Inaugural Stem Cell Symposium keenly received
More than 120 scientists and researchers from across Singapore attended the inaugural Stem Cell Symposium organised by LKCMedicine on 22 May. Offering an overview of regenerative medicine at a glance, it brought together leading experts in the field from around the world.
Opening the event at the Toh Kian Chui Lecture Theatre, LKCMedicine Professor of Developmental Biology Philip Ingham FRS remarked that this year marks the 20th anniversary of James Thomson’s paper describing how embryonic stem cell lines are derived from human blastocysts. “It was a breakthrough, which I think, gave enormous impetus to what was still a fledgling discipline of regenerative medicine in the late 1990s. For the first time, it provided a clear roadmap to the development of cell replacement therapies for diseases,” said Prof Ingham, who added that developmental biology played a key role in enabling scientists to make such discoveries.
Science is now finally set to deliver on the roadmap laid out in Thomson’s paper and its inherent promise, said Prof Ingham, citing recent advances such as breakthroughs in the treatment of macular degeneration as examples of the progress made.
In closing his address, he thanked the organisers – LKCMedicine Nanyang Assistant Professors Xia Yun and Christine Cheung – and said: “The future for regenerative medicine is looking very bright and I’m sure we’re going to hear why in this special symposium today.”
With that he handed the stage to the first keynote speaker, Professor Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, who holds the Roger Guillemin Chair at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in the US. Prof Belmonte described the different strategies for disease modelling including cell, genetic and epigenetic approaches, focusing in particular on their application to the study of ageing.
After an inspirational keynote presentation and Q&A, the presentations were split into three sub-topics: Regeneration in situ – in vivo Disease Modelling and Therapy, Human Models of Development and Disease, and Broadening the Capability, with three speakers taking to the stage per session.
Among them were LKCMedicine Assistant Professor of Developmental Biology Tom Carney, who talked about a protease and inhibitor system essential for maintaining both epidermal integrity and quiescent inflammation; Asst Prof Cheung, who talked about her work on specific genetic variants in Asian coronary artery disease; and Asst Prof Xia, who talked about her work on growing kidney organoids from human pluripotent stem cells.
To bring the symposium to a fitting end, Professor Charles ffrench-Constant from the University of Edinburgh delivered a second keynote presentation, during which he shared his work on neurons and neuronal replacement in stroke. To manage the audience’s expectations, he emphasised that the work represents first steps only, but hoped that it encourages the audience to think about the “some of the steps we need to go through if we are going to generate these transplantable niches in the long term.”
The honour of giving the closing address fell to NTU School of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering Division of Bioengineering Professor Teoh Swee Hin, who delivered his closing remarks to the theme of The Future of Regenerative Medicine – Leadership of Clinicians, Engineers, Biologists & Regulators. Prof Teoh felt that one important message he wanted to leave the audience with was that the ultimate aim for regenerative medicine is translation. To make his point, he shared his personal experience where he collaborated with a clinician to create a novel bioengineering solution for a girl from Bangalore.