Global Meet on Stem Cell Research and Molecular Biology

Dr. Rosangela Alquieri Fedato Develis was born in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil and is a graduate of Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná. Her residency was at Hospital de Clínicas, in the area of Orthopaedic Surgery, and she completed her training with fellowship in the same Hospital in Foot and Ankle Surgery. Dr. Fedato followed her academical life with his Master of Sciences in Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná, in the area of Tissue Repair and Regeneration, wich lead to the publication of the paper “Stem Cells and Platelet-Rich Plasma Enhance the Healing Process of Tendinitis in Mice”, published in Stem Cells International in June, 2019 (Article ID 1497898).

Clive Hayler has over 30 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and life science industry. A first-class hons graduate in microbiology with postgraduate experience in the USA & Europe with BP Biotechnology, Filtration companies and SmithKline Beecham. He has won awards for Technical Innovation in the Cleanroom Industry. He has been the owner of 3 successful start-up pharma/ life sciences supply and advisory companies. Currently he works as a senior consultant to the pharmaceutical industry, UK National Health Service and NHSBT in ATMP strategy, design, operation and GMP compliance for stem cell therapy, regenerative medicine, tissue culture and bioprocessing. He is a qualified HACCP practitioner, (certified by the Royal Institute of Public Health), specialist in environmental monitoring and sterile product operations he is a Fellow of the Society of Environmental Engineers and FIOD.

Keiichi Fukuda, Professor of the Department of Cardiology, Keio University, is pioneer of the cardiac regeneration field and has been at its cutting edge for the past 20 years. He has made several contributions to both the fundamental biology of the stem cells and how to regenerate cardiomyocytes and to transplant them into the in vivo heart. He first reported that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can be induced to differentiate into cardiomyocytes in vitro. He first developed a method to generate iPS cells from peripheral circulating T lymphocytes using Sendai virus containing Yamanaka factors. He found several factors such as noggin, Wnt and G-CSF, and applied them to induce cardiomyocytes. He also developed novel method to purify the cardiomyocytes by the difference of metabolic energy pathway. He is planning to examine the transplantation of iPS-derived regenerated cardiomyocytes to the patients with congestive heart failure. He published more than 300 top-ranked papers including Nature- and Cell-sister journals. He served as an associate editor of JMCC and JCF, and a consulting editor of Circulation Research. He also worked as editorial board members for more than 10 international journals.

Soukaina El Massoudi is a PhD student in the 3rd year under the theme "Henna enhancement for cosmetic use" at the Laboratory of Functional Ecology and Environment Faculty of Science and Technology Fez-Morocco, Holder of a Master's degree in Biodiversity Management and Conservation, Soukaina grew up in Fez the oldest Moroccan city, passionate about the environment and the preservation of natural resources.

Gachon University Gil Medical Center, College of Medicine, Gachon University, Incheon 21565, Republic of Korea

Consultant haematologist Hopital Saint Antoine Paris Formerly Consultant Haemaatologist Unid hospital of North Staffordshire Stoke on Trent UK Graduate in Pure Mathematics Special interest in hematology Autoimmunity

Cristina Mimma Ruggiero holds a 1st-level degree in Biological Sciences at Sapienza University of Rome (Italy) and a 2nd-level degree Master’s Degree programme in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Biomedical Sciences at Tor Vergata University of Rome (Italy). She currently is a PhD student in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Tor Vergata University of Rome (Italy). Her predoc and ongoing PhD research in Gambacurta’s group is focused on epigenetic modifications during cancer cell differentiation. In the same time she has worked on Blood Derived Stem Cells (BDSCs) to treat different un-induced pathologies in horses, dogs and cats. She also has worked on the “Mission VITA” project and she believes that the results of this research will probably be very relevant for human health. In these two years spent in Gambacurta’s group she published two papers and she hope to submit the third paper in the next few months as a first author.

Giulia Merlini holds 1st-level degree in Biomedical Laboratory Technician al Tor Vergata University of Rome (Italy). She currently is a student in 2nd-level degree Master’s Degree programme in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Biomedical Sciences student at Tor Vergata University of Rome (Italy). She tooks part in the project in the laboratory of Dr. Gambacurta to study the epigenetic and molecular mechanisms involved in human and animal stem cell differentiation. During her time in this laboratory, she works at how Blood Derived Stem Cells (BDSCs) are able to differentiate in bone. This work allowed her to participate in the "Mission VITA" project coordinated by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) in collaboration with NASA. In the frame of Mission VITA she studied the Space Osteoporosis, using BDSCs as osteogenic model. During this time spent in Dr. Gambacurta’s laboratory she published two papers.

Jun Xu is a M.D. Ph.D. student in Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College. She holds a Bachelor of Medicine degree from Wuhan University, China. As a student and doctor, Jun holds great passion in developing novel therapy for cardiovascular disease. Her recent works on the optimal strategy of MSC therapy in acute myocardial infarction has published on Stem Cells Translational Medicine. Currently, Jun has joined Dr.Li Qian’s lab in University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a joint Ph.D student and worked on the development of novel cardiac reprogramming method with CRISPR activation platform.

