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FRIDAY, MARCH 28

8:30am Chairperson's Remarks 
Huseyin Mehmet, Ph.D., Director, Apoptosis Research, Merck Research Laboratories 

8:35 Cancer Stem Cells - Concepts, in Vivo Methods, Recent Findings, and Therapeutic Implications
Robert Cho, M.D., Division of Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation, Stanford University

9:05 Prostate Cell Cultures as in Vitro Models for the Study of Normal Stem Cells and Cancer Stem Cells 
Johng S. Rhim, M.D., Associate Director, Center for Prostate Disease Research, Professor of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Current existing therapies for prostate cancer eradicate the majority of cells within a tumor. However, most patients with advanced cancer still progress to androgen-independent metastatic disease that remains essentially incurable by current treatment strategies. Recent evidence has shown that cancer stem cells are a subset of the tumor cells that are responsible for initiating and maintaining the disease. Understanding normal and cancer stem cells may provide insight into the origin of and new therapeutics for prostate cancer. Normal stem cells and cancer stem cells have been identified in prostate tissue by the use of several markers or techniques. Although research on stem cells has been limited by the lack of suitable in vitro systems, recent studies show that not only primary cells but also several established cell lines may exhibit stem cell properties. We discuss various in vitro culture systems to propagate normal prostate stem cells and prostate cancer stem cells together with molecular markers. These in vitro cell culture models should be useful for elucidating the differentiation of prostatic epithelium and the biological features of prostate cancer. 

9:35 Panel of Experts
Biological View: Michael F. Clarke, Stanford University Medical Center (invited)
Clinical View: Johng S. Rhim, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences
Cells as Tools: Jennie P. Mather, Raven Biotechnologies, Inc.
Commercialization: Nancy Parenteau, Parenteau BioConsultants, LLC
Legal: William Christiansen, Seed IP
Regulatory: Michele Keane-Moore, The Biologics Consulting Group, Inc.
Funding: Joanna K. Weinberg, University of California, San Francisco

10:05 Technology Spotlight (Sponsorship Available)

10:20 Coffee Break in the Foyer

11:00 MMTC Break-Out Groups

Mix and Match for Tissue Cures

MMTC Group One
Drugs That Target Cancer Stem Cells
Huseyin Mehmet, Ph.D., Director, Apoptosis Research, Merck Research Laboratories 

• How can we identify CSCs? 

• What are the properties that might distinguish them from bulk tumor-forming cells. 

• How might one use these properties for selecting specific drugs? 

• What are the most appropriate tests for validation in this cell type? 

MMTC Group Two
Johng S. Rhim, M.D., Associate Director, Center for Prostate Disease Research, Professor of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

MMTC Group Three
Cancer Stem Cells: 展hat are They and Why do We Care・br> Jennie P. Mather, Ph.D., Founder, President and CSO, Raven Biotechnologies, Inc.

• The cancer stem cell hypothesis is pivotal to our view of cancer biology and therapy.

• HSCS evidence has evolved over 40 years. We are still in the early stages of defining and understanding solid tumor stem cells.

• What are the pitfalls in the current CSC data and what needs to be done?

MMTC Group Four
The Application of Stem Cell Biology and Experimentation for Discovery and Innovation in Cancer Therapeutics 
Nancy Parenteau, Ph.D., Co-founder, Managing Member, Parenteau BioConsultants, LLC

• In pursuit of biological relevance ・Designing in vitro methods that limit artifact to let the true story unfold

• Not lost in translation ・Interpreting and using in vitro data from dynamic cell populations

• Uncovering clues by comparison ・Should one be looking for commonality rather than specificity?

MMTC Group Five
William Christiansen, Seed IP

MMTC Group Six
Cellular Cancer Vaccine and Stem Cell Product Development Issues: Navigating the Bumps in the Road on the way to Biologics License Application
Michele Keane-Moore, Ph.D., Affiliate Consultant, The Biologics Consulting Group, Inc.

• Cell source issues

• Reagent sourcing issues

• Assay development and validation

• Scale up, bridging, and product equivalency.

MMTC Group Seven
Contextualizing the Impact of Advocates and Stakeholders on the Institutional Culture of Stem Cell Research: The California Research and Cures Initiative
Joanna K. Weinberg. JD, LLM, Associate Professor of Law, Policy and Ethics, Institute for Health and Aging, University of California, San Francisco; Law, Science and Health Policy Coordinator, Hastings College of the Law
The Breakout will explore the impact of multiple stakeholders and advocates on stem cell research through the example of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (the research institute created by the above Initiative)

• Does the novel institutional structure provide oversight over organizational leadership? 

• Is there a mechanism whereby the different demands of advocates and stakeholders can be recognized?

• What voice do advocates and stakeholders have in setting institutional policies?

12:00pm Luncheon Workshop (Sponsorship Available) or Lunch on Your Own

1:00 Chairperson's Remarks

1:05 High-Throughput hES-Based Discovery 
Michael West, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Advanced Cell Technology
Human embryonic stem (hES) cells display a staggering pluripotentiality during in vitro differentiation. We will present data on a new multiplex high-throughput isolation technology that provides: 
1) A means to rapidly identify many therapeutically-useful and scalable hES-derived embryonic progenitors,
2) A method for databasing the gene expression profile of these previously unidentified cell types, and 
3) Pathways for the discovery of novel cell formulations useful in the emerging field of regenerative medicine.

1:35 Endothelial Progenitor Cells from Human Embryonic Stem Cells: Isolation and Transplantation for Myocardial Infarction
Zongjin Li, Ph.D., Postdoc, Radiology & MIPS, Stanford University
Human embryonic stem (hES) cells are distinguished by their capacity for self-renewal and pluripotency. Here we characterize the differentiation of hES cell-derived endothelial cells (hESC-ECs), use molecular imaging techniques to examine their survival in vivo, and determine the therapeutic efficacy of hESC-ECs for restoration of cardiac function following ischemic injury.

2:05 Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes for Heart Repair 
Joseph Gold, Ph.D., Director, Stem Cell Biology and Research Operations, Cell Biology/Pharmacology, Geron Corporation
Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) present a potential source for the generation of unlimited quantities of differentiated cells for regenerative medicine. As one of its programs, Geron is investigating the utility of hESC-derived cardiomyocytes for in vitro and therapeutic applications. I will describe the efficient, scalable system we have developed that generates cells with the immunocytochemical and electrophysiological properties of human cardiomyocytes, as well as our preclinical results that suggest these cells can be used to improve the function of injured hearts.

2:35 Understanding and Reversing Stem Cell Aging
Irina Conboy, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Bioengineering, UC Berkeley
The lack of tissue repair, leading to degeneration and loss of organ function, is an undeniable and devastating trait of aging. The development of stem-cell based therapies for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, muscular atrophy and other degenerative diseases that accompany human aging requires an improved understanding of why stem cells in older tissue do not engage in repair, even though they have the capacity to do so. Notably, we found that stem cells residing in aged organs retain their intrinsic ability to regenerate and that aged, differentiated tissues actually inhibit the responses of endogenous stem cells dedicated to the repair and maintenance. Very interestingly, our same work uncovered that while adult stem cells are unable to deter the inhibitory affects of aged niches, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) remarkably can neutralize the aged environment, and robustly restore the regenerative responses of muscle stem cells in the old niche, in vivo and in vitro (Carlson and Conboy, 2007). Importantly, both the age-specific inhibition and the hESC-specific rejuvenation are conserved between mouse and human, allowing the use of an animal model for identifying therapeutically-relevant hESC-derived factors.

3:05 Close of Conference