
FREE
for Members
Frontiers in Regenerative Medicine: 2019 Innovators in Science Award Symposium
Friday, April 26, 2019
9:30AM to 6:30PM JST
Shonan iPark, 26-1, Muraoka-Higashi 2-chome, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 251-8555, JPN
Presented By
The New York Academy of Sciences
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
The Innovators in Science Award was established in 2016 as a partnership between the New York Academy of Sciences and Takeda Pharmaceuticals to recognize creative and impactful research being conducted around the world. This symposium will showcase the achievements of the 2019 Innovators in Science Award Winners in Regenerative Medicine and feature presentations from world leaders in stem cell research and clinical applications. During this event, Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, Nobel Laureate and Director of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application at Kyoto University, will be the keynote speaker among a group of luminaries who will discuss advances in regenerative medicine and the growing impact of the field on human health.
Please join us at Shonan iPark in Kanagawa, Japan for a unique opportunity to engage with leading researchers, clinicians, and prominent industry stakeholders from around the world about the transformational research happening at the forefront of regenerative medicine today.
This event is free, but registration is required. Although on-site registration may be possible on the day of the event, pre-registration is highly encouraged due to space limitations. Registration will open in August 2018.
Award Program
The Innovators in Science Award recognizes a promising Early-Career Scientist and an outstanding Senior Scientist for their contributions to science in the therapeutic areas of Neuroscience, Gastroenterology, Regenerative Medicine, and Oncology. Each Award Winner receives a prize of US $200,000 intended to support their commitment to innovative research.
In 2019, academic, government, and non-profit institutions from around the globe, as well as the Award’s own distinguished Scientific Advisory Council, nominated candidates who are conducting groundbreaking research in the field of regenerative medicine. The 2019 Award Jury of international experts in regenerative medicine will convene in Fall 2018 at the New York Academy of Sciences in New York City to choose the Award Winners. Winners will be announced in January 2019 and Awards will be conferred at a formal ceremony on April 25, 2019, in Tokyo, Japan.
Friday
April 26, 2019
9:30 AM
Registration & Breakfast
10:00 AM
Welcome Remarks & Introduction
Keynote Lecture
10:15 AM
Recent Progress in iPS Cell Research and Application
Speaker
Shinya Yamanaka
Kyoto University
+ Abstract
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can proliferate almost indefinitely and differentiate into multiple lineages, giving them wide medical application. As a result, they are being used for new cell-based therapies, disease models and drug development around the world.
In 2014, the world’s first clinical study using iPSCs began for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration. iPSC studies have also made major progress for other disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, giving rise to the expectation that iPSC-based regenerative medicine will be widely used in the near future.
Other applications of iPSCs are drug screening, toxicity studies and disease modeling. In 2018, a new drug screening system using iPS cells for fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) was reported, revealing one drug candidate to go to clinical trial to treat FOP patients.
Over the past decade, iPSCs research has made great progress. Despite the still various hurdles to be overcome, iPSC-based science is certainly moving forward for delivering innovative therapeutic options to the patients with intractable diseases.
11:00 AM
Networking Coffee Break
Early-Career Scientist Award Winner Lecture
11:10 AM
Eavesdropping on the Conversation Between Epithelial Stem Cells, Immunity, and Microbes at the Cutaneous Interface
Speaker
Shruti Naik
New York University
+ Abstract
The epithelial tissues that line our body routinely experience inflammation inducing pathogenic and noxious agents while harmoniously housing a myriad of resident microbial communities. The mechanisms and consequences of how epithelial tissues, and in particular their long-lived stem cells, sense, respond to, and remember such encounters are only now beginning to unfold. I discuss the crosstalk between immune cells, epithelial stem cells, and commensal microbes and its importance for epithelial health and regeneration. Understanding these dynamic interactions may provide unique means of boosting epithelial barrier function and healing by modulating immune and microbial signals perceived by stem cells.
