2021 Conference Speakers

2021 Conference Speakers
in Czech Republic

7th Perinatal Stem Cell Society Congress
Vítkovice Convention Center / Usain Bolt Tower
Ostrava, Czech Republic

Click on images to read full bios

Kyle Cetrulo
President and Founder, Perinatal Stem Cell Society
Co-Founder and CEO, Auxocell Laboratories, Inc.

Conference Presentation Topic: Clinical Trials with Perinatal Cells

Kyle Cetrulo has been interested in Perinatal Stem Cells and non-profit organizations since 1998. As the former Director of the International Cord Blood Society (ICBS), Mr. Cetrulo organized the 5th and 6th International Congresses for the ICBS in 2002 and 2004, which had representatives from 23 countries participate in the meetings.

In 2008, Mr. Cetrulo co-founded Auxocell Laboratories, Inc. (Auxocell). Auxocell achieved profitability in three years under his leadership and Mr. Cetrulo currently remains in the position of Chief Executive Officer at Auxocell. Editor of two editions of Perinatal Stem Cells (Wiley Press, 2010 and 2013) and 2006 guest editor of the Stem Cell Reviews journal special edition focused on Perinatal Stem Cells, Mr. Cetrulo developed relationships with the world’s preeminent stem cell researchers working in the perinatal stem cell field.

In 2013, Mr. Cetrulo along with his co-founders, decided to form the non-profit International Perinatal Stem Cell Society, Inc., in order to provide a platform for collaboration and the dissemination of knowledge and information about perinatal stem cells.

Kyle Cetrulo
Clinical Trials with Perinatal Cells

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Curtis L. Cetrulo, Jr, MD
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital Assistant Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School Director, Vascularized Composite Tissue Allotransplantation Lab Attending Surgeon, Massachusetts General Hospital

Conference Presentation Topic: TBA

Curtis L Cetrulo, MD is a nationally-respected clinical microsurgeon and educator, and a national leader in vascularized composite allotransplantation. Dr Cetrulo graduated from Stanford University in 1992 and Tufts University School of Medicine in 1999. Following general surgery residency training, a plastic surgery research fellowship, plastic surgery residency training and hand and microsurgery fellowship training, Dr Cetrulo practiced reconstructive microsurgery and hand surgery at the University of Southern California Medical Center (USC). He also performed pediatric reconstructive microsurgery, burn reconstruction, cleft lip/palate surgery, and pediatric hand surgery at the Shriners Hospital for Children-Los Angeles from 2007-2009. In addition, Dr Cetrulo established and directed a translational research laboratory dedicated to composite tissue allograft research. Dr Cetrulo participated in many medical missions while at USC. In 2009, Dr Cetrulo joined the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, as well as the staff of Shriners Hospital for Children-Boston. Dr Cetrulo's surgical practice is dedicated to preforming cutting-edge complex adult and pediatric reconstructive microsurgery, as well as hand surgery, breast reconstruction, and burn reconstruction. Dr Cetrulo has published numerous clinical research contributions to the microsurgery literature. Dr Cetrulo established one of the first Vascularized Composite Allotransplantation Service at MGH, from inception to regulatory board approval to performance of MGH's first hand transplantation. Dr Cetrulo's hand transplant case has been distinguished by the patient's superior functional outcome compared to other hand transplant recipients throughout the world, as well as for widening the applicability of this procedure for burned amputees. Dr Cetrulo also serves as the Senior Investigator and Head of the Vascularized Composite Tissue Allotransplantation Laboratory at the Transplantation Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital (TBRC). The TBRC laboratory is investigating tolerance induction strategies for vascularized composite tissue allografts (VCA) in the immunogenetically-defined MGH miniature swine model as well as in non-human primate models. Current research efforts are directed toward use of mixed hematopoietic chimerism to induce transplantation tolerance to VCA and toward exploring the immunologic mechanisms involved in tolerance and rejection of the skin component of VCA. TBRC recently published an important contribution to the field: the first demonstration of immunologic tolerance of all components of a VCA in a large animal, preclinical model.

Curtis L. Cetrulo, Jr, MD
Talk TBA

Tomasz Baran MD, MBA
Tomasz Baran is Board Member of PBKM (Polish Stem Cell Bank) operating in multiple European countries as FamiCord Group.

Conference Presentation Topic: FamiCord’s clinical experience with WJ derived product application in various clinical areas.

