First Annual Translational Stem Cell Research Conference: Curing Disease from Lab Bench to Bedside

NYSCF’s First annual Conference was held on October 23-24, 2006 at The Rockefeller University in New York City.

Day 1: Public Policy Panel

The Public Policy Panel convened international leaders in science, patient advocacy and bio-ethics to discuss the challenges and solutions to conducting human embryonic stem cell research. The panelists were David Carmel, vice president of StemCyte, Inc.; John Gearhart, PhD, director, Stem Cell Program, Institute for Cell Engineering at John Hopkins Medicine; Angela McNab, CEO of the U.K.’s Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority; Douglas Melton, PhD, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute; Laurie Zoloth, PhD, director of the Center for Bioethics, Science and Society; and New York Stem Cell Foundation Co-Founder and CEO Susan L. Solomon, JD.

Day 2: Research Conference

The meeting brought together prominent figures in stem cell research from across the United States and the United Kingdom. These pre-eminent scientists presented the latest and most exciting breakthroughs in this revolutionary field of research. The conference was co-chaired by Drs. Douglas Melton, PhD, co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute; Thomas M. Jessell, PhD, Claire Tow Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University Medical Center; and Harold Varmus, MD, President, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The day featured presentations on Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) and sessions exploring the impact of stem cell research on efforts to better understand, and ultimately find better treatments, for diabetes, auto-immune diseases, heart disease, cancer and neurological disorders. Dr. Melton delivered the keynote speech, entitled “The Promise and Reality of Stem Cell Science.”

Click here to download the 2006 Conference Brochure