The New Year is upon us and that means it’s time to mark your calendars for the 2018 stem cell meeting season. We’ve compiled a list of conferences, meeting and events focused on stem cell research and regenerative medicine. Some of them are purely research focused while others touch on important themes like patient advocacy or translating stem cell therapies into the clinic.
We’ve included short descriptions for each of the meetings and indicated whether they are free or require a registration fee. Be sure to also check out Paul Knoepfler’s Stem Cell Meetings guide for an up-to-date list of stem cell meetings in 2018.
January
Alliance for Regenerative Medicine: Cell & Gene Therapies State of Industry Briefing (Free to public)
January 8, San Francisco, California
This meeting will highlight the recent advances and outlook for the cell and gene therapy industry in 2018.
Global Genes: Rare in the Square
January 8-10, Union Square in San Francisco, California
This is a unique networking event during the J.P. Morgan annual Healthcare Conference that assembles RARE investors, industry partners, patient community leaders and RARE disease influencers.
Jan 22-26, Miami, Florida
Leading translational stem cell meeting fostering collaborations between scientists, clinicians, patients, investors and more.
February
UCLA Annual Stem Cell Symposium: Technology Innovation for Stem Cell Research and Therapy
February 2, Los Angeles, California
The UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center’s Annual Stem Cell Symposiums feature leading national and international scientists who are experts in the field of stem cell science and regenerative medicine.
Keystone Symposia: Emerging Cellular Therapies: T Cells and Beyond
February 11-15, Keystone, Colorado
Research focused meeting featuring scientists from academia and industry.
Stanford Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine Symposium (Free to public)
February 27, Palo Alto, California
This scientific conference will bring together clinicians, basic scientists, patient advocates, translational investigators and experts from the biotech/pharmaceutical field to discuss the process of how discoveries in gene and cell therapy are translated to clinical trials and ultimately commercialized.
March
4th Annual UCSD Division of Regenerative Medicine Symposium
March 09, La Jolla, California
Free to the Public
This full day public symposium is a great way to learn about the latest advances in stem cell research.
Alliance for Regenerative Medicine: Advanced Therapies Summit
March 14, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
This meeting brings together top executives and clinical researchers from Europe and the US and features roundtable discussions and networking opportunities.
Catapult: Cell and Gene Therapy Manufacturing Workshop
March 14-15, London
This workshop will focus on next generation manufacturing and will include presentations from a wide range of experienced experts in the commercialisation of cell and gene therapies.
Keystone Symposia: iPSCs, a decade of Progress and Beyond
March 25-29, Olympic Valley, California
This Keystone Symposia will focus on the latest research in the field of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The Keynote address will be by Nobel Laureate Dr. Shinya Yamanaka.
April
CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics Symposium (Free to public)
April 19, University of California Los Angeles, California
Free meeting for the public featuring talks from scientists, clinicians, patient advocates, and partners about how the CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics Network is making stem cell therapies a reality for patients.
Keystone Symposia: Organs and Tissues on Chips
April 8-12, Big Sky, Montana
Research focused meeting featuring scientists from academia and industry.
June
Cell Therapy Conference, Manufacturing and Testing of Pluripotent Stem Cells
June 5-6, Los Angeles, California
The 2018 Cell Therapy conference is organized by the International Alliance for Biological Standardization (IABS) in collaboration with CIRM. The conference will identify key unresolved issues that need to be addressed for the manufacture and testing of cell therapies and provide scientific consensus on selected aspects to inform the drafting of future national and international guidance. The meeting will bring together representatives from industry, academia, health services and regulatory bodies.
Stem Cells in Disease Modelling and Drug Discovery
June 17-18, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
The SCDMDD 2018 meeting will be held in Melbourne immediately prior to the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) and will provide a welcome opportunity to focus attention on pharmaceutical applications of stem cell technology.
International Society for Stem Cell Research Annual Conference
June 20-23, Melbourne, Australia
International stem cell research meeting focused on new developments in stem cell science and regenerative medicine.
September
Cambridge International Stem Cell Symposium
Sept 19-21, Cambridge, UK
The 6th Cambridge International Stem Cell Symposium will bring together biological, clinical and physical stem cell scientists, working across multiple tissues and at different scales, to share data, discuss ideas and address the biggest fundamental and translational questions in stem cell biology.
