Course Description | Course Objectives | Target Audience

Dear Colleague,

On behalf of the Organizing Committee we invite you to the 14th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Stem Cell Transplantation, to be held April 26 – 28, 2007, in Heidelberg, Germany.

We initiated this symposium at the University of California, San Diego, in March 1992. Not in our wildest dreams did we expect such dynamic outcomes in stem cell research as we witness today.

Since 2000, we have been hosting this symposium alternately in San Diego and Heidelberg, and this annual event has remained a forum for exchange of innovative ideas among scientists and clinicians from academic institutions as well as from the biomedical industry.

With this background, we will focus on novel aspects in stem cell research as well as the clinical achievements of blood stem cell transplantation. The topics and speakers in this year’s program have been selected based on proposals and suggestions from participants of previous meetings. Special simultaneous sessions will be offered for abstract presentations and the best abstracts will be integrated into the main sessions. 

We look forward to seeing you again in Heidelberg.

Yours sincerely,

Anthony D. Ho, MD, PhD
University of Heidelberg, Germany

Edward D. Ball, MD
University of California, San Diego

Course Description: As we initiate this symposium at the University of California, San Diego, in March 1992, the clinical use of progenitor cells derived from peripheral blood instead of the marrow was seen with skepticism and regarded as experimental. In the meantime, the role of blood derived progenitor cells is well established. We have witnessed how stem cell research has evolved and how hematopoietic cell transplantation has become standard therapy for many types of malignancies and hereditary diseases. Above all, stem cells from the bone marrow have learned new tricks! Other than giving rise to blood and immunocompetent cells, they might possess far wider differentiation potentials than previously thought. Hematopoietic stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, or multipotent adult progenitor cells, all derived from the bone marrow, might one day represent a valuable alternative source our pluripotent stem cells for regenerative medicine.

The topics and speakers in the present program have been selected based on proposals from participants previous meetings. More opportunities will be offered for abstract presentations and the the best abstracts will be integrated into the main sessions.

Objectives: The attendee will be familiar with the indications and current results of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. In addition, the attendee will be familiar with the most recent advances in supportive care, donor stem cell sources, and the role of hematopoietic stem cells in tissue repair.

Target Audience: This course is designed for researchers and clinicians in Hematology/Oncology who work in the field of Stemcell Transplantation.