Ahmed is a veterinarian, researcher and stem cell biologist interested in stem cell biology fields, regenerative medicine applications, associated biotechnology, clinical and experimental tissue engineering, Regenerative neurology and neurosurgery (PhD), Regenerative orthopedics (MVSc) and general surgery practitioner with +8 years of experience in this field. He holds many international publications and won many local prizes and now he is the executive manager of the stem cell research lab at Animal Health Research Institute in Egypt. And his passion is decreasing the gap between basic research and clinical applications.

Jaroslav Michalek, MD PhD, obtained his MD and PhD at the Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. He is trained and board-certified in Clinical Oncology, Immunology, and Pediatrics with main research and clinical interest during last 20 years in stem cell therapies, regenerative medicine, anti-aging and cancer immunotherapy using minimally invasive, safe and effective treatment approaches. He holds a patent for isolation of stem cells from the adipose tissue and he is also an inventor of several new medical technologies related to cell therapies. Since 2011 he has served as the president of International Consortium for Cell Therapy and Immunotherapy (www.iccti.eu). He holds authorship of more than 150 scientific publications in reputed journals and books.

Dr. Farid Menaa is an inter- and multi-disciplinary professional with worldwide reputation. He has three international post-doctoral terms in Oncology, Dermatology, and Hematology; MBA Entrepreneurship and MD candidate. During his ongoing career, he has mainly contributed to the identification and functions of new human disease-causing genes and variants, formulated natural products for anti-aging and developed innovative theranostic strategies against cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity and infectious diseases. He has more than 10 years’ experiences either in the academic, hospitals or industrial sectors. As Chief Scientific Officer and Vice-President R&D at Fluorotronics, Inc. he actively participated in the development of the disruptive “Carbon-Fluorine Spectroscopy”. Dr. Menaa collaborates with various organizations worldwide. He is a member of several prestigious medical and scientific organizations and editorial boards in the field of medicine, science, technology and business, including in the nano-segment. He has authored more than 100 articles including research and review articles, books, book chapters, textbooks, proceedings, and has participated to over 200 scientific international events including as co-organizer, keynote speaker, chairman. Dr. Menaa’s worldwide collaborations, holistic point of view and strong expertise in various fields led him to prevent, implement early diagnosis, and develop efficient and safer therapy.

Mohammed Adil is a post graduate in Drug Design and Biomedical Science. One of the RA/QA specialists in India who is instrumental in implementing regulatory and quality compliance process for a cord blood bank to secure the first public cord blood banking license. He has developed regulatory compliance strategies for implementing medical device and in-vitro diagnostic regulation and currently works as consultant for medical device manufacturers. Consulting in regulatory / quality Compliance for stem cell banking and medical devices for 10+ years, Adil has worked with number one cord blood bank in India and top 10 medical device manufacturers in the world assuming responsibilities as a quality / regulatory engineer, SME for DHF/TechFile remediation, technical lead for system verification and validation and computer system owner.

Giovanni Camussi MD, is Professor Emeritus, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Torino, Italy. He has been Research Associate Professor in Microbiology and Pathology at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, USA, and subsequently Full Professor of Nephrology at the University of Naples, at the University of Pavia and finally at University of Torino. He has been President of Medical Biotechnology, Director PhD program in Medical Pathophysiology, Director of the Laboratory of Renal and Vascular Pathophysiology Research Center for Experimental Medicine and of the Renal Pathology Laboratory of the Department of Medical Sciences. He has been also Director of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Torino and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the Department of Medicine, Brown University, RI, USA. He is currently Scientific Coordinator of research projects of the Renal/Liver Stem Cell Laboratory at the Molecular Biotechnology Center/ 2i3T Scarl, University of Torino. He has over 530 publications in PubMed-indexed journals (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=camussi+g), dealing with inflammatory mediators, renal immunopathology, neo-angiogenesis, transplantation, stem cell biology and extracellular vesicles.WEB of Sciences All Databases h-index:81.

Mr. Ma is a first-year anesthesiology doctoral student at the Shanxi Medical University. He received a bachelor’s degree in anesthesiology from Shanxi Medical University and a master’s degree in anesthesiology from Shanxi Medical University, China. During school years, He spent most of his time to do scientific research about the effect of Oligodendrocytes in spinal cord injury. In this study, he found APC-Cdh1 played an important role in the proliferation and activation of Oligodendrocytes following spinal cord injury, which may be valuable for the targeted therapy of spinal cord injury to some extent.

