Heading to 2013 World Stem Cell Summit

World Stem Cell SummitI’m flying out to San Diego today for the World Stem Cell Summit.

I’ve been attending this great meeting every year lately and I always return home feeling more informed and energized.

Here’s this year’s agenda.

At the meeting, I will be doing a book signing tomorrow, Wednesday December 4th, from noon-2pm near the WSCS Registration Desk so swing by and say “hi”.

I’d be happy to chat about the book and sign a copy if you’d like. We’ll have copies for sale. It was an important priority for me that the book be affordable and its $29 price is far lower than most books by academics that most run between $100-$200.

I’ll be moderating a panel Thursday morning at 10:30am on progress in pluripotent stem cells. The speakers are exceptional for this panel:

  • Timothy J. Kamp, MD, PhD, University of Wisconsin Medical School
  • Joseph Itskovitz-Eldor, MD, Dsc, Technion — Israel Institute of Technology
  • Shoukhrat Mitalipov, PhD, Oregon Health & Science University

This year’s meeting is extra special for me because I will be given the National Advocacy Award on Thursday evening. This is a humbling honor and a recognition that advocacy by scientists can have strong, positive impact.

I’ll be a panel member on Friday morning at 9:30am for a panel discussion of what patients should know before getting a stem cell treatment. One of the few true great Renaissance people in the stem cell field, Lee Buckler, will be the moderator, and my fellow panelist is Dr. Allan Wu, who is extremely knowledgeable and a great speaker.