At FamiCord Tomasz is responsible for Sales and Marketing activities towards healthcare professionals and expectant parents. Tomasz has both medical (MD since 1997) and business (MBA since 2007) background. He joined PBKM in 2010, prior entering cord blood banking sector he has been holding various position in pharmaceutical industry.

Tomasz Baran MD, MBA
FamiCord’s clinical experience with WJ derived product application in various clinical areas.

Rouzbeh R. Taghizadeh, PhD
Director, Secretary, and Founder of the Perinatal Stem Cell Society
Chief Scientific Officer, Auxocell Laboratories, Inc.

Conference Presentation Topic: Umbilical Cord Tissue Processing Technologies for Perinatal MSC Banking

Dr. Rouzbeh R. Taghizadeh has dedicated more than 15 years to bringing stem cell-based therapies to clinical practice. He earned his Ph.D. in Stem Cell Bioengineering in 2006 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and cofounded AuxoCell Laboratories, Inc. as Chief Scientific Officer in 2008. At AuxoCell, Dr. Taghizadeh developed novel methods and technologies most notably, the patented AuxoCell Processing System (AC:Px™), in order to establish the collection, processing, and banking of stem cells from the human umbilical cord for eventual utilization in cell based therapies, regenerative medicine, and other clinical applications. Dr. Taghizadeh has contributed to numerous peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and patents and is an editor of the 2nd edition of Perinatal Stem Cells.

Rouzbeh R. Taghizadeh, PhD
Umbilical Cord Tissue Processing Technologies for Perinatal MSC Banking

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Joanne Kurtzberg, MD
Director, Marcus Center for Cellular Cures (MC3)
Director, Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program
Director, Carolinas Cord Blood Bank
Co-Director, Stem Cell Laboratory

Conference Presentation Topic: Extending Cord Blood to Regenerative Therapies for the Brain

Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg is an internationally renowned expert in pediatric hematology/oncology, pediatric blood and marrow transplantation, umbilical cord blood banking and transplantation, and novel applications of cord blood in the emerging fields of cellular therapies and regenerative medicine. Dr. Kurtzberg pioneered the use of umbilical cord blood as an alternative stem cell source for unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Over the last two decades, Dr. Kurtzberg has established an internationally known pediatric transplant program at Duke, which treats children with cancer, blood disorders, immune deficiencies, hemoglobinopathies and inherited metabolic diseases. In 2010, Kurtzberg established the Julian Robertson Cell and Translational Therapy Program (CT2) at Duke. CT2 focuses on translational studies from bench to bedside with a focus on bringing cellular therapies in regenerative medicine to the clinic. Recent areas of investigation in CT2, which are funded by the Marcus Foundation, include the use of autologous cord blood in children with neonatal brain injury, cerebral palsy, and autism, as well as preclinical and clinical studies manufacturing microglial oligodendrocyte-like cells from cord blood to treat patients with acquired and genetic brain diseases. Studies of donor cord blood cells and donor cord tissue MSCs in adults with stroke and children with cerebral palsy and autism are also underway. In 2018, Dr. Kurtzberg established and became director of the Marcus Center for Cellular Cures (MC3) at Duke.

Dr. Kurtzberg established one of the largest unrelated donor cord blood banks, the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank, in the world at Duke in 1998. The bank has a current inventory of >40,000 units and has provided cord blood units to over 2,500 patients undergoing unrelated donor HSCT over the past 20 years. Dr. Kurtzberg’s lab has developed novel assays enumerating ALDH bright cells to predict cord blood potency from segments attached to cryopreserved cord blood units, and is performing translational research testing cord blood expansion, cellular targeted therapies and tissue repair and regeneration. In 2012, under the direction of Dr. Kurtzberg, the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank received FDA approval for DuCord, a stem cell product derived from umbilical cord blood, for use in transplants between unrelated donors and recipients. Dr. Kurtzberg currently holds several INDs for investigational clinical trials. Additionally, she is the co-director of the Duke Hospital Stem Cell Transplant Laboratory.

Dr. Kurtzberg has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers, multiple chapters and scientific reviews. She is a member of the American Society of Hematology, the American Association of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, the International Society of Cellular Therapies, the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium (PBMTC), and multiple other organizations. She has served on the Board of the Foundation of Accreditation of Cellular Therapies, co-chaired the National Marrow Donor Program’s Cord Blood Advisory Group and has served on the Advisory Council of Blood Stem Cell Transplantation to Health and Human Services. Dr. Kurtzberg was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the PBMTC in 2012. Most recently, she established and is the first president of the Cord Blood Association.

