is focused on mechanisms that enable self-renewal, maintain it in stem cells, and whose artificially sustained expression confers immortality to otherwise non-self-renewing progenitor cells that are lineage-restricted.

Professor Molly Shoichet holds the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Tissue Engineering at the University of Toronto and is Senior Advisor on Science & Engineering Engagement to President Gertler.  She has published over 500 papers, patents and abstracts and given over 350 lectures worldwide in the fields of regenerative medicine, tissue engineering and drug delivery. She currently leads a laboratory of 30 and has graduated 162 researchers. She founded three spin-off companies and is actively engaged in translational research. She is the only person to be a Fellow of Canada’s 3 National Academies of Science, Engineering, Health Sciences. Dr. Shoichet is the L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Laureate, North America for 2015. She holds the Order of Ontario, is University Professor, and a Foreign Member of the US National Academy of Engineering. She graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1987) and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in Polymer Science and Engineering (1992).

• The lurking risk of mutation and tumor
• Cancer risks in stem cell therapy
• Possible strategies to address pluripotent cells’ tumorigenicity

• The lack of effective methodologies in harvesting and growing stem cells
• New techniques and methods to improve stem cells expansion

In the first part of Day 2, you will learn about emerging areas in stem cell therapeutic applications. You will discover new uses of stem cells, how it has been supporting drug discoveries, and new tools developed from stem cells. In addition, our panel of experts will lead you through the much needed discussion surrounding ethical, legal, and regulatory concerns of stem cell.

• The use of NT (nuclear transfer) technology and iPS (induced pluripotent stem cell) technology to create new stem cell lines as models for studying and treating disorders
• Progress in the field and applications in medical research of NT and iPS technology

• Examined the impact that STAT3 mutation has on the development of the pancreas using induced pluripotent stem cells
• Implications for development of medical treatments

• Challenges in creating embryonic cell line using nuclear transfer that is ready for transplantation
• Generating autologous beta cells using SCNT (Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer)
• Protecting and preventing existing and therapeutic beta cells from attack by the immune system

• Barriers to overcome when creating red blood cells
• Finding the solutions in HPV genes and bone marrow cells
• Future challenges to be addressed

• Why is stem cell being portrayed as the magic elixir for all diseases?
• Why are unproven stem cell treatments available so widely in the market?
• What role do scientists, clinicians, patients, policy makers, and media play in the fight against pseudoscience?
• Ethical and legal concerns around stem cells research
• How can we effectively address these legal and ethical issues?

The international regenerative medicine market is expected to be worth USD 39 billion in the next few years. With investment pouring in from both government and private companies, stem cell is an exciting field to be in at the moment.

To give you a complete understanding of what is happening in the field of stem cell, the last part of the summit will focus on the achievements which scientists have made down the path of translation. Our speakers will lead you through progresses of different stages of treatment development, how new understanding has been gained on the mechanism of diseases, how different tools have been developed, and how new strategies have been devised to fight diseases.

• Market prospect of Translational Regenerative medicine
• Insights into R&D pipeline for regenerative medicine and development interests

• The utilization and achievement of stem cell in immunotherapy, gene therapies, and cellular therapies
• Current challenges in translations, producing, and delivering stem cell treatment

• The role of LSC17 in patients’ resistance to chemotherapy
• Measuring risk of newly diagnosed patients with LSC17

• Stem cell and gene therapy for ALS: procedures and expected results
• Treatment response and threats to look out for

• The obstacles on the road of translation for stem cell therapy
• Developing more stable stem cell therapies
• Understand regulations and concerns surrounding stem cell therapy translation

• Immunity barriers and the extent of rejection risk in stem cell transplantation
• Recent developments in rejection preventing techniques

• The advantages of PSC disease model
• Development approaches to recreate disease features in PSCs
• Overcoming challenges of iPSC disease models
• The use of emerging gene editing tools such as ZFNs, TALENs, and CRISPR in studying diseases with PSC models