From Stem Cells to Human Development
September 23-26, Surrey, UK
Research meeting organized by The Company of Biologists focused on human developmental biology.
October
Global Genes RARE Patient Advocacy Summit
October 3-5, Irvine, California
This meeting focuses on rare diseases and brings together patients, caregivers and advocates to share best practices, foster networking and catalyze powerful collaborations.
Alliance for Regenerative Medicine: Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mesa
October 3-5, La Jolla, California
The Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mesa is a three-day conference bringing together senior executives and top decision-makers in the industry with the scientific community to advance cutting-edge research into cures.
New York Stem Cell Foundation Conference
October 23-24, Rockefeller University, New York
The NYSCF conference focuses on translational stem cell research, demonstrating the potential to advance cures for the major diseases of our time. It is designed for all professionals with an interest in stem cell research, including physicians, researchers, clinical investigators, professors, government and health officials, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students.
November
Date TBD, San Francisco, California
The World Alliance Forum focuses on the commercialization and industrialization of new technologies in healthcare fields such as regenerative medicine, gene therapy, cancer immunotherapy, and digital health.
November 12-14, Westin Ottawa Hotel, Ontario Canada
Canada’s premier stem cell research conference featuring scientists, clinicians, bioengineers and ethicists, as well as representatives from industry, government, health and NGO sectors from around the world.
December
Cell Symposia: Translation of Stem Cells to the Clinic, Challenges and Opportunities
December 2-4, Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, California
The goal of this Cell Symposium is to bring clinicians, basic stem cell biologists, and cell manufacting and pharmaceutical stakeholders together to discuss the challenges and opportunities for clinical translation of stem cell research and to help synergize efforts taking place in a variety of systems and at diverse stages in the process.
The Stem Cellar 
Hi Karen and colleagues
One more conference to add to the list.
Pre-ISSCR 2018 meeting: Stem Cells in Disease Modelling and Drug Discovery
Stem Cells in Disease Modelling and Drug Discovery (SCDMDD 2018) will take place at Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Melbourne, Australia, June 17-18 (immediately prior to ISSCR 2018 also in Melbourne).
The meeting will bring together academic and industrial disease modelling and drug discovery scientists to review the state of the art in this fast moving field.
Conference website: https://www.monash.edu/pharm/about/events/SCDMDD
Thank you for bringing this meeting to our attention Colin! I will add it to our list.
Hi Karen,
Stem cell transplants have been used since the 1960’s to treat a variety of diseases. In late 1980’s cord blood stem cells were used for the first time in blood stem cell transplantation.
I am happy to know that this therapies can now treat more than 100 diseases such as Acute Leukemia, Chronic Leukemia, Myelodysplastic Syndromes, Lymphoproliferative Disorders, Phagocyte Disorders and many more.
Hi Karen,
I wanted to let you know that this year’s Cell and Gene Meeting on the Mesa is on October 3-5, 2018.
Best regards,
Marita Barger
Here is another conference that readers may also be interested in:
“Lost in the Maze: Navigating Evidence and Ethics in Translational Neuroscience”
February 14 – 16, 2018
Herrenhausen Palace, Hanover, Germany
The conference will seek clear deliverables to improve the robustness and positive predictive value of pre-clinical research, protect the welfare of research participants, and develop more effective informed consent processes.
This conference will not focus exclusively on stem cell research but given the prominence of stem cell research in investigating new approaches to serious neurological diseases and disorders, the conference should be of interest to all who are interested in the stem cell field. Here is a link to the conference website:
https://www.volkswagenstiftung.de/nc/en/events/calendar-of-events/details-of-events/news/detail/artikel/lost-in-the-maze-navigating-evidence-and-ethics-in-translational-neuroscience/marginal/5277.html
Hi Karen! This is a great resource for anyone looking for stem cell conferences to attend. One additional conference I would like to bring to your attention to be added to this list is the New York Stem Cell Foundation Conference. This conference focuses on translational stem cell research and features talks and panels with eminent stem cell researchers from around the world.
The NYSCF 2018 Conference will be held in New York, NY at The Rockefeller University on October 23rd – 24th.
This is a great opportunity for all professionals with an interest in stem cell research, including physicians, researchers, clinical investigators, professors, government and health officials, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students!
Here is the conference website: https://nyscf.org/events/conference/
Thanks for bringing this meeting to my attention Gweyneth! I will add it to the blog list.