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Extending Cord Blood to Regenerative Therapies for the Brain
Joanne Kurtzberg, MD; Director, Marcus Center for Cellular Cures; Director, Carolinas Cord Blood Bank; Director, Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Program

Cord blood cells can work through paracrine and trophic mechanisms to help endogenous cells heal brain tissue damaged by disease or injury. Learning from observations made using unrelated donor umbilical cord blood transplantation after myeloablative chemotherapy to treat children with certain inherited metabolic diseases, cord blood therapies have been developed to treat children with acquired brain injuries, like hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, cerebral palsy, and autism. Results of preclinical and IND enabling studies will be presented to provide information about safety and potential mechanisms of action of cord blood cells in this setting. Data from early phase human clinical trials for safety and efficacy in these diseases will be presented by the speaker in this session.

Learning Objectives:
1. Attendee will learn the history and evolution of cord blood banking and transplantation.
2. Attendee will learn about quality measures of cord blood units.
3. Attendee will learn about new clinical applications for cord blood therapies.

Joanne Kurtzberg, MD
Extending Cord Blood to Regenerative Therapies for the Brain

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Speaker - Prof. Dr. C. Breymann
Founder and Director of the Swiss Perinatal Institute in Zurich

Conference Presentation Topic: Clinical use and limitations of tissue engineered organs in various indications - where do we stand?

The Perinatal Zurich was founded 2013 by Prof. Dr. Christian Breymann in Zurich, Switzerland. The Institutes main goal is to give assistance and counseling in complex cases and questions concerning perinatal medicine and high risk obstetrics. The main characteristic of Perinatal Zurich is that it combines various specialists and institutions and uses their competence for the benefit of the patients. Swiss Perinatal participates actively in research and development in the field of perinatal medicine.

Christian Breymann, MD
Clinical use and limitations of tissue engineered organs in various indications - where do we stand?

Sean Murphy, PhD
Assistant Professor, Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Director/Secretary and Co-founder of the Perinatal Stem Cell Society

Conference Presentation Topic: Amnion Membrane-Derived Cells and Materials for Skin Wound Treatment

Dr. Sean V. Murphy received his Bachelors degree from the University of Western Australia and his Ph.D. from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Regenerative Medicine at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in North Carolina, USA. His research focuses on developing regenerative medicine and tissue engineering strategies to establish and improve clinical treatments for lung disease. These strategies include cell therapies to restore normal function to lung tissue and minimize inflammation and scarring associated with disease, use of 3D bioprinting to fabricate new airway tissues for transplantation, and lung-on-a-chip technologies for disease modeling and drug discovery. Dr. Murphy is currently the Associate Editor of the journal Bioprinting, on the Editorial Board of multiple journals, including Stem Cells Translational Medicine and is Director, Secretary and Founder of the Perinatal Stem Cell Society. Dr. Murphy has published over 30 peer reviewed journal articles, multiple book chapters and reviews, and numerous awards and fellowships, most notably from the American Lung Association Senior Research Training and the American Australian Association.

Sean Murphy, PhD
Amnion Membrane-Derived Cells and Materials for Skin Wound Treatment

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Ramon Coronado, MSc, PhD
Executive Director Lester Smith Medical Research Institute

Conference Presentation Topic: Therapeutic Effects of Various Perinatal Cells On a Humanized Graft-Versus-Host-Disease (GvHD) Mice Model

Dr. Ramon Coronado, moved from Caracas, Venezuela to San Antonio, Texas in 2009 after completing his B.S. in Polymer Engineering. He studied biomedical engineering through the joint program at UTSA/UTHSCSA and a collaborative effort with the US Army Institute of Surgical Research, receiving his masters in 2012 and his Ph.D. in 2016. Passionate about translating care, he founded Mobile Stem Care in 2013, a company focused on delivering stem cell treatments to animals. Following his success in animal care, Dr. Coronado was named Executive Director for the Lester Smith Medical Research Institute in 2015 where he leads research on a variety of human based cellular therapeutics. He received the CellTex Young Investigator Award in 2016 for his work as Director and continues to explore the boundaries of human cellular therapies. In his free time, Dr. Coronado enjoys rock climbing and freediving.

