Last Thursday and Friday, November 21st and 22nd, the second RegenBell Symposium on stem cells and regenerative medicine took place, organized by the IDIBELL Regenerative Medicine Program (RegenBell). After the first edition in November 2023, the event still pursues its main objective: to establish an inclusive and collaborative platform for scientists interested in regenerative medicine.
The event was again held at the Institute d’Estudis Catalans, in Barcelona, with more than 170 attendees. Throughout Thursday and Friday morning, 11 conferences have been presented, 9 of which by invited external speakers, 8 selected short talks and 39 posters. Early on Thursday, Dr. Ángel Raya, director of RegenBell and ICREA researcher at IDIBELL, welcomed and opened the symposium.
Afterwards, the conferences and talks began and last until Friday. They were divided into 5 thematic sessions, moderated by the RegenBell research group leaders and focused on endoderm development and regeneration, stem cell regeneration in aging and disease, disease modeling with induced pluripotent stem cells, manipulation of collective cell behavior, and restoration of homeostasis and tissue repair. Highlighted among the invited speakers are Professor Didier Stainier, researcher and director of the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim, Germany, who gave the plenary talk of the symposium: “Adult heart regeneration in zebrafish and genetic compensation” and Dr. Anne Grapin-Botton, researcher and director of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany, who gave the first lecture explaining the modeling of the pancreas with organoids.
Finally, Dr. Gabriel Capellá, director of IDIBELL, presented the awards for best poster and best short talk, which went respectively to Joan Roncero (IDIBELL) and Joshua Frenster (UPF).
The three members of the organizing committee, Ángel Raya, Jordi Guiu and Anuska Linares, are satisfied with the second edition of the symposium. They perceived it as very well received among the participants and are confident that they will achieve their goal as the next editions are held. They are also grateful to the collaborating companies: MedChemExpress, BGI, Cultek and DD Biolab.
The Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) is a biomedical research center created in 2004. It is participated by the Bellvitge University Hospital and the Viladecans Hospital of the Catalan Institute of Health, the Catalan Institute of Oncology, the University of Barcelona and the City Council of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat.
IDIBELL is a member of the Campus of International Excellence of the University of Barcelona HUBc and is part of the CERCA institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2009 it became one of the first five Spanish research centers accredited as a health research institute by the Carlos III Health Institute. In addition, it is part of the “HR Excellence in Research” program of the European Union and is a member of EATRIS and REGIC. Since 2018, IDIBELL has been an Accredited Center of the AECC Scientific Foundation (FCAECC).