Dear Colleagues,

With 400 participants, 21 exhibitors, 193 poster presentations and 27 oral presentations selected from 240 abstracts the 1st Annual GSCN Conference at the MDC Berlin (November 11th to 13th, 2013) was a great start for the International Annual Conference series of the GSCN.

We would like to thank all participants, speakers, chairs, working group initiators, supporters, exhibitors, the conference office and all the people behind the scene, who helped to make this event enjoyable for everybody.

Embedded between keynote lectures from Michele de Luca, Vania Broccoli, Christine Mummery and Austin Smith the majority of the oral presentations were given by junior scientists selected from the submitted abstracts. This special format reflects the major goal of the GSCN conference series to provide young scientists with a high level forum for presenting and discussing their scientific achievements and for initiating new interactions ranging from first scientific collaborations to the initiation of trans-regional research consortia.

The meeting covered the latest topics in stem cell biology, including genetic and epigenetic mechanisms of reprogramming, maintenance of pluripotency, somatic stem cells in vertebrates and invertebrates, stem cells in disease and regenerative medicine, cancer stem cells and many more stem cell-related topics. In addition to covering a large range of stem cell-related scientific areas, the meeting featured sessions on highly relevant strategic topics such as emerging technologies, career development, funding opportunities and public outreach. Contributions on clinical applications in regenerative medicine and industry presentations reflected the strong translational impact of this fast-growing field.

A photographer has taken a series of photos the meeting and participants can view them under Conference Pictures. A report about the conference can be downloaded  Conference Report. 

Please, feel free to send us your comments and criticisms regarding the conference or further questions and requests.

Kind regards,

The organizing committee