This is John Preece guestblogging about the recent International Society for Stem Cell Research Annual Meeting that took place in Toronto last week. ISSCR is the largest event on the stem cell / regenerative medicine calendar, and it attracted over 3500 researchers, biotech representatives and policymakers, including some of the most preeminent scientists in the field. I spent four days catching up on cutting-edge research, reading posters, chatting to scientists and trying out new technology (though a strict no-recording order prevented me from documenting any of it).
With world-class research laboratories and some of the leading scientists in the field, both Canada and the United Kingdom were well-represented at the conference (the other most prominent countries were Japan and the USA). Here’s a quick list of who I saw speak (I unfortunately missed Freda Miller from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto due to her being on at the same time as Peter Zandstra):
| Speaker | Institution | City, Country | Topic |
| Peter Coffey | University College London | London, UK | Stem cell therapy for loss of vision |
| John Gurdon | The Gurdon Institute | Cambridge, UK | Reprogramming of cell nuclei |
| Sarah Kozar | Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute | Cambridge, UK | Chronologies in stem cells found in the gut |
| Azim Surani | The Gurdon Institute | Cambridge, UK | Pluripotency and the epigenetic reprogramming of germ cells |
| Fiona Watt | Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute | Cambridge, UK | Signalling between stem cells and the niche |
| The University of Cambridge | |||
| Tzvi Aviv | Hospital for Sick Children | Toronto, Canada | Functional genomic screening of neural stem cells |
| John Dick | University Health Network | Toronto, Canada | Evolution and genetic diversity in leukaemia stem cells |
| Armand Keating | University Health Network | Toronto, Canada | Cell mediation following a heart attack |
| Anthony Mak | The University of Toronto | Toronto, Canada | Signalling in cancer stem cells |
| Michael Milyavsky | Ontario Institute for Cancer Research | Toronto, Canada | Human stem cell screening in DNA damage |
| University Health Network | |||
| Andras Nagy | Mount Sinai Hospital | Toronto, Canada | Understanding pluripotency through cell reprogramming |
| Cristina Nostro | McEwen Centre for Regnerative Medicine | Toronto, Canada | Signalling in human pancreatic stem cells |
| Janet Rossant | Hospital for Sick Children | Toronto, Canada | A brief history of pluripotency and the importance of functional assays |
| Michael Rudnicki | Ottawa Health Research Institute | Ottawa, Canada | Signalling and the regulation of muscle stem cells |
| Amy Wong | Hospital for Sick Children | Toronto, Canada | Human pluripotent stem cells and cystic fibrosis |
| Peter Zandstra | McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine | Toronto, Canada | Novel bioreactors for pluripotent stem cell generation |
| The University of Toronto | |||
| University Health Network |
The overall mood at the conference was one of optimism and soon-to-be-realiased potential: although stem cell therapies have occasionally suffered from over-hype, they remain a huge and rapidly-progressing field that, with investment and hard work, will revolutionise modern medicine. With both Canada and the United Kingdom having centres of stem cell excellence and enjoying government support for research, there are many opportunities for collaborations and partnerships. Be sure to keep an eye on this blog and the SIN Canada newsletter for new developments.