Dr. Laura Andres-Martin is a Research Investigator, Oncology, Dr. Daniel Paul is the Senior VP, Discovery & Platform Development, and Dr. Raeka Aiyar is the VP, Scientific & DEIB Outreach at the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF). This episode was recorded live and in-person at the NYSCF Research Institute. The panelists talk about NYSCF's approach to automation, their women's reproductive cancer initiative, and promoting inclusion and belonging in science. They also talk about Founde...
Aug 22, 2023•1 hr
Dr. Nathaniel Huebsch is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. His lab focuses on understanding how mechanical cues originating at cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix contacts influence signaling and fate. They are especially interested in how those cues affect heart development and disease. He talks about cardiac models and cardiomyocyte maturity.
Aug 08, 2023•1 hr 14 min
Dr. Thomas Durcan is an Associate Professor and Director of the Early Drug Discovery Unit at the Montreal Neurological Institute. He oversees a team of 40+ research staff and students, committed to applying patient-derived stem cells towards the development of phenotypic discovery assays and 3D neuronal organoid models for neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders. He talks about modeling sporadic ALS in a dish, partnering with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and promoting open science.
Jul 25, 2023•1 hr 5 min
In June 2023, we attended ISSCR 2023, the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, in Boston. We spoke with delegates about their research and impressions of the meeting, including their reasons for attending, what they were most looking forward to, and the most memorable research presented.
Jul 11, 2023•42 min
Dr. Thomas Zwaka is the Director of the Huffington Center for Cell-Based Research in Parkinson's Disease and a Professor of Regenerative and Developmental Biology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. His research focuses on fundamental questions surrounding stem cell biology, including how to reverse the process of differentiation and “re-program” any given cell type into a pluripotent stem cell.
Jun 27, 2023•1 hr 19 min
In June 2023, Daylon and Arun attended the International for Stem Cell Research's (ISSCR) annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, and recorded daily episodes discussing highlights of the final day of the meeting.
Jun 18, 2023•37 min
In June 2023, Daylon and Arun attended the International Society for Stem Cell Research's (ISSCR) annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, and recorded daily episodes discussing highlights of the third day of the meeting.
Jun 17, 2023•30 min
In June 2023, Daylon and Arun attended the International Society for Stem Cell Research’s (ISSCR) annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, and recorded daily episodes discussing highlights of the second day of the meeting.
Jun 16, 2023•37 min
In June 2023, Daylon and Arun attended the International Society for Stem Cell Research's (ISSCR) annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, and recorded daily episodes discussing highlights of the first day of the meeting. They discuss the pre-meeting workshops, including Arun's own talk on stem cell research in space, as well as highlights from the morning's focus sessions and innovation showcases. They also dive into the Presidential Symposium and the new technologies presented in Plenary II.
Jun 15, 2023•22 min
Dr. Emma Rawlins is a Senior Group Leader at the Gurdon Institute in the Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. She talks about modeling fetal lung development using organoids, using single-cell RNA sequencing to create a human lung fetal atlas, and her advice to trainees to follow their hearts.
Jun 13, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Dr. Insoo Hyun is the Director of the Center for Life Sciences and Public Learning at the Museum of Science in Boston, and a Member of the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics. He talks about embryo models for early development, his work on the ISSCR's guidelines for stem cell research, and advances in reproductive medicine.
May 30, 2023•1 hr 16 min
Dr. Aileen Anderson is the Director of the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine. Her lab investigates the role of inflammatory mechanisms in degeneration and regeneration in the injured central nervous system. She talks about cell therapy for spinal cord injury and how academic labs can collaborate with companies to move toward the clinic. She also discusses biomaterials to support axon regeneration.
May 16, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Dr. Shannon McKinney-Freeman is a Principal Investigator and Member at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Her lab focuses on the fundamental biology of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). She talks about the role of HSCs in sickle cell disease and the state of HSC transplantation research. She also discusses her work on hematopoietic progenitor expansion.
May 02, 2023•1 hr 21 min
Dr. Sergiu Pașca is the Kenneth T. Norris, Jr. Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and the Bonnie Uytengsu and Family Director of the Stanford Brain Organogenesis Program. His lab has pioneered and applied neural organoid and assembloid technologies to make discoveries in fundamental and clinical neuroscience. He talks about the response to his viral TED Talk and the importance of names for nervous system models. He also discusses CRISPR screening in assembloid...
Apr 18, 2023•1 hr 18 min
Dr. Stylianos Lefkopoulos is an Associate Editor of Nature Cell Biology. He talks about a day in the life of an editor and what he looks for in a manuscript. He also discusses the role of preprints in publishing and promoting diversity in STEM.
Apr 04, 2023•1 hr 3 min
Dr. Noriaki Ono is an Associate Professor at the University of Texas Health Center at Houston. His research focuses on bone development and regeneration. He talks about in vivo lineage tracing techniques and how early perichondrial cells contribute to developing bones. He also discusses the art and science of dentistry, mentorship, and moving his lab across the country.
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr 16 min
Dr. Ryan Conder is the Director of Epithelial and Organoid Systems at STEMCELL Technologies. He talks about the next phase in organoid research and what questions organoids can help answer. He also discusses his experience doing a postdoc in Vienna, and Vancouver as a growing biotech hub.
