Second progress report meeting of NRP 63 in Berne
On 29 and 30 May 2012, the second progress report meeting of the National Research Programme "Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine" (NRP 63) took place in Berne.
During the meeting, research groups presented their results of the preceding year and discussed them with other researchers. With the aim of promoting young researchers, most of the presentations were given by postdocs or doctoral students. All members of the Steering Committee of NRP 63 were present, among them Elizabeth J. Robertson, professor at Oxford University, who talked about the embryonic development of mice in her keynote speech on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Martin Graf, leader of the stem cell group at Roche in Basel, gave a keynote speech on how his unit has developed since being established three years ago. He described collaborations that have been initiated and projects that are underway.
A further topic of Wednesday's discussions were ethical and legal aspects of stem cell donations. After an introduction by Olivier Guillod, member of the Steering Committee and professor at the University of Neuchâtel, Simone Romagnoli, Peter Bürkli and Jürg Halter explained the insights they have gained so far in their NRP 63 project.
Bernard Thorens, president of the Steering Committee, was very happy with the two-day event. "Many projects presented interesting results. I was particularly pleased by the interesting debates that followed the various presentations."
23./24.05.2011
Place: Nottwil
Organizer: NRP 63
Research groups of NRP 63 "Stem Cells" meet for a "Progress Report"
The first "Progress Report" meeting of the National Research Programme "Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine" (NRP 63) took place on 23/24 May 2011 in Nottwil.
The meeting was called to enable all twelve research groups to present their progress during the past year and to encourage exchanges between the researchers. Among the invitees were not only group leaders but also doctoral candidates and post docs.
Bernard Thorens, President of the Steering Committee is happy with the meeting and the progress of the NRP: "The direction is right. Some research projects are already showing promising results."
In addition to the presentations by the research groups, the meeting featured two speeches: Michael Rosen, member of the Steering Committee and professor at Columbia University (New York), talked about the possibilities of a biological heart pacemaker. Robert Passier of the University of Leiden discussed approaches to treating damaged hearts with pluripotent stem cells. The meeting was concluded with a guided tour through the Swiss Paraplegics Center in Nottwil.
18.05.2010
Place: University House, Berne
Organizer: NRP 63
Kick-Off Meeting
The NFP 63 kick-off meeting took place on 18 May 2010. All researchers taking part in the programme’s projects gathered at this meeting. Here is a short summary of the lecture by guest speaker Elaine Dzierzak. She is Professor for Developmental Biology at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam.
Elaine Dzierzak presented some of the results of her many years of research on the formation and development of blood stem cells to some 50 other scientists at the kick-off meeting. After a short introduction on the nature of stem cells, Dzierzak dealt with the complex formation process of blood stem cells. Every day the human body produces millions of new blood cells, all of which emerge from the blood stem cells.
Dzierzak is concerned particularly with the following questions: How and where do the very first of these cells form in the embryo? What factors contribute to this? Dzierzak has found already some answers. She has ascertained, together with her research team, that blood stem cells are formed in the dorsal aorta during a short period in the embryo’s development. She could thus lay to rest the long cherished idea that blood stem cells originate in the yolk sac.
Elaine Dzierzak views the future of stem cell research as very positive. This field of study has developed greatly since the year 2000. Like many other scientists, she sees the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) as a promising alternative to the embryonic stem cells. However, there are still many unanswered questions in this field such as the genetic changes occurring in iPS cell production or the development of tumours. “There is still a long, long way to go before these cells can be used therapeutically,” according to Dzierzak.
Dzierzak studied at the University of Illinois, obtained her doctorate at Yale University and was then engaged in research at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the National Institute for Medical Research in London.