International Conference on Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine   Jointly organised by inStem (Bangalore) and the
UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

                                      11- 13 July 2012

UCL Cruciform building, Lecture Theatre 1, Gower St, London

                                      Programme

Wednesday 11 July 2012

12:30 - 13:30: Registration/Poster setup                     

13:30 - 14:00: Welcome addresses by:
                        Prof. Malcolm Grant, UCL President and Provost
                        Prof. Sir John Tooke, UCL Vice-Provost for Health, Head of the UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences and UCL Medical School
                        Dr. K. VijayRaghavan, Director of the National Centre for Biological Sciences and Officiating Director, inStem, Bangalore, India
                        Prof. Claudio Stern, Chair of the UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Steering Committee and UCL Department of Cell and Developmental Biology

Session 1.  Chair: Prof. Giulio Cossu, UCL Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

14:00 – 14:30: Prof. Claudio Stern, UCL Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and
UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine                      
                       "Twinning: the ultimate regeneration"

14:30 - 15:00: Dr. Dasaradhi Palakodeti, inStem, Bangalore
                       “Post-transcriptional regulatory networks essential for planarian regeneration and stem cell function”

15:00 - 15:30: Dr. Ramanuj DasGupta, NYU School of Medicine Cancer Institute, New York, and inStem, Bangalore
                        "The microRNA-310/13 cluster antagonizes β-catenin function in the regulation of germline stem cell differentiation in Drosophila"

15:30 - 16:00: Dr. K VijayRaghavan, National Centre for Biological Sciences and inStem, Bangalore
                          “Stem-cell lineages specified by the transcription factors Otd and ems play key roles in olfactory lobe patterning in the Drosophila brain”

16:00 - 16:45: Tea

Session 2.

Chair: Dr. K VijayRaghavan, National Centre for Biological Sciences and inStem, Bangalore

16:45 - 17:15: Dr. Jyotsna Dhawan, inStem, Bangalore
                        "A fine balance-how quiescence promotes stem cell function"

17:15 - 17:45: Prof. Giulio Cossu, UCL Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
                       "Fate choices in post-somitic mouse mesoderm"

17:45 - 18:15: Prof. John Mercer, McLaughlin Research Institute, Montana, USA and Visiting Professor, inStem, Bangalore
                       “Inherited cardiomyopathies: from single molecules to iPS-derived single cardiomyocytes”

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Thursday 12 July 2012

Session 3.

Chair: Prof. Tariq Enver, UCL Cancer Institute and UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

9:00 - 9:30:   Prof. Amanda Fisher, Director, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College
                       “Cell fusion-mediated reprogramming of somatic cells by ES cells requires DNA synthesis”

9:30 - 10:00: Dr. Shravanti Rampalli, inStem, Bangalore
                       "Epigenetic regulation of pluripotency and differentiation in human stem cells"

10:00 - 10:30: Prof. Azim Surani, The Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge
                        "Germ line, stem cells and pluripotency"

10:30 - 11:15: Coffee

Session 4.

Chair: Dr. Maneesha Inamdar, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre and inStem, Bangalore

11:15 - 11:45: Dr. G. V. Shivashankar, Mechanobiology Institute and Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore and inStem, Bangalore
                        “Nuclear plasticity and stem-cell differentiation”

11:45 - 12:15: Dr. Kouichi Hasegawa, iCeMS, Kyoto University and inStem, Bangalore
                "Wnt signaling in human pluripotent stem cell renewal"

12:15 - 12:45: Dr. John Gurdon, The Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge
                        "Nuclear reprogramming by amphibian eggs and oocytes"

12:45 - 14:00 Lunch

Session 5.

Chair: Prof. Robin Lovell-Badge, MRC National Institute for Medical Research and UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

14:00 - 14:30: Dr. Maneesha Inamdar, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre and inStem, Bangalore
                         “Asrij is required for stem cell pluripotency and maintenance”

14:30 - 15:00: Prof. Ian Chambers, Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh
                        “Transcription factor control of transitions in pluripotent cell states”

15:00 - 15:30: Prof. Peter Andrews, University of Sheffield
                         "Culture Adaptation of Human ES Cells: Oncogenesis in vitro?"

15:30 - 16:00: Prof. Tariq Enver, UCL Cancer Institute and UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
                        “Lineage commitment in the blood system"

16:00-18:00: Poster presentations

Session 6

Chair: Prof. Claudio Stern, Chair of the UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Steering Committee and UCL Department of Cell and Developmental Biology

18:00-19:00 Keynote lecture
                     Dr. Irving Weisman, Director of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine, USA
                    “Normal and Neoplastic Stem Cells”

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Friday 13 July 2012

Session 7.

Chair: Prof. Pete Coffey, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

9:00 - 9:30:  Dr. Colin Jamora, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego and inStem, Bangalore
                     “Regulating epithelial stem cell behaviour in a wound microenvironment”

9:30 - 10:00:  Prof. Fiona Watt, King’s College London
                        “Stem cell-niche interactions in mammalian epidermis”

10:00 - 10:30: Dr. Srikala Raghavan, Department of Dermatology, Columbia University Medical Center and inStem, Bangalore                       
                       “Uncovering functional differences between integrin beta1 and beta6 in keratinocytes: A tale of 2 kindlins”

10:30 - 11:00: Coffee

Session 8.

Chair: Dr. Shravanti Rampalli, inStem, Bangalore

11:00 - 11:30: Prof. Noel Buckley, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London
                        “Analysis of the epigenome and transcriptome during neural stem cell differentiation”

11:30 - 12:00: Prof. Robin Lovell-Badge, MRC National Institute for Medical Research and UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
                        "Extrinsic factors influencing the neural stem cell niche and their potential use in regenerative medicine"

12:00 - 12:30: Prof. Steve Wilson,  UCL Department of Cell and Developmental Biology and UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
                        "Early morphogenesis of the eye"

12:30 - 13:00: Prof. Pete Coffey, UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
                         “The clinical application of stem cells for retinal disease”

13:00:  Closing remarks