ARCHIVE
DECEMBER 2005
MEETING
The December meeting of the London Regenerative Medicine Network
will be held in the evening of Monday 12th December at King's
College London (New Hunt's House Lecture Theatre 2, Guy's Hospital
campus at London Bridge, London SE1). The meeting will include an
update on The UK Stem Cell Foundation by its Chief Executive, David
Macauley and presentations by two leading players in the UK
regenerative medicine world - Prof. Richard Oreffo and his
mesenchymal stem cell research which has just entered the clinic
and Dr. Mark Lewis who will discuss his soft tissue regeneration
research plus his experience as a Scientific Consultant to Isolagen
Inc, a pioneering American regenerative medicine company who over
the past two years has treated more than 8,500 patients with
autologous cell therapies.
David
Macauley - Chief Executive - UK Stem Cell
Foundation
In February 2005, a
group of high profile scientists and business people launched an
initiative to establish a £100 million foundation in the UK to
support stem cell research and its applications. The purpose of the
Foundation is to ensure a speedy transfer from the laboratory bench
to the bedside. To attain this goal, the Foundation plans initially
to directly fund promising clinical projects in UK medical schools,
universities and hospitals. This will be achieved by providing
support to enable translational research studies and clinical
trials to advance; and by promoting a collaborative dialogue
amongst the stem cell research community. The creation of the
Foundation has been personally endorsed by the Prime Minister and
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, as well as by the Royal Society of
Medicine, MRC and BBSRC, and by twenty leading research
universities, including Cambridge, Imperial, Oxford and UCL.
David has very kindly agreed to bring us all up to date with the
Foundation's progress.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4248079.stm
http://www.sundayherald.com/48064
Prof.
Richard Oreffo - University of Southampton
Richard leads the tissue engineering programme at Southampton. He
has extensive expertise in skeletal biology and the mechanisms
involved in mesenchymal stem cell differentiation. In 2001 he was
recognised with the Maxime Hanns award for collaborative research
in Bone Tissue Engineering, appointed to a Senior Lectureship in
2002 and to a Readership and Personal Chair in 2004.
Richard's group's research is primarily centred on:
i) development of unique tissue engineering approaches for new
cartilage and bone formation for orthopaedic application using
human mesenchymal stem cells
ii) elucidating the role of fetal programming as a consequence of
maternal nutritional challenge on mesenchymal stem cell
differentiation, activity, potential and bone function with
age.
The group is currently developing strategies to couple stem cell
technology with biomimetic scaffolds in close collaboration with
biomaterials and tissue engineering groups in the UK as well as
international collaborations in Germany and the USA. Recently his
research has just entered the clinical phase.
http://www.mesenchymalstemcells.org
www.bbsrc.ac.uk/media/pressreleases/05_09_29_gene_delivery.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2699695.stm
Dr.
Mark Lewis - UCL Eastman Dental Institute,
London
Mark has two hats! Not only being Director of Research Operations
at the Eastman Dental Institute, he is also a Scientific Consultant
to Isolagen Inc. Isolagen, founded in 1995 and located in Houston,
Texas, has become an emerging force in regenerative medicine by
specialising in the development and commercialisation of its
autologous cellular system technology. The "Isolagen Process"
represents a unique breakthrough in autologous cell therapy
technology including potential applications in a number of areas
such as cosmetic dermatology, cosmetic surgery, periodontal
disease, and reconstructive dentistry. To date over 8,500 patients
have been treated with Isolagen produced autologous cell therapies,
the patient's cells being processed in their London laboratories.
In what is a rapidly changing regulatory landscape, Mark's
experiences with Isolagen have ranged from dealing with the media
to suggested changes to their processes through to UCL projects
funded by the company.
http://www.eastman.ucl.ac.uk/staff/mlewis.html
http://www.isolagen.com/
This
meeting is free of charge to everyone through the generous
sponsorship of GlaxoSmithKline plus the kind assistance of the
London Biotechnology Network.
PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO LECTURE THEATRE SEATING CAPACITY + CATERING
ARRANGEMENTS, IF YOU WISH TO ATTEND THIS EVENT YOU MUST REGISTER,
OTHERWISE UNFORTUNATELY YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GAIN ADMISSION.
Seat allocation is on a first come first served basis. If you wish
to attend, all that is required, is to email the Network
Secretary.
Agenda:
18.00 - Registration over tea and coffee
18.30 - Welcome by Mr. Chris Mason (UCL) - Co-organiser of the
Network
18.35 - Presentation 1 - "Facing the future: experiences at the
academic/industry interface" - Dr. Mark Lewis - Director of
Research Operations - Eastman Dental Institute
19.05 - Q+A Session
19.10 - Presentation 2 - "Bridging the gap: restoring ageing bones
using bone tissue engineering strategies" - Prof. Richard Oreffo -
University of Southampton
19.40 - Q+A Session
19.45 - Up date on The UK Stem Cell Foundation - David Macauley -
Chief Executive - UK Stem Cell Foundation
20.00 - Closing remarks including news on the launch of the new
journal "Regenerative Medicine" - Dr. Stephen Minger (King's) -
Co-organiser of the Network
20.10 - 22.00 - Networking reception - enjoy a glass of wine or
two...
Please only respond if you can definitely make the meeting.
Responses must go to the Network Secretary.
We look forward to seeing everyone on Monday 12th December for our
final event of 2005!
Stephen Minger + Chris Mason
Co-organisers, London Regenerative Medicine Network.
www.regenmednetwork.com
PRINCIPLE
SPONSORS
Guy's, King's and St
Thomas' Annual Fund
London
Regenerative Medicine Network
"Bringing the regenerative medicine, stem cell and tissue
engineering community together..."