Ramon Coronado, MSc, PhD
Therapeutic Effects of Various Perinatal Cells On a Humanized Graft-Versus-Host-Disease (GvHD) Mice Model

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Shahar Cohen, MD
Founded Nayacure Therapeutics, Director of the tissue engineering laboratory at Rabin Medical Center, Israel

Conference Presentation Topic: The use of placenta-derived cells for bioengineering of chimeric organs for transplantation

Dr. Shahar Cohen received his MD from the Technion’s school of medicine in Haifa, Israel. He took up research positions at the Tissue Engineering Centre, Imperial College London where he studies stem cell differentiation into lung epithelial cells and then at the Stem Cell Center, Technion’s school of medicine working on stem cells and tissue engineering of connective tissues, such as bone, cartilage, fat, tendons and ligaments.

Dr. Cohen has also founded Nayacure Therapeutics, a regenerative medicine startup developing biomimetic scaffolds for localized drug delivery and tissue engineering.

Dr. Cohen is currently the director of the tissue engineering laboratory at Rabin Medical Center, Israel, focused on developing personalized, bioengineered organs, aimed to solve the global shortage of organs available for transplantation, as well as substantially reduce the need of immune-suppressant drugs following organ transplantation.

Dr. Cohen has published several peer reviewed papers, a book chapter, and has several issued or pending patents.

Shahar Cohen, MD
The use of placenta-derived cells for bioengineering of chimeric organs for transplantation

Ornella Parolini, PhD
Professor of Experimental Biology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
Director of the E. Menni Research Center (CREM), Brescia, Italy.

Conference Presentation Topic: Immunomodulatory properties of the amniotic membrane derivatives: key mechanisms of their therapeutic effects

Dr. Parolini has pioneered research on human placenta-derived stem cells, and currently the CREM is internationally recognized for its research and contributions in this field. The main lines of research at CREM are centred around amniotic and chorionic membrane-derived cells and their conditioned media, with particular focus on immunomodulatory potential in vitro, as well as in vivo assessment of anti-fibrotic effects after transplantation/injection into preclinical animal models of induced fibrosis and autoimmune diseases.

Ornella Parolini, PHD
Immunomodulatory Properties of the Amniotic Membrane Derivatives: Key Mechanisms of their Therapeutic Effects

Panel

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Joanne Kurtzberg, MD

Arnold I. Caplan, PhD
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio; Director, Skeletal Research Center; Professor, Departments of Biology (Primary Appointment); General Medical Sciences (Oncology); Pathology and Biomedical Engineering (Secondary Appointments)

Conference Presentation Topic: MSCs are not stem cells

Arnold I. Caplan, Professor of Biology and Director of the Skeletal Research Center at Case Western Reserve University. He received his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Caplan is a national and international scholar focusing on experimentation in the area of musculoskeletal and skin development. He has published over 400 papers and manuscripts and has long been supported by the NIH and other non-profit and for-profit agencies for his efforts in trying to understand the development, maturation and aging of cartilage, bone, skin and other mesenchymal tissues and for his pioneering research on Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

Arnold Caplan, PhD

Rouzbeh Taghizadeh, PhD

Ira M. Herman, Ph.D.
Professor and Director, Emeritus, Program in Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology
Center for Innovations in Wound Healing Research, Tufts University School of Medicine

Conference Presentation Topic: Peptides for Wound Healing

Ira M. Herman, Ph.D. For the entirety of his discovery- and innovation-based career, and since his days in training at Tulane University, Harvard Medical School and The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Professor Herman has been devoted to understanding the basic mechanisms that control the fundamental properties of life, including motility, repair and regeneration at the molecular, cellular and tissue levels. As a global thought leader, Dr. Herman and his colleagues have made several seminal contributions to our understanding the molecular mechanisms that control post-injury responses, while unveiling those central factors, signaling networks and supramolecular complexes responsible for regulating host reparative responses. These fundamental insights have given way to innovative strategies and inventions aimed at controlling wound healing, while converting non-healing wounds into those capable of closure. As a lead innovator and key opinion leader, Dr. Herman has chaired and served on innumerable grant review panels and editorial boards for high-impact journals. He has received numerous awards, published 100s of peer-reviewed scientific publications and is named inventor on many US and international patents describing advanced diagnostics and therapeutics for next generation, precision health care.

