Media Advisory: The NYSCF Annual Conference on Translational Stem Cell Research

The New York Stem Cell Foundation’s (NYSCF) 18th Annual Conference convenes global leaders in stem cell research to present their latest progress towards treatments and cures for the major diseases of our time.

The NYSCF Conference, held October 23 & 24 at The Rockefeller University, will showcase cutting-edge research and interactive discussions on transformative new technologies in the field, moving research from the lab to the clinic, and current challenges facing regenerative medicine. The meeting sessions feature 26 single-track talks, with sessions on advanced organoid models, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, autoimmunity, and cell therapies. There will also be 104 poster presentations, six short talks from selected abstracts, and two panel discussions.

The meeting’s first keynote (October 23, 4:45 PM ET) will be delivered by reproductive science research pioneer Amander Clark, PhD, inaugural Director of the UCLA Center for Reproductive Science and President of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, who will share her lab’s findings on creating stem cell-derived germline cells to study infertility, as well as her research developing the technology of in vitro gametogenesis (IVG) – custom-making human eggs and sperm in the laboratory from any cell in a person’s body.

NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Alumnus Ravi Majeti, MD, PhD, of Stanford University will deliver the inaugural Susan L. Solomon Keynote Address (October 24, 4:35 PM ET) on strategies including immunotherapies for targeting blood cancers like acute myeloid leukemia, as well as a novel approach to cancer vaccines.

The first of the meeting’s panel discussions will focus on advancing health equity by diversifying stem cell biobanks (October 23, 3:45 PM ET), highlighting key opportunities for ensuring that disease research captures the full diversity of humanity and benefits all communities in need. 

Another panel discussion on accelerating drug discovery in stem cell models (October 24, 10:50 AM ET) will showcase the latest progress and road ahead in combining human stem cell models of disease, large-scale datasets, and machine learning approaches to identify new drugs and targets more effectively. 

Other speaker highlights include:

• Viviane Tabar, MD (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center) will also present the latest data from the BlueRock Therapeutics  Phase I clinical trial of a dopamine neuron replacement therapy for Parkinson’s disease (October 24, 2:50 PM ET).
• Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, PhD (Columbia University) will share her work developing ‘organs-on-a-chip’: micro-sized human tissues designed to recapitulate organ-level functions, such as contractility of the heart, metabolism of the liver, or barrier function of the lung or vasculature (October 23, 9:20 AM ET).
• NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Alumnus Paul J. Tesar, DPhil (Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine) will present his research creating nervous system cells called oligodendrocytes from stem cells to develop treatment options for neurological diseases resulting from loss of myelin (insulation that helps cells send signals) like multiple sclerosis (October 23, 11:05 AM ET).
• NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Alumnus Deepta Bhattacharya, PhD (University of Arizona), will provide updates on his work creating cells for transplantation that can evade immune attack. (October 24, 9:10 AM ET).
• Olivier Elemento, PhD (Weill Cornell Medicine; Director, Englander Institute for Precision Medicine) will share his work creating personalized avatars of cancer to advance precision medicine (October 24, 12:05 PM ET).

The full conference agenda can be found at http://nyscf.org/conference. NYSCF welcomes representatives working for recognized press outlets. To apply for media credentials, email press@nyscf.org.

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About The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute

The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute is an independent non-profit organization accelerating cures and better treatments for patients through stem cell research. The NYSCF global community includes over 200 researchers at leading institutions worldwide, including the NYSCF – Druckenmiller Fellows, the NYSCF – Robertson Investigators, the NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Prize Recipients, and NYSCF Research Institute scientists and engineers. The NYSCF Research Institute is an acknowledged world leader in stem cell research and in the development of pioneering stem cell technologies, including the NYSCF Global Stem Cell Array®, which is used to create cell lines for laboratories around the globe. NYSCF focuses on translational research in an accelerator model designed to overcome barriers that slow discovery and replace silos with collaboration.