Dr. Abdelmonem A. Hegazy is currently working as Professor of Human Anatomy and Embryology Department in Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University (Egypt); as well as he is a Consultant of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Infertility. He is the former chairman of the Anatomy and Embryology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University (Egypt); and Professor in King Saud and Majmaah Universities (KSA) 2009-2013 and Misurata, Faculty of Medicine (Libya) 2000. He is the Editor-in-Chief of National and International Journals including Journal of Human Anatomy (USA); Zagazig University Medical Journal (ARE) & Women Health and Complications (UK). Dr. Hegazy is also a referee member of scientific research submitted for promotion of professors in Egyptian Universities. Dr. Hegazy participates in a Zagazig University academic, scientific, educational and professional development activities in the fields of medical sciences development, including basic and clinical research, policy implementation, design programs, set coursework plans, curricula, syllabi, scientific conference paneling, as well as designing and delivering a wide scope of continuous professional development programs, including training, strategic planning, research methodology, scientific thesis and dissertation writing; research proposal, medical ethics, organization’s behavior issues, all with emphasis on system and staff development. Dr. Hegazy is a member of Institutional Research Board (IRB) unit, Egyptian Medical Syndicate, Egyptian Society of Anatomy, and Postgraduate and Scientific Research Affairs Committee, Faculty of Medicine. His pool of academics consists of original research articles/books/book chapters in various national and international accredited publishing houses. Dr. Hegazy has plenty of scientific publications and projects with many citations. He has got many national and international honors and awards. Dr. Hegazy has been supervising post graduate students in their thesis works. Dr. Hegazy is the Executive Editor of the Zagazig University Medical Journal. He is also a well-known reviewer/referee/editorial board member in many national/international indexed journals.

Dr. Pravin D Potdar has completed his PhD from Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai in 1991. Last 30 years, he has been working in the field of Cellular & Molecular Biology of Cancer. His present interest is in molecular profiling of cancer, cancer stem cells, understanding the mechanism of metastatic cancer, Circulating Tumor cells, personalized medicine immunotherapy of cancer and early biomarkers of cancer. Dr. Potdar is a recipient of National Cancer Institute, USA award and also holds Faculty position at M D Anderson Cancer Centre; Houston TX, USA. Dr. Potdar retired from Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre, Mumbai as a Head, Department of Molecular Medicine & Biology, after servicing there for 12years. Dr. Potdar had established Molecular Diagnostics & Stem cell Research Laboratory at Jaslok and carried out various research Programs in the field of Cancer Genetics & stem Cell Research. He has developed several innovated technologies which can help to diagnose and treat various cancers. Dr. Potdar also carried out extensive research in the field of stem cell research and developed several mesenchymal and hematopoietic cell lines from various normal and tumor tissues, adipose tissue, dental pulp cells, blood cells etc. So far, Dr. Potdar has published 81 papers in national & international journals. He holds position on Editorial Board of various international journals. Dr. Potdar was a Guest Editor for special issue on “ Circulating Tumor Cells” published by Journal of Cancer Metastasis & Treatment (JCMT), USA. Dr. Potdar’s name is included in Marquis “Who’s Who in World” Book 2012. Presently Dr. Potdar is a Faculty & Professor of Genetics and Stem Cell Biology at Dr. A.P J. Abdul Kalam Education & Research Centre, Mumbai. India as well as he holds the position of “Chairman” of their Ethics Committee of this Centre.

Jonathan Schwartz has over 30 years doing international business consulting for emerging medical technologies and has been focused on stem cell technologies and regenerative medicine for the past six years. He currently is the Managing Director of the Regenerative Cellular Institute in the United States and does business consulting for several companies globally, including, Mystem, Bioquark, WinCell, StemCells21, IntellihealthPlus, Al Mediq, Glo PRP, WeHealPlus, and Arpwave. He has previously worked in many capacities with Spacelabs Medical, GE Healthcare, Intellicell Biosciences, Coloplast, and Smith and Nephew. He has degrees from Queens College, Almeda University and NYU Medical School.

Professor Zodwa Dlamini is the Deputy Vice Chancellor; Research, Innovation & Engagements at Mangosuthu University of Technology and a Professor of Molecular and Functional Genomics. She was previously the Deputy Executive Dean at UNISA. She is also the current Vice-Chairperson of the South African Medical Research Council Board. She obtained her BSc and BSc.Hons. in Biochemistry from the University of the Western Cape, MSc from the University of Natal and PhD from the University of Natal. Her research interests include the “omics” technologies including the use of bioinformatics to provide unprecedented possibilities to identify the underlying molecular basis of cancer.

Dr. Tafesa Hailu is a veterinarian by profession and works with one of the government organisation in Ethiopia. He holds a BSc in veterinary medicine at Haramaya University. Tafesa has 3 years of drug quality and efficacy analysis. He has also been involved in fungal zoonotic Disease investigation in Ethiopia. Daniel grew up in one of the remote villages of Ethiopia and is passionate about controlling infectious diseases.

Girmaye Kenasa Rundasa (PhD) is a Lecture and Director for Energy and Environment Research Center in Wollega University, Ethiopia. I hold BSc degree in Biology, MSc and PhD degree in Applied Microbiology. During my PhD study I used to do molecular experiments such as sequencing of Prokaryotic organisms in University of Georgia, USA. My PhD research dissertation was rated as “Excellent/A+”. I have been teaching High school Biology, Microbiology and Molecular Biology courses of BSc and MSc students for 17 years in home university and other Ethiopian Universities. I have been advising 13 MSc students from Microbial biotechnology, Food biotechnology and Agricultural microbiology, and Environmental Microbiology specializations.