World Stem Cell Summit, Detroit, 2010

The annual World Stem Cell Sum­mit was held in Detroit, USA in Octo­ber 2010. The most com­pre­hen­sive stem cell con­fer­ence of the world aimed to pro­mote stem cell research and its clin­i­cal appli­ca­tion to develop ther­a­pies for debil­i­tat­ing con­di­tions like Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries.

The sum­mit also offered a good opportunity to exchange knowledge, make connections and bring closer the global stem cell community. 1200 atten­dees took part at the con­fer­ence from 30 coun­tries from med­ical, sci­en­tific, legal, pol­icy mak­ing, busi­ness and non-profit sectors.

The 3-day pro­gram fea­tured pre­sen­ta­tions in the field of sci­ence, busi­ness and soci­ety, which were fol­lowed by ple­nary and round table dis­cus­sions with experts.

“The World Stem Cell Sum­mit was a won­der­ful experience. I was greatly impressed by the organizer’s attempt to edu­cate and har­mo­nize the stem cell com­mu­nity worldwide. It gave me an excellent opportunity to strengthen rela­tions with inter­na­tional coun­ter­parts and patient rep­re­sen­ta­tives. Also got to learn more about their ongo­ing projects, aspi­ra­tions and con­cerns” — said Dr. Yihua An, MD, PhD., direc­tor of the Depart­ment of Stem Cell Trans­plan­ta­tion at the Gen­eral Hos­pi­tal of Chi­nese People’s Armed Police Forces.

“I met my inter­na­tional asso­ciates whose patients have received stem cell ther­apy for Cere­bral Palsy in China. Now that a few years have passed since the trans­plant they have shown keen interest in stem cell treat­ment see­ing the con­vinc­ing follow-up results of their patients.”

Stem cell research in China is closer to bring­ing bet­ter treatment to chil­dren with Cere­bral Palsy. Stem cell ther­apy for CP was launched in 2004 in the country and since then 825 CP cases have been treated. 74.5% of spas­tic, 79.5% of atonic, and 78.3% of mixed type showed improvement mainly in physique, motor func­tion and intelligence under the age of 5 years.

“We plan to fur­ther strengthen our sci­en­tific rela­tion­ship and build up coop­er­a­tive part­ner­ship with our inter­na­tional fel­low sci­en­tists, that may result in more fre­quent mutual vis­its, knowl­edge exchange and closer work. We sin­cerely hope our uni­fied efforts will move forward the stem cell science.”