Ira Herman

Sean Murphy, PhD
Moderator

Giampiero La Rocca, PhD
Head of the section of “Stem Cells and Tissue Repair” at the Euro-Mediterranean Institute of Science and Technology (IEMEST)

Conference Presentation Topic: Wharton's Jelly stromal cells secretome

Dr Giampiero La Rocca has obtained the Masters Degree in Biological Sciences from University of Palermo in 2000 and got the PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology in 2005. In 2004 he was appointed as lecturer of Human Anatomy at the University of Palermo, where he is now Aggregate Professor of Histology and Embryology at the School of Medicine. He is also Head of the section of “Stem Cells and Tissue Repair” at the Euro-Mediterranean Institute of Science and Technology (IEMEST). Since 2010, he is a member of the Scientific Board of Auxocell Laboratories, Inc. He is member of the International Placenta Stem Cell Society (IPLASS) and founding member of the Perinatal Stem Cells Society and Editorial Board member in “Cell Transplantation” and other peer-reviewed international journals. He has published more than 100 scientific works including in extenso papers, abstracts and book chapters. He was Guest Editor of multiple special issues of international journals focusing on mesenchymal stromal cells of perinatal origin since 2011.

His current interests are focused on the definition of the in vivo features of stromal cells of the umbilical cord matrix (Wharton’s jelly), and their immunomodulatory properties both in the undifferentiated and fully-differentiated states. In particular, for the definition of new molecules as determinants for the hypoimmunogenicity of these cells in vitro and in vivo. Cells derived from his lab are currently used in preclinical models of pancreatic diseases at the UTMB Galveston, TX, and other collaborations are en-route with major international research centers for the use of the cells in models of liver diseases, applications in CNS pathologies such as stroke and TBI, as well as support to cord blood hematopoietic expansion.

Giampiero La Rocca, PhD
Wharton's Jelly stromal cells secretome

Ira Herman, PhD
Peptides for Wound Healing

Arnold Caplan, PhD
MSCs are not stem cells!

Juli R. Bagó, Ph.D
Team leader at the Blood Cancer Research Group at the University of Ostrava

Conference Presentation Topic: TBA

Juli R. Bagó, Ph.D., is a team leader at the Blood Cancer Research Group at the University of Ostrava, Czech Republic. His research group is working on the development of cell-based immunotherapies for different hematological malignancies. He received his Ph.D. in Biomedicine with cum laude mention in 2012 at the University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, where he developed an in vivo non-invasive bioluminescent imaging system to monitor cell proliferation and differentiation for tissue regeneration. His Ph.D. work resulted in fifteen publications in preeminent journals in the field of regenerative medicine. In 2013, following his research at the University of Barcelona, Dr. Bagó held a post-doctoral fellowship position at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. Building on technology that won the Nobel Prize in 2012, Dr. Bagó pioneered a new approach to personalized cancer therapy where skin cells are directly converted into tumoricidal “induced neural stem cells” (iNSCs). In the first studies of their kind, Dr. Bagó demonstrated that iNSCs home to glioblastoma (GBM) brain cancer cells where they deliver cytotoxic gene products that potently suppress tumor progression. Simultaneously, Dr. Bagó created the first clinically compatible matrices that safely and efficiently deliver stem cell therapies into the resection cavity after GBM removal. These studies are published in several top-tier journals that include first author in Nature Communications and Science Translational Medicine, and produced three U.S. patents where he is inventor and established the basis for engagement with the FDA to discuss first-in-human clinical trials.

Juli Bago
TBA

Dr. Serhiy Forostyak
Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) in the leading Czech Biotechnological company PrimeCell

Conference Presentation Topic: Perinatal tissues derivatives in tissue regeneration: from research to clinical applications

Dr Forostyak has graduated a Faculty of Medicine at Ternopil’ State Medical University, Ukraine in 2005 (with honours). After graduation, he was trained at the residency programme as general surgery (2008). Dr Forostyak has continued his education at the 2nd Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague and Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He has defended his doctoral thesis in 2012 and received a title PhD in Neuroscience. During his doctoral and postdoctoral years Dr. Forostyak has received several prestigious fellowships and awards (CORTEX: Marie Curie Early Stage Training Net; FENS Young Investigator Training Program; Czech Neuroscience Society award for best publication published by a Young Neuroscientist; Development of Research Teams for the BIOCEV; EUROCELLNET travel fellowship etc.) and underwent internship in prestigious universities (Cambridge University, UK; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium; Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi, Italy; University of Pittsburgh, USA). Currently, Dr Forostyak is employed as a Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) in the leading Czech Biotechnological company PrimeCell. Dr Forostyak’s research is focused on the regenerative and translational medicine with main focus on the evaluation of the regenerative potential of stem cells (mesenchymal stromal cells; embryonic stem cells; induced pluripotent stem cells etc.), biomaterials (natural, decellularised tissues, synthetic) and perinatal tissues and cells (amniotic membrane, Wharton’s jelly MSC).

