31st NECTAR / 16th INTR - Programme

Return to main meeting page

Monday 08 November 2021

08:30   Arrival, registration, tea/coffee

09:30   Welcome: Conor MacGuire & Tilo Kunath

Session 1

09.35   Roger Barker, University of Cambridge, Lessons learnt from TRANSEURO to date

09.55   Jun Takahashi, CiRA, Kyoto University, Kyoto clinical trial for Parkinson’s disease cell replacement therapy

10.15   Malin Parmar, Lund University, Developing a stem cell based therapy for Parkinson’s disease – STEM-PD

10.35   Emma Lane, University of Cardiff, Where old meets new – the effect of drugs on transplants for Parkinson’s disease

10.55   Refreshements and posters

Session 2

11.35   Claire Durrant, University of Edinburgh, Targeting tau in Alzheimer's disease: opportunities and challenges

11.45   Daisuke Doi, CiRA, Kyoto University, Transplantation of brain organoids for treating cerebral stroke

12.05   David Rowitch, University of Cambridge, Cell‐based therapy, patient models and new treatments for Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease (PMD)

12.25   Lorenz Studer, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, Repair of the “second brain” – towards a human PSC-based cell therapy for Hirschsprung’s disease

12.45   Lunch and posters

Session 3

13.40   Su-Chun Zhang, University of Wisconsin, Cell therapy in preclinical Parkinson’s disease models

14.00   Viviane Tabar, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, Phase I trial of MSK-DA01 intrastriatal grafts in patients with Parkinson’s disease – A Roadmap

14.20   Jeff Kordower, Arizona State University, Stem cells for Parkinson’s disease – the Fujifilm-CDI experience

15.00   Data Blitz 1 (6 talks)

Session 4: Panel discussion - Future of Cell & Gene Therapy for CNS disorders

16.00   Brendon Boot, BlueRock Therapeutics

16.10   Kevin Bruce, RoslinCT

16.20   Nicolaj Strøyer Christophersen, Novo Nordisk

16.30   Chad Koonce & Virginia Mattis. Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics

16.40   Jacqueline Barry, Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult

Panel Discussion chaired by Anders Björklund and Stephen Dunnett,

17.10   Drinks reception and posters

17.45   Data Blitz 2 (8 in-person talks)

Tuesday, 9 November, 2021

08:30   Arrival, registration, tea/coffee

Session 5

09.30   Catherina Becker, Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden, TU Dresden , Regenerative neurogenesis in the Zebrafish spinal cord

09.50   Hideyuki Okano, Keio University, Tokyo, iPSCs-based regenerative medicine for spinal cord injury

10.10   Nisha Iyer, Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, Investigating phenotypic diversity of human spinal neurons using hPSCs and single-cell sequencing

10.30   Victoria Moreno-Manzano, Centro de Investigación Principe Felipe, Valencia, Cell therapy modulation for spinal cord injury treatment

10.50   Refreshments and posters

Session 6

11.30   Alasdair Coles, University of Cambridge, Promoting endogenous brain repair in multiple sclerosis with an intolerable drug

11.50   Sarah Jaekel, Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research, LMU Hospital, Münich, Oligodendrocyte heterogeneity and neurodegeneration: is there a link?

12.10   Bernhard Landwehrmeyer, Ulm University, Approaches to modifying the progression of Huntington's disease

12.30   Data Blitz 3 (6 talks)

13.00   Lunch and posters

Session 7

14.00   Stuart Cobb, University of Edinburgh, Progress in AAV-delivered genetic therapies for Rett syndrome

14.20   Krystof Bankiewicz, Ohio State University, GDNF gene therapy in Parkinson's and multiple system atrophy

14.40   Mart Saarma, Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, CDNF protects and repairs dopamine neurons by a novel mechanism

15.00   José Obeso, CINAC, Madrid, Focus Ultrasound in Parkinson’s disease – From symptomatic to neurorestorative therapy

15.20   Refreshments and posters

Session 8

15.50   Ernest Arenas, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Regenerative strategies for Parkinson's disease

16.10   Mati Karelson, University of Tartu, Estonia, Novel compounds regulating mRNA methylation protect and repair dopamine neurons

16.30   Lyandysha Zholudeva, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, Engineering human spinal interneurons for spinal cord repair

16.50   Data Blitz 4 (4 talks)

17:30 – 19:00 Parkinson’s and Huntington’s Clinical Trials – the Participant Experience

20:00   Conference dinner (An informal dinner & drinks at the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh.)

Wednesday, 10 November, 2021

08:30   Arrival, registration, tea/coffee

Session 9

09.30   Asuka Morizane, Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Immune modulation and immune matching in cell therapies for Parkinson’s disease

09.50   Akitsu Hotta, CiRA, Kyoto University, Escaping from allogenic immunity by CRISPR genome editing

10.10   Andras Nagy, University of Toronto, The Universal Cell: Making the Unsafe Safe

10.30   Data Blitz 5 (6 talks)

11.00   Refreshments and posters

Session 10

11.40   Clare Parish, University of Melbourne, A Failsafe suicide gene-based system to improve the safety and standardisation of neural grafts

12.00   Craig van Horne, University of Kentucky, Clinical trial summary of autologous peripheral nerve tissue grafts targeting Parkinson’s disease modification using the DBS PLUS approach

12.20   Sally Temple, Neural Stem Cell Institute, New York, Adult human retinal pigment epithelium stem cells – from discovery to translation

12.40   Lunch and close of meeting