Clinical Applications of Stem Cells Keynote Speakers

Mari Dezawa Professor and Chair, Department of Stem Cell Biology and Histology & Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Tohoku University Prof. Mari Dezawa graduated Chiba University School of Medicine in 1989, awarded the degree of MD. She worked as a resident in Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology in Chiba University hospital for two years and then she got PhD degree in 1995. She became a research associate of Department of Anatomy in Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine where she started to clarify the mechanism of neural regeneration. She then moved to Department of Anatomy Yokohama City University as Assistant Professor in 2000 where she started to work with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). After moving to Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine as Associate Professor in 2003, she discovered methods to induce neurons and skeletal muscle cells from human MSCs (J. Clin. Invest, 2004; Science, 2005). In 2008, she became Professor and Chair of Department of Stem Cell Biology and Histology and Department of Anatomy and Anthropology in Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine. Recently, she discovered a novel type of intrinsic human pluripotent stem cells which are named Muse cells that reside in normal adult mesenchymal tissues (PNAS, 2010, 2011).
Edward Lanphier CEO, Sangamo Biosciences Inc Edward Lanphier is the founder of Sangamo BioSciences, and has served as president, chief executive officer and a member of the Board of Directors since the company’s inception in 1995. He has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry including senior management positions at Somatix Therapy Corporation, BioGrowth, Inc., Biotherapeutics, Inc., and Synergen, Inc. Before joining Synergen, he was employed by Eli Lilly and Company in the strategic business planning-biotechnology group. Mr. Lanphier is currently the Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, the preeminent global advocate for regenerative and advanced therapies. He also serves on the Board of Directors of The Biotechnology Institute, the Board of Trustees of The Buck Institute for Research on Aging, is a member of the Industry Advisory Board for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and is on the Dean’s Advisory Board of the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Mr. Lanphier has a B.A. in biochemistry from Knox College.
Lawrence Stanton Associate Director, Genome Institute of Singapore Lawrence Stanton joined the Genome Institute of Singapore in 2002, where he serves as an Associate Director. He holds Adjunct Professorships at the Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, and School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University. His current research is focused on the molecular characterization of transcriptional regulatory networks in stem cells and disease-specific iPSC cells with the aim to direct the growth, differentiation, and reprogramming of these cells into therapeutically useful tissues and models of human diseases. Recently, the lab has been generating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) from patients with neurological disorders. These patient-specific iPSC are then converted into various neural cell types, which provides us the opportunity to study diseased neural tissue in vitro. By generating “micro-tissues” of neural origin by bioengineering multiple cell types in 3-D on biocompatible materials his group is collaborating with clinical and industrial partners to understand the molecular basis of neurological diseases and to discover therapeutic modalities to treat such disorders. He began his studies on differentiation of human embryonic stem cells while Director of Functional Genomics at Geron Corporation. Prior to that, he worked at Agilent Technologies and Scios Inc, where he held senior research and management positions in drug discovery. He has authored more than 80 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals, is an inventor on 11 patents, an active member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), is on the editorial board for the journals Stem Cells and Current Molecular Medicine, and serves on the Executive Committee of the Stem Cell Society of Singapore. In 2011, together with colleagues from GIS, he was awarded the prestigious President’s National Science Award (Singapore).
Minoru Ueda Professor, Nagoya University Dr. Minoru Ueda received a DDS degree from Tokyo Medical and Dental University in 1978 and a PhD degree in medical science from Nagoya University in 1982. He was appointed Professor and Chair of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Nagoya University School of Medicine in 1994, also Visiting Professor of Stem Cell Engineering at Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo in 2003 and Korea University Ansan Hospital, Korea in 2011. He became Chairman of scientific advisory board at Japan Tissue Engineering, Inc. which was the first tissue engineering company in 1999 to commercialize the cultured skin. In recognition of his highly distinguished career, he received the “2004 President Award” from the Science Council of Japan for his contribution to the development of tissue engineered skin and cartilage. He is former President at Japanese Tissue Engineering Society, Asian Tissue Engineering Society, and Vice-President at Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society. He is also an Associate Editor at the Academy of Osseointegration. Currently he holds the positions of Professor Emeritus at Nagoya University, Japan, Visiting Professor at Bergen University, Norway and the Chairman for the newly formed (end 2014) Foundation for Preemptive Medicine, Japan.