This week saw a delegation of Cambridge researchers travel to Malaysia to partake in the 2nd Cambridge – Oxford – Sunway Biomedical Symposium entitled Stem cells: from biology to therapy. The meeting explored the fundamental biology of stem cells and the progress being made towards translating basic research into stem cell therapeutics.
The organising committee, chaired by Prof Tony Green (Director, Cambridge Stem Cell Institute; Head of Department of Haematology) gathered an outstanding group of distinguished experts from the areas of stem cell biology, technology and clinical application to share their findings and insights into the progress towards stem cell therapeutics.
A broad range of topics were discussed in front of a 535 strong audience, from understanding the bone marrow niche through to stem cells in tissue repair and drug discovery platforms. Six Cambridge researchers presented their work, including Prof Tony Green (Department of Haematology), Prof Roger Barker (Department of Clinical Neurosciences), Prof David Rowitch (Department of Paediatrics), Prof Andrew McCaskie (Department of Surgery), Prof Ketan J Patel (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology) and Dr Sanjay Sinha (Department of Medicine).
Alongside international leaders in stem cell research, Malaysia's Minister of Health YB Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam delivered an excellent talk highlighting the opportunities and also the dangers of commercially driven / premature use of cellular therapies.
This important Symposium will serve to strengthen the existing relationships between the host institutions: University of Cambridge, Oxford University, Sunway University and Monash University.