Senior Scientist Award Winner Lecture
11:55 AM
Combined Cell and Gene Therapy for Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa
Speaker
Michele De Luca
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
+ Abstract
LAMB3-dependent generalized Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa (JEB) was targeted by transplantation of epidermal cultures originated from transgenic epidermal stem cells. We report life-saving regeneration of the entire epidermis on a seven-year-old JEB child suffering from a devastating form of JEB. The regenerated transgenic epidermis remained stable throughout the entire follow-up period and did not form blisters, even upon shear force. The proviral integration pattern was maintained in vivo and epidermal renewal did not cause any clonal selection. Clonal tracing showed that the human epidermis is sustained by a limited number of long-lived stem cells, detected as holoclones, that can extensively self-renew and produce short-lived progenitors that replenish terminally differentiated keratinocytes.
12:45 PM
Networking Luncheon
Clinical Applications in Regenerative Medicine
2:15 PM
Restoring Vision: Retinal Regenerative Medicine and Beyond
Speaker
Masayo Takahashi
RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research
+ Abstract
The first in-human application of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) began in 2014 for retinal diseases. Understanding of the risks and benefits of stem cell treatment by our team of experts in basic research, genetic diagnostics, and clinical surgery enabled us to bring this iPSC technology to clinical phases within 5 years of its invention. This comprehensive approach, applied from early stages, not only creates a short path to clinical application but also informs strategies to improve functional and social outcomes for visually impaired patients. Furthermore, I will discuss how recent advancements in iPSC differentiation protocols using AI robotic platforms have enabled novel biological applications.
3:00 PM
Long-term Ex Vivo Expansion of Functional Hematopoietic Stem Cells: A Step Towards a Holy Grail in Hematology
Speaker
Hiromitsu Nakauchi
University of Tokyo & Stanford University
+ Abstract
Multipotent self-renewing hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) maintain hematopoiesis throughout life. The mechanism of such striking capability of HSCs remains unanswered, mainly because of the paucity of HSCs in the bone marrow. Ex vivo expansion has been a holy grail of HSC research, yet, no such system exists despite numerous studies over the decades. Here we developed a simple platform to expand functional mouse HSCs ~900-fold over 28-days using a chemically-defined, albumin-free culture conditions. The large numbers of ex vivo expanded HSCs enabled non-myeloablative HSC transplantation, curative for immunodeficient recipients. Thus, the ex vivo expansion of HSCs provides a platform not only to interrogate HSC self-renewal and lineage commitment but also suggests a novel approach in clinical HSC transplantation.
3:45 PM
Networking Coffee Break
Advances in Regenerative Medicine Research
4:00 PM
The Embryonic Stem Cell Transition
Speaker
Austin Smith
University of Cambridge
+ Abstract
Pluripotent cells emerge as a naïve founder population in the mammalian blastocyst. They then develop capacity for germline and somatic specification prior to lineage priming and differentiation. Mouse embryonic stem cells and post-implantation epiblast stem cells (EpiSC) represent the early naïve and late primed stages of pluripotency respectively. Between these two stages a formative transition occurs, in vitro and in the embryo, through which competence is acquired for multi-lineage induction. This transition is driven by three complementary transcription factor activities which orchestrate dismantling of the naïve pluripotency gene regulatory network and commissioning of the formative state.
4:45 PM
Panel ~ The Future of Regenerative Medicine: Emerging Topics in Basic Biology
Speakers
Azim Surani (moderator)
University of Cambridge
Brigid L.M. Hogan
Duke University School of Medicine
Emmanuelle Passegué
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Hans Schöler
Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine
+ Abstract
This moderated panel discussion and audience Q&A will focus on mechanisms of development and regeneration. The panel consists of members of the Award’s Scientific Advisory Council and Jury. The SAC provides scientific guidance to the Innovators in Science Award program and nominates candidates for the prize. The Jury is independently selected by the New York Academy of Sciences and chooses the award winners.
5:30 PM
Closing Remarks
5:35 PM
Networking Reception
6:30 PM