Development of a Stem Cell Tool Box (EuroSTELLS)
ISSCR Guidelines for the Clinical Translation of Stem Cells Published
The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) is an independent, non-profit organisation to foster the exchange of information on stem cell research. Recognising the lack of clear reference materials to assist patients and patient advocacy groups in navigating the landscape of stem-cell based therapies, the ISSCR brought together a diverse, international task force of top stem cell researchers, clinicians, bioethicists, and regulatory leaders to draft professional guidelines relating to the clinical translation of stem cell research in 2007. To support them in this commendable effort, the Scientific Committee of EuroSTELLS agreed to financially sponsor the task force, together with the Alzheimer’s Research Foundation, The Ellison Medical Foundation and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Beta Cell Replacement Advisory Committee. The Guidelines for the Clinical Translation of Stem Cells have been published and for more information see www.isscr.org/clinical_trans/index.cfm.
EuroSTELLS at ESOF 2008
Credit: istock
'Stem Cells- From Bench to Bedside'
19 July 2008, Barcelona, Spain
In this session a researcher spoke on the potential therapeutic application of stem cells for regenerating diseased cells, followed by a bioethicist and patients’ organisation representative addressing the significant ethical, legal and societal issues that must also be overcome before the potential of stem cells is realised.
Scientific Goals of the EuroSTELLS Programme
Twenty-one research groups from eleven European countries participated in the EUROCORES Programme on the Development of a Stem Cell Tool Box (EuroSTELLS). The EuroSTELLS Programme aimed at generating fundamental knowledge on stem cell biology, setting up the bases for comparative analyses of stem cells of different origins and their clinical application in the future. The ability to isolate, culture and manipulate stem cells ex vivo is a critical step towards elucidating their biological properties and developing their biotechnological and therapeutic potential.
Download EuroSTELLS Brochure (pdf)
By promoting and supporting networking, the EuroSTELLS Programme fostered innovative and multidisciplinary collaborations as well as synergy with other national and European stem cell initiatives, and contributed to creating a critical mass of expertise in the stem cell field in Europe.
Projects
Three Stem Cell Collaborative Projects were funded under this programme:
- Novel Approaches to Enhance Animal Embryonic Stem Cell Research (STELLAR)
- Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Self-Renewal in the Embryo (HSC-SR)
- Translational stem cell research: from basic biology to regenerative medicine
Projects Leaders
Professor Cesare Galli, Laboratorio di Tecnologie della Reproduzione, Cremona, Italy
Professor Elaine Dzierzak, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Professor Stefan Krauss, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway
