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LONDON REGENERATIVE MEDICINE NETWORK

NEXT MEETING

6.00 pm Wednesday 13th December 2006

40b

The December meeting of the London Regenerative Medicine Network will be held in the evening of Wednesday 13th December at King's College London, Guy's Hospital Campus at London Bridge, London SE1

The meeting will have leading experts from both the USA and UK. This meeting is FREE OF CHARGE due to sponsorship from both GlaxoSmithKline and the Guy's, King's & St Thomas' Annual Fund.


USA

Dr. Anthony Davies - Vice President, Geron Corporation, California

Prof. Michael Lysaght - Brown University, Rhode Island and President-Elect of the American Society of Artificial Internal Organs

UK

Prof. Robin Ali - UCL Institute of Ophthalmology/Moorfields Eye Hospital, London


SPEAKERS

USA:

DR. ANTHONY DAVIES - GERON CORPORATION, CA, USA

Geron
Human embryonic stem cells show great promise in several clinical areas including neurological disease, cardiac disease and diabetes. Dr. Anthony Davies' presentation, "Development of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Technology for Human Therapeutic Application" will include an overview of Geron's Regenerative Medicine Programme with special emphasis on their spinal cord injury product GRNOPC1. GRNOPC1 will be the world's first human embryonic stem cell-derived product to enter the clinic when it starts clinical trials in 2007.

Dr. Anthony Davies is Vice President, Product Development at Geron Corporation. Anthony has operational responsibility for the Geron pipeline of products from Process Sciences through Manufacturing Sciences and Manufacturing Operations. Anthony has 13 years of biotechnology industry experience ranging from high throughput cloning to large-scale process development and manufacturing. In addition, Anthony is a frequent speaker at meetings and symposia, referees articles for publication in multiple journals and sits on a number of United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) expert committees.


PROF. MICHAEL LYSAGHT - BROWN UNIVERSITY, RI, USA
Brown University Logo
Prof. Michael Lysaght is the leading international commentator on the field of regenerative medicine with a solid track record going back to the very origins of the sector. Michael has been closely involved in both commercial and academic tissue engineering since the late 1980’s. Michael is currently Director of Brown University’s Center for Biomedical Engineering in Providence, RI, USA and President-Elect of the American Society of Artificial Internal Organs.
ASAIO
Michael's presentation will discuss both the hype and the reality of today's regenerative medicine field. The promise and potential of tissue engineering and cell therapies, especially as elaborated in the popular press stand in sharp contrast to the reality as the sector gears up create clinically successful products and therapies. This presentation will analyse the difficulties faced by the pioneers of tissue engineering and discuss possible implications for the future.

UK:

PROF. ROBIN ALI - UCL INSTITUTE OF OPHTHALMOLOGY/MOORFIELDS EYE HOSPITAL
UCL-LRMN-Logo
Photoreceptor loss results in irreversible blindness in many retinal diseases. Attempts to repair the damage by implanting stem cells into adult retinas have largely failed. However, Prof. Robin Ali and his team have now been able to demonstrate that the adult retina can incorporate new photoreceptor cells that connect with the brain and produce visual responses, provided the transplanted cells are committed photoreceptor (rod) precursors that are at a specific stage of their development. These findings, now published in the journal Nature, pave the way for the production of cells suitable for human transplantation from either embryonic or adult stem cells and also challenge the common assumption that undifferentiated stem cells offer the best prospect for central nervous system repair.

Robin Ali is Professor of Human Molecular Genetics at University College London. Robin has a joint appointment at the Institute of Ophthalmology (associated with Moorfields Eye Hospital) and at the Institute of Child Health (associated with Great Ormond Street Hospital). Robin's main research interests are the development of gene and stem cell therapies for the treatment of eye disease and he is leading the Department of Health funded clinical trial of gene therapy for childhood blindness that will commence in 2007.


AGENDA:

18.00 - Registration + networking over tea and coffee

18.30 - Welcome - Dr. Stephen Minger (KCL) - Co-organiser - LRMN

18.35 - "Retinal repair by transplantation of photoreceptor precursors: implications for stem cell therapy" - Prof. Robin Ali - Institute of Ophthalmology/Moorfields Eye Hospital

19.00 - Q+A Session

19.05 - "Tissue Engineering: Great Expectations” - Prof. Michael Lysaght - Brown University, RI, USA and President-Elect of the American Society of Artificial Internal Organs

19.30 - Q+A Session

19.35 - "Development of human embryonic stem cell technology for human therapeutic application” - Dr. Anthony Davies, Geron Corporation, CA, USA

20.00 - Q+A Session

20.05 - Closing remarks - Chris Mason (UCL) - Co-organiser - LRMN

20.10 - 22.00 - Networking reception - enjoy a glass of wine or two plus seasonal mince pies in the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases, KCL



This meeting is free of charge to everyone through the generous financial support of both GlaxoSmithKline and the Guy's, King's & St Thomas' Annual Fund, plus invaluable support from the Advanced Centre for Biochemical Engineering, UCL and the the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases, KCL.


To reserve a place, please just email the LRMN Network Secretary, Dr. Louise Mason: louise.mason@regenmednetwork.com


*****PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS A CHANGE FROM OUR REGULAR LECTURE THEATRE TO: Lecture Theatre 2, New Hunt's House, Guy's Hospital Campus at London Bridge, London SE1*****

Map: pdf LINK


Best wishes,

Stephen Minger + Chris Mason
Co-founders + Co-organisers, London Regenerative Medicine Network.
www.lrmn.com

NETWORK PRINCIPLE SPONSORS


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Guy's, King's and St Thomas' Annual Fund



London Regenerative Medicine Network

"Bringing the regenerative medicine, stem cell and tissue engineering community together..."