UCI to host CIRM stem cell network symposium

Sept. 8 event to feature leading stem-cell researchers

Irvine, Calif. — The UCI Alpha Clinic will host the sixth annual California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) Alpha Clinic Network Symposium on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023.

CIRM sponsors an annual public conference to educate, explore key issues in this developing field and highlight efforts by Alpha Clinic Network physicians and scientists in the pursuit of breakthrough cell and gene therapies.

This year’s symposium will be a hybrid in-person and virtual event, hosted by the UCI Alpha Clinic and the UCI Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center. The all-day event will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at UCI Beall Applied Innovation, located at 5270 California Ave., Irvine.

Symposium speakers will include UCI neuroscientist Matthew Blurton-Jones, PhD, and Daniel S. Chow, MD, co-director of the UCI Center for Artificial Intelligence in Diagnostic Medicine. Other scheduled speakers are Michael I. Lewis, MD; Mark C. Walters, MD; Donald B. Kohn, MD; Alexis Komor, PhD; David D. Lo, MD, PhD; and Mehrdad Abedi, MD.

“We are really excited about this year’s symposium,” said Daniela Bota, MD, PhD, UCI Alpha Stem Cell Clinic director and one of the event’s organizers. “We are honored to welcome our colleagues from other prestigious California institutions and the public at large to this prestigious event. Each year, we look forward to learning about the tremendous progress made in the field of cell and gene therapies, and learning about the best approaches to provide access to these treatments to all our diverse patient populations and this year will be no different.”

Symposium highlights include the following morning presentations:

• iPSC-microglia Transplantation in a Chimeric Model of CSF1R-related Leukoencephalopathy — Blurton-Jones, who studies neural stem-cell mechanisms involved in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases
• Cell Therapy for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: From Bench to Bedside — Lewis, a pulmonogist at Cedars Sinai Medical Center
• Curative Therapies for Hemoglobin Disorders — Walters, a UC San Francisco pediatric bone-marrow transplant expert
• Hematopoietic Stem-Cell Gene Therapy — Kohn, a UCLA specialist in pediatric hematologic malignancies who is known for his pioneering treatment of babies born without a functioning immune system.
• Understanding Human Genetic Variation With Precision Genome Editing Tools — Komor, who specializes in genomic editing at UC San Diego

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About the UCI Alpha Clinic: The clinical trial arm of the UCI Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, the UCI Alpha Clinic is part of a network of academic medical centers funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The Alpha Clinic offers leading-edge stem cell clinical trials and gene therapy to patients. it also seeks to accelerate the development of new treatments through partnerships with patients, medical providers and clinical trial sponsors. Visit stemcell.uci.edu to learn more about our regenerative medicine research.

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About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It is located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities, and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. Learn more about the university at www.uci.edu ›