Metabolic Determinants of Stem Cell Pluripotency and Cell Fate Commitments

Speakers

Organizers

Steven Gross, PhD

Weill Cornell Medical College

Steven S. Gross is Professor of Pharmacology, Director of the Mass Spectrometry Core Facility and Director of Advanced Training in Pharmacology at the Weill Cornell Medical College. The American Chemical Society recently awarded Dr. Gross with a 2011 award for "Achievements in Mass Spectrometry". His primary research interest is in cell–cell communication, with a focus on nitric oxide (NO) and reactive molecules as mediators of cell signaling. In the late 1980s, Dr Gross and colleagues made the initial identification of L-arginine as the precursor of NO in blood vessels. They were also first to establish that NOS inhibition elevates blood pressure in animals, demonstrating that NO plays a physiological role in controlling blood pressure and vascular tone. Since then, research efforts have been directed toward elucidating the enzymes and mechanisms that regulate NO synthesis in cells. His basic studies have provided fundamental insights into the therapeutic control of NO synthesis, resulting in core technologies for the creation of ArgiNOx Inc., a biotech start-up that seeks to develop novel NO-based drugs. Dr. Gross' research is supported in part by a MERIT Award from the NHLBI. He is a founder and Board Director of the Nitric Oxide Society and chairs the Steering Committee of the Biochemical Pharmacology Discussion Group (BPDG) at NYAS. Dr Gross received his PhD in Biomedical Science from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

Keynote Speakers

Peter Carmeliet

Vesalius Research Center, Belgium.

Peter Carmeliet is Director of the VIB - Vesalius Research Center, at the University of Leuven in Belgium. He graduated as Doctor in Medicine in 1984, and completed his PhD in Medicine in 1989 and his Postdoctoral work at the Whitehead Institute, MIT in Cambridge USA. After his return to Leuven in 1992, Carmeliet started his own research group with a focus on understanding how blood vessels grow (angiogenesis) in health and disease. Carmeliet also documented a novel role for VEGF in neurodegeneration. The Carmeliet lab is currently interested in the role of endothelial cell metabolism in angiogenesis in health and disease

Lewis C. Cantley

Weill Cornell Medical College

Lewis Cantley, PhD, is the Margaret and Herman Sokol Professor and Director of the Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medical College/New York Presbyterian Hosptial. Dr. Cantley obtained a PhD in biophysical chemistry from Cornell University in 1975. Prior to taking the position at Weill Cornell, he taught and did research in biochemistry, physiology and cancer biology in Boston, most recently at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. His laboratory discovered the PI 3-Kinase pathway that plays a critical role in insulin signaling and in cancers. Dr. Cantely is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Speakers

Shuibing Chen, PhD

Weill Cornell Medical College

Shuibing Chen is an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery and Biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medical College, New York. I received my BS and MS in Chemistry from Tsinghua University in China. Then, I pursued my PhD under the advisement of Dr. Peter G. Schultz at the Scripps Research Institute where I started being interested in chemical biology and stem cell biology. After graduation, I joined Dr. Doug Melton’s laboratory at Harvard University to study the directed differentiation of human embryonic stem cells toward pancreatic lineage. The major research interest in my laboratory at Weill Cornell is to manipulate stem cell fate using chemical and biological approaches and to generate functional tissues and organs that can be used for translational research. Our current main focus is on human pluripotent stem cells(PSCs), including human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). We combine our knowledge of stem cell biology, developmental biology, chemical biology, medicine chemistry and tissue engineering to derive functional cells, tissues and organs from human pluripotent stem cells. Our long-term goal is to apply patient specific PSC-derived tissues or organs for replacement therapy and build up “disease in a dish” platforms for drug discovery.

Ubaldo Martinez-Outschoorn, MD

Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University

Ubaldo Martinez-Outschoorn, MD is Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Oncology and the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia. He received his MD degree from the Complutense University of Madrid and completed his Internal Medicine Training and Medical Oncology training at Thomas Jefferson University. The major focus of his laboratory is to study metabolic interactions between cancer and stromal cells. He also conducts clinical trials studying drugs that alter metabolic interactions between cancer cells and the microenvironment.

Andre Terzic, MD, PhD

Center for Regenerative Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN USA

Dr. Andre Terzic is Director, Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine and Marriott Family Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Diseases. He is Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology; Chair, Discovery-Translation Scientific Advisory Board; Director, Marriott Heart Disease Research Program; and Director, National Institutes of Health “Cardiovasology” Program. Nationally, his senior leadership roles include President, American Society for Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics; Chair, Functional Genomics & Translational Biology Council, American Heart Association; and Chairman, Scientific Advisory Board, International Society for Cardiovascular Translational Research. Elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation and Fellow of the American Heart Association, Dr. Terzic has pioneered cardioprotective and cardioregenerative modalities at Mayo Clinic. He has authored over 400 scientific manuscripts, advancing the development of diagnostic and management strategies for heart failure. He has led efforts in the discovery of next generation cardiovascular regenerative therapies, including the first-in-man clinical trial using organ-specified stem cells for heart repair. His papers have been cited over 9,500 times in the literature. Dr. Terzic is recognized with the Medal of Merit, International Society for Heart Research; Leon I. Goldberg Award, American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics: Klaus Unna Award, University of Illinois; Established Investigator Award, American Heart Association; and at Mayo Clinic with the Excellence in Teaching Award, Outstanding Cardiovascular Research Mentor Award, Landmark Contribution to the Literature Award and Outstanding Investigator Award. He has been awarded the 2010 Martin E. Rehfuss Medal in Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University; 2011 Henry W. Elliott Distinguished Service Award, American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics; 2012 PhRMA Foundation Excellence in Clinical Pharmacology Award; and the 2012 Ueda Memorial Award, Japanese Society of Electrocardiology.