Stem cell therapy: hype or hope?

Some 200 people, largely university students, researchers and medical specialists, attended the  Forum titled “Stem cell therapy: hype or hope?” held at the Auditorium of Università della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, Switzerland, on Saturday March 29, 2014. Organised by the Fondazione IBSA for Scientific Research, the forum provided a major opportunity for discussing where stem cell science stands today and its true potential going forward.
Made possible thanks to the Foundation’s support, the meeting featured an intense scientific program with presentations made by high-calibre speakers who shared the key findings of  their research. Speakers included Paolo Bianco (Director, Stem Cell Research, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy),  Pierre Gonczy (Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, Lausanne, Switzerland), Shahragim Tajbakhsh (Director,  Developmental & Stem Cell Biology Department, Pasteur Institute, Paris, France), Vania Broccoli (Head of the Stem Cells Research Unit, Neuroscience Division, San Raffaele Institute, Milan, Italy), Thomas Rando (Director, The Glenn Laboratories for the Biology of Aging, Stanford University School of Medicine, California, USA) and Austin Smith (Director, Wellcome Trust – Medical Research Council Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge University, UK).
These world-class experts are driven by a common aspiration to be able to regenerate any damaged body parts  and are fully aware that to develop and deliver effective therapies it is essential to get a full understanding of their benefits, limitations and risks.