Stem Cell Technology For Genetic Rescue
September 17-20, 2023 / La Jolla, California
Participants from the 2023 Stem Cell Workshop in La Jolla, California | Revive & Restore
Stem cell technology is a promising addition to the conservation toolkit — one with profound potential to elevate genetic rescue efforts. Unfortunately, stem cell technologies for wildlife conservation are lagging behind what is possible in human medicine and agriculture.
To stimulate much needed advances in this area, Revive & Restore convened 45 global leaders in stem cell science. Their mission was to identify opportunities and challenges for bringing stem cell technologies to wildlife conservation. Over the course of the 3-day workshop, experts were paired in collaborative exercises to reimagine the future of wildlife conservation.
As an actionable outcome out the workshop, participants were divided into three trans-disciplinary working groups:
- Reprogramming across taxa
- Modeling wildlife diseases
- Producing gametes from stem cells
Each working group was tasked with developing a single big idea that solves a conservation problem via advances in stem cell technologies. Working groups continue to meet virtually to refine their big ideas. Ideas will be available here in late fall.
We are so grateful for the energy, enthusiasm, and ideas that participants brought to this catalytic event for the field. We look forward to all the breakthroughs that follow!
Plenary Speakers
Opening Speaker: Jeanne F. Loring, Scripps Research Institute
Dr. Jeanne Loring is an internationally recognized pioneer in human pluripotent stem cell research, beginning her work on these cells more than 20 years ago. In 2021, her lab was the first to make iPSCs from any endangered species. She has extensive experience in both academia and industry, and is currently Professor Emeritus at Scripps Research in La Jolla, CA, and advisor to Aspen Neuroscience, the company she founded to develop a cell replacement therapy for Parkinson’s disease, using dopamine neurons derived from autologous induced pluripotent stem cells.
Keynote Speaker: Katsuhiko Hayashi, Osaka University
Dr. Katsuhiko Hayashi has been working on germ cell development and its reconstitution in vitro through his career. Since 2021, he has been a full professor in the Department of Genome Biology in the Graduate School of Medicine at Osaka University. Dr. Hayashi has worked and trained at a variety of institutions, including Meiji University, Tokyo University of Science, the Osaka Medical Center, University of Cambridge, and Kyushu University.
Keynote Speaker: Martin Pera, the Jackson Laboratory
Dr. Martin Pera is a Professor at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, the Chair of the Steering Group of the International Stem Cell Initiative, a member of the Board of Directors of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, and Editor-in-Chief of the society’s journal, Stem Cell Reports. Pera’s research focus is the cell biology of human pluripotent stem cells. Pera was amongst the first to analyze heterogeneity in human pluripotent stem cell cultures, work that is critical to their use as models for human development.
