Year in Review: 2023-2024 Message from the President

The past year has been a time of remarkable scientific advancement and contributions from our growing ISSCR community. The ISSCR now represents nearly 5,000 individuals in more than 80 countries. Nearly half our members are students and postdocs, who are the future of our field. And while our field is moving fast, so is your society.

Priorities for my year as President centered on two themes: advancing the translation of science to medicine, and the defense of stem cell science and its stakeholders.

Amid these initiatives, we also took on emerging priorities for the society and field: international collaboration, greater support for early career scientists, and the growing need for standards and revisiting guidelines.

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the community in such a meaningful way this past year and proud to share our accomplishments to date. Your work – as scientists, volunteers, and champions of the field – continues to be an inspiration. Thank you.

The translation of science to medicine: regulation, education, and equitable access.

With the guidance of the Manufacturing, Clinical Translational, and Regulatory (MCTR) Committee, the ISSCR met with the United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and with regulators from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the first time. And, we are preparing to meet with Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PDMA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later this year. These opportunities give ISSCR members a voice with prominent regulators, as we work towards promoting international harmonization of regulations, and for the ISSCR to provide scientific input on the development of cell therapies, clinical trials, and manufacturing challenges.

Meanwhile, the ISSCR’s Education Committee has been hard at work to deploy Continuing Medical Education (CME) programs for physicians later this year. The initiative is designed to provide a practical understanding of recent research advancements and future clinical applications while optimizing patient counseling.

Finally, we’ve begun important conversations about how the ISSCR can help ensure emerging cell-based therapies will be accessible to patients. We will convene an initial discussion at ISSCR 2024 and will announce plans to host an Access and Affordability Summit in partnership with the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) this Fall. The summit will convene leaders in industry, insurance, science, and government to learn from the early experiences and to discuss strategies for the future.

Defending the field: unproven therapies, patient education and funding.

We continue to press the society’s policy agenda, led by the Public Policy Committee to uphold guidelines for rigor and ethics, while ensuring our research is encouraged and prioritized. During the 2024 Congressional Advocacy Day in Washington D.C., members advocated for fetal tissue research, raised awareness for the dangers of unproven products, and expressed the vital need for robust and sustained investment in biomedical research.

In the battle against unproven therapies, the ISSCR filed an amicus brief to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in support of the FDA’s authority to regulate unproven stem cell treatments. These activities align with our policy priorities and demonstrate the society’s leadership on topics important to the stem cell research community.

Complementary to these initiatives, we’ve strengthened our public education efforts with an updated public education website, AboutStemCells.org, which hosts content to inform patients and families about stem cell research and its applications and includes an updated Patient Guide to Stem Cell Treatments, and disease fact sheets to explain the current status of stem cell research and address sensitive areas of the field.

International engagement and support for early career scientists.

In September of 2023 we partnered with the São Paulo School of Advanced Science to bring the work of the Education Committee’s stem cell biology syllabus to life. This partnership resulted in a five-day course for 100 students that concluded with a two-day international symposium. This first-of-its-kind event aligns with ISSCR’s focus on building inclusivity and diversity and creating impactful opportunities for students. The program also may serve as a model in the future to expand education and the world class scientific programming offered by the ISSCR.

Beyond the meeting in Brazil, we continue to provide opportunities for students and early career scientists. For the second year, we are offering Science Spotlights at the annual meeting. These sessions are conceived and led by trainees, creating unique opportunities to design a scientific session at our hallmark annual event. We had so much interest in this initiative that we offered Science Spotlight webinars throughout the year to accommodate more of the excellent submissions. Finally, to create more opportunities to attend ISSCR conferences, we also increased the budget to support the young scientists through travel awards and family care grants.

During my presidency, we hosted meetings on three continents including North America (U.S), South America (Brazil) and Europe (Austria).  We broadcast digital programs led by organizations around the world, and made plans for meetings in Denmark, Singapore, Greece, and Canada. Most recently, we announced the 2025 Annual Meeting will be held in Hong Kong.

International guidance and standards

The Standards for Human Stem Cell Use in Research including the Reporting Practices Checklist, one of the central elements of the Standards, was adopted by ISSCR’s journal Stem Cell Reports on 1 October 2024. The development of these international standards marks a significant step towards enhancing the rigor and reproducibility of stem cell science. The multi-year initiative has now moved into its second phase to produce Current Best Practices for the Translation of PSC-Based Therapies​, which will include a roadmap for translating PSC-derived therapies and provide detailed guidance at key product development pain points. The expected completion is mid-to-late 2025.

Right around the time of the 2023 annual meeting, we saw tremendous attention centered on embryo model research. We issued a statement reinforcing the ISSCR Guidelines, the terminology used to describe embryo models, and their value in biomedical research. The acceleration of scientific achievement in this area prompted the ISSCR to form an international Embryo Models Task Force to review the current Guidelines and to provide additional clarity based on this fast-moving area of research. The task force expects to provide recommendations on updated guidelines from stem cell-based embryo models for public review and publish a white paper later in 2024.

I began my presidential year recognizing and celebrating our members at all levels of education and career and from all parts of the world. The members of our community continue to be the ISSCR’s greatest strength. Together we have accomplished so much, and I know we will continue to push forward in our scientific endeavors with the support of the ISSCR. Thank you for the opportunity to serve our dedicated and diverse global community.