Registration

Rising to the Challenges of Human iPSC-derived Cells For Tox & Drug Screening
Paul Bello, Director of Operations, Axol Bioscience

We will present 'in the field' data on our portfolio of human iPSC and primary cells demonstrating their proven ease of use, reliability and consistency as meaningful drug discovery tools. Here, we overcome the challenges of cell line variability and address the needs for cell scale-up in assay campaigns.

Coffee & Networking in Exhibition Hall

Stem Cell Derived Cardiomyocytes in Drug Safety Evaluations: Lessons Learned from the Comprehensive in Vitro Proarrhythmia Assay (CiPA) Initiative.
Gary Gintant, Senior Research Fellow, Abbvie

This presentation will describe the critical role of human stem cell derived cardiomyocytes in the CiPA initiative, lessons learned as the project moves towards completion, along with their future role in preclinical cardiac safety testing.

Utilizing hiPSC-Derived Neurons and Cardiomyocytes For Drug Screening
Anne Bang, Director, Sanford Burnham Medical Research Institute

Patient-specific primary cells and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) complement traditional cell-based drug discovery assays and could aid in the development of clinically useful compounds. We will discuss our high content screening results and development of patient specific hiPSC based models for drug discovery.

Using Pluripotent Stem Cells in the Age of Genome Editing
Herbert Mueller-Hartmann, Head of Global Technology Development, Lonza Bioscience

The advantages of different cellular models for cell-based assays will be discussed. Among other developments, the use of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) has opened up new possibilities, including new types of disease modeling.

Lunch & Networking in Exhibition Hall

Poster Viewing Session

Technology Spotlight:
Disease-modelling using Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived Cells
Dominic Hussey, Senior Account Manager
This presentation will detail recent advances in using cells differentiated from HiPSCs for innate, induced and infectious disease modelling. Data will be presented to show how Neuronal, Hepatic and Cardiac Lineages are used in these experiments.

Using Stem Cells Models To Understand Effects Of Gene And Environment On Disease
Zameel Cader, Director and Principal Scientist, IMI StemBANCC, University of Oxford

In this presentation, I will discuss the use of human induced pluripotent stem cells to understand pathogenic mechanisms in neurological disorders and explore the effects of gene mutations and environmental signals on disease models.

Coffee & Networking in Exhibition Hall

Organotypic 3-dimensional Spheroid Cultures: Pre-clinical Testing Paradigms
Wendy Purcell, Chair, National Council for Healthcare Science in Higher Education

The development of 3D organotypic cell cultures, spheroids, will be described together with characterisation and functionality assessment data. Their potential as models for pre-clinical science and biomedicine will be outlined.

3D Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Heart-In-A-Jar: Insights For Driven Maturation, Drug Discovery, Cardiotoxicity Screening And Disease Modelling
Ronald Li, Professor, Director, Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine Consortium (SCRMC), Hong Kong University

Drinks Reception in the Exhibition Hall

End of Day One

Bringing Biologically Relevant Cells to Life - iPSC Technology in Lead Discovery and Safety Assessment
Alexander Kvist, Associate Principle Scientist, AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca present data, showing large scale generation of functional pancreatic beta-cells, at a scale commensurate with drug-discovery activities. Furthermore, data is presented demonstrating the power of combining precise genome editing with iPSC technology in target validation.

Decomposing the Sources of Molecular Variation in Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Oliver Stegle, Research Group Leader, EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI)

Novel Strategies for the Robust and Reproducible Production of Diverse Cell Types from Pluripotent Stem Cells for Drug Discovery
Michael West, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, BioTime Inc

Coffee & Networking in Exhibition Hall

Deciphering The Immunogenicity Of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
Kathy Lui, Assistant Professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Identification of the Cellular Effects of Sofosbuvir and Amiodarone using hiPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes
Sonja Stoelzle-Feix, Director Scientific Affairs, Nanion

Combined administration of sofosbuvir and amiodarone may lead to bradycardia in the clinic. We investigated their interaction on the cellular level using human stem cell derived cardiomyocytes. Our results indicate compromised excitation-contraction coupling mediated by impaired calcium handling.

Lunch & Networking in Exhibition Hall

Poster Viewing Session

Biomaterials as Stem Cell Regulators in the Development of in vitro Tissue Models
Gianluca Ciardelli, Professor, Polytechnic University of Turin

An overview on the versatility of polyurethane chemistry and their role as stem cell regulators in the design of scaffolds for regenerative medicine or pharmaceutical, diagnostic investigation to test new therapeutic strategies/drugs or elucidate aspects of cell functionality.

Modelling A Chronic Pain Condition In A Dish
Anja Nitzsche, Senior Scientist, Pfizer, Neuroscience and Pain Research Unit

High Content Analysis Of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Endothelial Cells
Gabor Foldes, Research Associate, Imperial College London

The goal of our project is to better identify and grow the optimal endothelial populations following their generation from human pluripotent stem cell cultures. The production of adequate cells is critical for the success of cell-based drug discovery in ischemic disease.

Coffee Break & Close of Conference