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

The New York Stem Cell Foundation’s (NYSCF) 16th 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 18 & 19 at The Rockefeller University, will begin with opening remarks from NYSCF Interim CEO Derrick Rossi, PhD, pioneer of mRNA technology who co-founded Moderna. Dr. Rossi will also deliver a tribute to our founding CEO Susan L. Solomon, JD, who passed away last month from ovarian cancer. The conference will feature 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 over 85 scientific presentations including 20 single-track talks on topics including diabetes, immunology, cancer, organoids, neurological diseases, cell therapies, precision medicine, and genomics, and 64 poster presentations.

The meeting’s first keynote (October 18, 4:50 PM ET) will be delivered by renowned developmental biologist Janet Rossant, PhD, FRS, FRSC, of the University of Toronto. Dr. Rossant will share her perspective as a seminal contributor to research on developmental biology and its translational applications.

The conference’s second keynote (October 19, 5:00 PM ET) will be given by CRISPR pioneer and NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Alumnus Feng Zhang, PhD, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Zhang will report his latest efforts to discover biological systems that can be harnessed for new molecular therapeutics.

The meeting will also feature a panel discussion (October 18, 2:00 PM ET) titled “The Value of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) for our Community.” The discussion will be led by Raeka Aiyar, PhD (The NYSCF Research Institute) and will feature Johnna Frierson, PhD (Duke University), Ashton Murray, PhD (The Rockefeller University), Eric Nestler, MD, PhD (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai), and Christina Termini, PhD (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center). This panel will highlight the benefits of engaging in DEIB advocacy for scientists, their labs, and their research, and highlight actionable strategies for individuals to implement in their work.

A second panel discussion – “Accelerating Precision Medicine with Genomics and Stem Cells” – (October 19, 9:35 AM ET) will focus on how omics and stem cell technologies combine to advance precision medicine. This discussion will feature Karen Akinsanya, PhD (Schrödinger), Srilakshmi Raj, PhD (Albert Einstein College of Medicine), Daniel Paull, PhD (The NYSCF Research Institute), and Michael Snyder, PhD (Stanford University), who will also deliver a plenary lecture on his pioneering precision medicine research immediately before the panel (October 19, 9:05 AM ET).

Additional speakers will include Pulitzer Prize winning writer and researcher Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, DPhil, of Columbia University Medical Center, who will provide updates on his work in cancer immunotherapies (October 18, 11:25 AM ET). NYSCF – Robertson Stem Cell Investigator Alumna Malin Parmar, PhD, of Lund University, will share her endeavors to create a cell therapy to treat Parkinson’s Disease (October 19, 3:15 PM ET). Kapil Bharti, PhD, of the National Eye Institute will discuss the development of an autologous cell therapy for age-related macular degeneration – work which he is also collaborating on with The NYSCF Research Institute (October 19, 4:05 PM ET).

The full conference agenda can be found at http://nyscf.org/conference. Limited media passes are available upon request to press@nyscf.org, and virtual registrations are also available.

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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.