'Bringing the regenerative medicine, stem cell and tissue
engineering community together'
ARCHIVE
LONDON
REGENERATIVE MEDICINE NETWORK
6.00 pm Thursday 16th November 2006
The November meeting of the London
Regenerative Medicine Network will be held in the evening
of Thursday 16th November at King's College London, Guy's
Hospital Campus at London Bridge, London
SE1 The meeting will have strategic speakers
from both California and the UK including:
In
August, 2001, President Bush issued an Executive Order
permitting the use of Federal funds for human embryonic
stem cell research, but only under restrictive conditions,
thus limiting the ability of American scientists to fully
participate in this new field of biomedical research. In
response, Californians in November, 2004 passedProposition 71, authorising the
expenditure of $3 billion in bond funds over ten years
for human embryonic stem cell research in California.
The California Institute of Regenerative Medicine
(CIRM), which was established underProposition 71to administer the
money, has spent the last eighteen months building an
infrastructure for a state granting agency. Although the
ability of the Institute to raise bond money has been
impeded by litigation, interim funding is now available
for stem cell research in California, and the research
program of CIRM is poised to begin.
Dr. Zach Hall is the President of the California Institute
for Regenerative Medicine, established by Proposition 71 to
promote stem cell research in California. Dr. Hall is a
former Director of the National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke, a former Senior Associate Dean at the
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern
California, and a former Executive Vice Chancellor of the
University of California, San Francisco, where he led
planning for the Mission Bay campus. In 2001-2002, he was
President and CEO of EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a
start-up biotechnology company for the discovery and
development of pharmaceuticals for neurodegenerative
disease. Dr. Hall is a neuroscientist who has made
fundamental contributions to investigation of the
neuromuscular junction, with more than 100 original papers
and reviews. He is an elected member of the Institute of
Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the
American Neurological Association, and a Fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science. In
2003 he received the Purkynje Medal for Scientific
Achievement from the Czech Academy of
Science.
Dr.
Arlene Chiu is Director of Scientific Activities at CIRM.
Previously, Dr. Chiu had served as associate director of
the Office of Research Administration of the National
Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at the
National Institutes of Health (NIH). Prior to that, she was
the program director for Stem Cell Research and for
research on Spinal Cord Injury at the National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Dr. Chiu served on the
NIH Stem Cell Task Force and the NIH Stem Cell
Implementation Committee, organised workshops on stem cells
and led efforts to promote co-operation with the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration in expediting the use of stem cells
in therapies. In 2004, she received the NIH
Director’s Award for her outstanding contributions to
the development of stem cell research. Dr. Chiu graduated
summa cum laude from Stanford University and she received
pre-doctoral training at the California Institute of
Technology and postdoctoral training at Washington
University, St. Louis. As an independent investigator, her
research focused on mammalian motor neurons and their
responses to injury and disease.
Professor Geoff Raismanwas one of
the very first neuroscientists whose work in
“stem” cell research has raised the real
possibility that spinal cord injuries, long considered
incurable, could be repaired. In 2005, at the
annualChristopher Reeve Foundationevent,
Geoff was awarded the prestigious Reeve-Irvine Medal for
his work contributing to promoting repair and recovery
of function in damaged spinal cords. Working alongside a
team of neurosurgeons at Queen Square, Geoff is
presently translating his world-class research into
clinical practice. Initial work has focused on a typical
injury sustained in a motorcycle accident called
“brachial plexus injury”, where the nerves
controlling the arm are pulled from their connection
with the spinal cord resulting in a permanently
paralysed arm. Further clinical applications are planned
including stroke, blindness and deafness.
Geoff is
Chair of Neurological Regeneration and Director of the
Spinal Repair Unit at the UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen
Square, London. In the 1960’s, medical qualified and
with a PhD in neuroscience from Cambridge University, Geoff
undertook his postdoctoral research at Harvard University
before returning to the UK. From 1974-2004, he headed up
the Division of Neurobiology at the MRC National Institute
for Medical Research at Mill Hill before moving to the UCL
Institute of Neurology in order to translate his research
into clinical practice. In addition to being on a number of
international scientific and advisory committees, Geoff has
published over 300 peer reviewed publications and has
received a number of highly prestigious awards including;
Fellow of the Royal Society (2001), Fellow of the Royal
Society of Arts (2002), "Outstanding Contribution to
British Neuroscience Award" (British Neuroscience
Association - 2004) and the Reeve-Irvine Medal (2004).
DR. NEIL
HARRIS- Co-author withDr.
Caroline Munroof the DTI
sponsored,"Guidance on codes of practice,
standardised methods and regulations for cell-based
therapeutics – from basic research to clinical
application"
Members
of the UK Regenerative Medicine community have expressed
the need for greater overall clarity regarding the current
legislation, guidance and standards to be used. In response
to this, Lord Sainsbury instigated the DTI to commissioned
theBritish Standards Institute
(BSI)to develop a Publicly
Available Specification (PAS) that gives guidance on the
product pathway from cell and tissue donation to
clinical trial for cell-based therapies and outlines the
accompanying legislation, codes of practice, guidance
documents and standards for this process. Neil's
presentation will include an overview of the
regenerative medicine PAS 83 and illustrate with
clinical examples, how it is intended to be used.
Neil’s co-author, Dr. Caroline Munro (University
of York), will also be available to answer questions.
Dr. Neil
Harris has been atLGC, Europe's leading
independent analytical laboratory and the UK's National
Measurement Institute for chemical and biochemical
measurement, for nine years. Neil undertook his PhD at
Nottingham University followed by post doctoral research
at the University of St. Andrews. Since joining LGC he
has been involved in project management for a diverse
range of programmes and initiatives for Government, EU
and private customers, a number of which are currently
in the areas of regenerative medicine and related
activities such as bioprocessing. Neil presently leads
the Bioanalysis Bioprogramme management team. Recently,
he undertook a DTI funded secondment to BSI to work with
Dr. Caroline Munro on the regenerative medicine PAS 83
to be discussed in his presentation.
20.30 - 22.00 - Networking reception - enjoy a glass of
wine or two in the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases,
KCL
This meeting is free of charge to everyone through the
generous financial support of bothGlaxoSmithKlineand theGuy's, King's & St
Thomas' Annual Fund,
plus invaluable support from theAdvanced Centre for
Biochemical Engineering, UCLand the theWolfson Centre for
Age-Related Diseases, KCL.