Mar 07, 2023•1 hr 14 min
Keith Alm is the CEO, Dr. Haifan Lin is the President, and Dr. David Scadden is 2023 Annual Meeting Program Chair of the ISSCR. They talk about the upcoming annual meeting being held this year in Boston, a biotech hub with a vibrant stem cell research community. They discuss the highlights of this year's program including speakers, award winners, and more. They also discuss making this year's meeting more accessible to trainees and researchers around the world.
Feb 21, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Dr. Lorenz Studer is the Director of the Center for Stem Cell Biology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Institute. His lab exploits recent advances in stem cell biology to develop new therapies for degenerative diseases and cancer. Their projects involve directing the fate and age of hPSCs, modeling diseases, and developing cell therapies. He talks about his journey into the stem cell field and co-founding BlueRock Therapeutics. He also discusses the challenges of developing cell therapies at s...
Feb 07, 2023•1 hr 7 min
Dr. Boyang Zhang is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at McMaster University. His lab uses advanced biofabrication techniques to build human micro-tissue models for predictive drug discovery and to construct functional macro-tissues for tissue regeneration in patients. He talks about building microfluidic devices for biological applications and using machine learning to study organoid morphology. He also talks about his team's high-throughput system for vascularizing tissue spheroid...
Jan 24, 2023•1 hr 10 min
In this special episode, Daylon and Arun chat with Drs. Jason Goldsmith and Brenda Raud, the hosts of The Immunology Podcast. Recorded in-person and led by Dr. Nicole Quinn from STEMCELL Technologies, the four hosts discuss the impact that podcasting has had on their careers and how it can make science and scientists more accessible. They also talk about the future of science communication and advice for young scientists pursuing careers in academia and industry.
Jan 10, 2023•52 min
Dr. Clive Svendsen is the Executive Director of the Regenerative Medicine Institute at Cedars-Sinai. His lab uses stem cells to develop models and treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. He talks about using stem cells to model spinal muscular atrophy and the blood-brain barrier, and his cell-gene therapy trial for ALS.
Dec 13, 2022•1 hr 15 min
Dr. Shuibing Chen is the Kilts Family Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine. Her lab uses hiPSCs and ESCs for disease modeling and drug screening, with a focus on diabetes and infectious diseases such as Zika and SARS-CoV-2. She talks about her recent genome-wide association study in a dish, the role of philanthropic funding in stem cell research, and the role of industry partnerships in translational research.
Nov 29, 2022•1 hr 6 min
Dr. Paola Arlotta is the Golub Family Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University. She is interested in understanding the molecular laws that govern the birth, differentiation, and assembly of the human brain’s cerebral cortex. She talks about using organoids to study the genetics of autism. She also discusses single-cell sequencing of brain organoids and how to make single-cell sequencing methods and data more accessible.
Nov 15, 2022•1 hr 16 min
Dr. Jacob Hanna is an Associate Professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science and investigates cellular reprogramming and embryogenesis. This episode features a discussion on the challenges of growing embryo models in a roller culture system and the feasibility of making human gametes. Dr. Hanna also talks about launching the startup, Renewal Bio, the ethical discussions surrounding stem cell-derived embryos, and creating a more inclusive and equitable scientific community.
Nov 01, 2022•1 hr 20 min
Dr. Stefan Irion is the Senior Vice President of Research at BlueRock Therapeutics, a leading engineered cell therapy company with a mission to develop regenerative medicines for intractable diseases. He talks about the company's Parkinson's disease trial and the challenges of genetically manipulating stem cells. He also discusses his journey from physician to scientist and his personal connection to Parkinson's disease.
Oct 18, 2022•56 min
Dr. Jun Wu is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern. The Wu lab uses interspecies chimeras to study fundamental biology: conserved and divergent developmental programs, determination of body and organ size, species barriers, and cancer resistance. They are also working to develop new applications for regenerative medicine. He talks about developmental compatibility between species, and the similarities and differences between blastoid models and blastocyts. He also discu...
Oct 04, 2022•1 hr 10 min
Dr. Edward Grow is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas, Southwestern. His lab studies reproductive biology, specifically the development of the egg and subsequently the fertilized embryo. He talks about regulating totipotency in ESCs, retroviral reactivation, and ex vivo culturing of follicles and oocytes.
Sep 20, 2022•1 hr 6 min
Dr. Prisca Liberali is Senior Group Leader at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research and an Assistant Professor at the University of Basel. Her research aims to understand the collective properties of organoid systems and their patterns, including how these systems allow systematic perturbation by established methods for modulating gene expression. She studies self-organization, symmetry breaking, intestinal organoid development, gastruloids, and mechanosensing mechanisms.
Sep 06, 2022•1 hr 9 min
Drs. Tenneille Ludwig, Peter Andrews, and Madeline Lancaster are members of the ISSCR Standards Initiative for Pluripotent Stem Cell Research. They discuss the need for basic and preclinical standards to ensure rigor and reproducibility in stem cell research. They also talk about standards for pluripotency and model systems, and the initiative's international focus.
Aug 23, 2022•1 hr 15 min
