The Stem Cell Podcast

Dr. Thomas Durcan is an Associate Professor and Director of the Early Drug Discovery Unit at the Montreal Neurological Institute. He oversees a team of 40+ research staff and students, committed to applying patient-derived stem cells towards the development of phenotypic discovery assays and 3D neuronal organoid models for neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders. He talks about modeling sporadic ALS in a dish, partnering with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and promoting open science.

In June 2023, we attended ISSCR 2023, the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, in Boston. We spoke with delegates about their research and impressions of the meeting, including their reasons for attending, what they were most looking forward to, and the most memorable research presented.

Dr. Thomas Zwaka is the Director of the Huffington Center for Cell-Based Research in Parkinson's Disease and a Professor of Regenerative and Developmental Biology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. His research focuses on fundamental questions surrounding stem cell biology, including how to reverse the process of differentiation and “re-program” any given cell type into a pluripotent stem cell.

In June 2023, Daylon and Arun attended the International for Stem Cell Research's (ISSCR) annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, and recorded daily episodes discussing highlights of the final day of the meeting.

In June 2023, Daylon and Arun attended the International Society for Stem Cell Research's (ISSCR) annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, and recorded daily episodes discussing highlights of the third day of the meeting.

In June 2023, Daylon and Arun attended the International Society for Stem Cell Research’s (ISSCR) annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, and recorded daily episodes discussing highlights of the second day of the meeting.

In June 2023, Daylon and Arun attended the International Society for Stem Cell Research's (ISSCR) annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, and recorded daily episodes discussing highlights of the first day of the meeting. They discuss the pre-meeting workshops, including Arun's own talk on stem cell research in space, as well as highlights from the morning's focus sessions and innovation showcases. They also dive into the Presidential Symposium and the new technologies presented in Plenary II.

Dr. Emma Rawlins is a Senior Group Leader at the Gurdon Institute in the Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. She talks about modeling fetal lung development using organoids, using single-cell RNA sequencing to create a human lung fetal atlas, and her advice to trainees to follow their hearts.

Dr. Insoo Hyun is the Director of the Center for Life Sciences and Public Learning at the Museum of Science in Boston, and a Member of the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics. He talks about embryo models for early development, his work on the ISSCR's guidelines for stem cell research, and advances in reproductive medicine.

Dr. Aileen Anderson is the Director of the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine. Her lab investigates the role of inflammatory mechanisms in degeneration and regeneration in the injured central nervous system. She talks about cell therapy for spinal cord injury and how academic labs can collaborate with companies to move toward the clinic. She also discusses biomaterials to support axon regeneration.