The 6th Guangzhou International Conference on Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine and the 2nd Annual Conference of Chinese Society for Regenerative Cell Biology

The 6th Guangzhou International Conference on Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine and the 2nd Annual Conference of the Chinese Society for Regenerative Cell Biology was held in Guangzhou on Dec 18-19, 2013. Over 300 people including President of Tongji University, Pei Gang, Kung Hsiang-fu of Chinese University of Hong Kong, Chief of Resource saving and Environment Protection Affairs office of Major R&D Programs Bureau of CAS, Ren Xiaobo, Deputy Chief of Social Development Affairs Office of Guangdong Provincial S&T Department Li Huihuai, Deputy Director of Guangzhou Science and Information Technology Department Wang Yuexi and a number of other well-known scholars and professionals in the area from all over the world attended the conference. Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health of CAS (GIBH) Director General, Pei Duanqing chaired the opening ceremony.

About 40 well-known scholars, members of the CAS Overseas Innovation Team on stem cells self-renewal and pluripotency, expert panel members of the national key project on Reproduction and Development, the National 973 Project chief scientists and other professionals were invited as keynote speakers to the conference. Their addresses covered diverse aspects and topics such as pluripotency and reprogramming, neuroscience and neural stem cells, differentiation and regulation of hematopoietic stem cells, disease models and transitional medicine. Moreover, reports, featured lectures and extensive discussions were carried out throughout the conference to explore the frontiers and future direction of stem cell and regenerative medicine.

Academician Pei Gang made a speech and congratulated the attendees of the conference. He pointed out that stem cell research being one of the frontiers in life sciences has drawn wider attention from many younger scientists and experts in other fields. He wished more annual conferences and forums of this kind could facilitate scientists in other fields to engage in the stem cell research, thus accelerating major breakthroughs in the area in China by consolidating knowledge of multiple disciplines. With a six-year’s history, he said the Guangzhou International Conference on Stem Cells has generated a broadening impact within the scientific community. And Guangdong as a frontier in China’s emergence and reform, and that China should take more advantage of its abundant natural and human resources to develop, and strive to be a major contributor to the realization of the Chinese dream and the nation’s great rejuvenation.

The 6th Guangzhou International Conference on Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine is sponsored by Chinese Society for Regenerative Cell Biology, Organizing Committee of Guangzhou Convention of Overseas Chinese Scholars in Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangdong Industry and Innovative Technology Alliance of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, and Guangzhou Stem Cell Regenerative Medicine Consortium. GIBH is the organizer. The first 5 conferences were held from 2008 to 2012. The conferences has, to some extent, elevated Guangzhou and even China’s influence in the international academic community in this field and plays an important in role in accelerating the advancement of stem cell and regenerative biology research in China.