We are pleased to announce a two-day virtual workshop to discuss current and future applications of stem cell research in the context of improved healthcare and drug discovery pipelines.

Date: 14 & 15 September 2021

Time: 1pm to 4:30pm UK, Ireland, Portugal; 2pm- 5:30 pm CEST; 3pm-6:30pm Greece

Registration deadline: 10 September

Patient iPSC offers the potential to directly investigate human neural tissue in vitro can allow genetic, environmental or pharmacological manipulations to model aspects of human brain behaviour. This opens major opportunities to study brain development and disease-related dysfunction.

In addition, patient iPSC cells have direct application for preclinical screening of new therapeutics, cell-based therapies and precision medicine. However, to realise their full potential a number of barriers to translation need to be overcome.

The aim of this workshop is to bring stem cell researchers together to identify approaches to overcome current limits to the application of patient-based cell studies.

Joining instructions and links will be sent just prior to the meeting on 13 September.

Programme

14 September 2021

Session 1 1pm-2:30pm Chair: Adrian Harwood

1pm-1:30pm: Edna Grünblatt, University of Zurich, Switzerland. Title: “Involvement of the Wnt-signaling pathway in methylphenidate treatment of ADHD”.

1:30pm-2pm: Lucia F. Cardo, Cardiff University, UK. Title: “WNT/b-catenin dependent alteration of cortical neurogenesis in a human stem cell model of SETBP1 disorder”.

2pm-2.30pm: Matthew Tegtmeyer, Broad Institute, US. Title: “22q11.2 deletion disrupts early synaptic programming in iPSC-derived excitatory neurons”.

2:30pm-3pm: Break

Session 2 3pm-4.30pm. Chair: Spyros Petrakis

3pm-3:30pm: R. Jeroen Pasterkamp, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Title: “Studying the role of microglia in psychiatric disease using advanced iPSC-derived brain organoid models”.

3:30pm - 4pm: Rivka Ofir, Ben Gurion University, Israel. Title: “iPSC- derived Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) model for personalized approach to epileptic drug”

4pm-4:30pm: Rhiannon McNeill, University Hospital Würzburg, Germany.Title: “Being picky about hiPSCs – best methods for clonal selection”.

15 September 2021

Session 3 1pm-3pm Chair: Edna Grünblatt

1pm-1.30pm: Deepak Srivastava, King’s College London, UK. Title: “From brain to cell and back again: determining the molecular mechanisms of psychosis and developing a cellular platform for novel drug discovery”.

1:30pm-2pm: Marianthi Papakosta,Takeda, JP. Title: “TBA”.

2pm-2:30pm: Break

Session 4 2:30pm-3.30pm Chair: Anna Falk

2:30pm-3.00pm: Ravi Jagasia, Roche, Switzerland. Title: “Modelling Angelman's Syndrome with patient neurons”.

3pm-3.30pm: Farah Patell-Socha, bit.bio, UK. Title: “Coding cells for health | Realising the potential of hiPSC reprogramming for research, disease modelling and drug discovery”.

3:30pm - 4pm: Panel discussion

FAQs

How do I access the workshop?

Please register through this Eventbrite to confirm your place for the workshops. You will receive the event link and passcode in an email on 13 September. Please be aware this email may be in your Junk mail.

If it is the day of the event and you don't have an email with the joining details yet, please check your spam/ junk folders first to make sure it is in there. If not, then please email psychmedcomms@cardiff.ac.uk and we will attempt to respond to you with the details before the event starts.

Do I need a Zoom account?

If this is your first time using Zoom then it is worth joining early so that you can get through set up. You will need an email address to register and then it should only take a couple of minutes. Please find some guidance for joining a Zoom meeting here.

Will the session be interactive?

In a Zoom meeting attendees can use their cameras and microphones to interact but the speaker may ask you if you'd like to interact through the chat and Q&A function.

Virtual MINDDS Workshops - Patient iPSC studies