Serhiy Forostyak, MD
Perinatal tissues derivatives in tissue regeneration: from research to clinical applications

Ruma Raha-Chowdhury, PhD
Principle Investigator and Scientific Advisor (Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge); Senior Research Associate (Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair, University of Cambridge); Senior scientist (The Babraham Institute, Cambridge); Visiting Assistant Professor (Department of Genetics)

Conference Presentation Topic: TBA

Dr. Raha-Chowdhury graduated a PhD-thesis: Localisation of the Haemocromatosis Gene at the University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff. Received a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Genetics Institute of Child Health, University College London and Postgraduate Diploma in Bio-Medicine Welsh National School of Medicine, Cardiff. BSc (Hons) Medical Genetics, University of Cardiff. She has been employed as a Clinical Research Officer (Department of Haematology, University of Wales College of Medicine), Clinical Geneticist (St. George’s Hospital, London), Clinical Geneticist (Institute of Medical Genetics, University of Oxford). University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff; Director of Graduate Studies (Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge); Principle Investigator and Scientific Advisor (Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge); Deputy Director of Graduate Studies (Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge); Senior Research Associate (Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair, University of Cambridge); Senior scientist (The Babraham Institute, Cambridge); Visiting Assistant Professor (Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, U.S.A); Wellcome Trust Junior Research Fellow (Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge) and Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, U.S.A.). The current research interest is focused in innate immunity, inflammation and brain iron homeostasis. Inflammation and innate immunity are key players in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Down syndrome (DS). Individuals with DS have a spectrum of hematopoietic dysfunctions, and by 40 years almost all develop AD neuropathology. Dr. Raha-Chowdhury have reported crucial role of TREM2 in DS, specifically in brain neuroprotection and plasticity. Dr. Raha-Chowdhury showed that hepcidin is the principle regulator of systemic iron homeostasis, which has been shown to be impaired in the brain in many neurological disorders ranging from acute brain injury, cerebrovascular haemorrhage, Down Syndrome, Parkinson’s diseases and Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Raha-Chowdhury research also is focused on sFlt-1 and sCD26, two soluble proteins produced by trophoblast cells from placenta, a well known anti-angiogenesis molecule and enzyme that controls several biological functions such as angiogenesis, inflammation, anorexia and pain. Dr. Raha-Chowdhury’s experiments shown that sCD26 can modulate inflammation and course during AD.

Ruma Raha-Chowdhury, PhD
TBA

Emil Martinka, MD., PhD
Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Head of Diabetes Center in National Institute of Endocrinology and Diabetology Lubochna, Slovakia

Conference Presentation Topic: TBA

Dr. Emil Martinka graduated at the Jessenius Faculty of Medicine Martin, Comenius University Bratislava in 1988. In 1998 he achieved a PhD in the field of Internal Medicine and in 2001 he was habilitated as Associate Professor of Internal Medicine. He also got boards in Internal Medicine 1st and 2nd degree, Diabetology and Management of Medicine.

Between 1988-2000 Dr Martinka worked as an associate professor at the Department of Internal Medicine of the University Hospital in Martin. Since January 2000, Dr. Martinka is working as the head of the National Diabetes Center at the National Institute of Endocrinology and Diabetology, Lubochna. As an external associate professor, he participates in teaching students of the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Nursing of the Jessenius Medical Faculty of Commenius with the University of Martin and was also a member of the JLFUK Scientific Council.
Dr. Martinka is also a lecturer and member of the board committee in the field of Diabetology and as a lecturer in the field of Endocrinology. Dr. Martinka, PhD. established the first comprehensive Center for Diabetic Foot and introduced into practice several new therapeutic procedures.

In 2010-2018 Dr Martinka held the position of Chairman of the Slovak Diabetes Society and since 2018 the position of President of the Slovak Diabetes Association. In 2010-2018 he worked as a chairman of the expert working group of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic for antidiabetic drugs and vice-chairman of the working group for medical equipment .

Dr Martinka is also a member of the international working group CEEDEG and a regular member of several international advisory boards. He is the author or co-author of several monographs, publications in domestic and foreign journals. He is currently working on the adoption of the National Diabetes Program. Doc. Martinka is a member of several professional medical societies, editor of several professional and popular magazines and closely cooperates with the Association of Diabetics of Slovakia and others.

Emil Martinka, MD, PhD
TBA

Stephen C. Strom, PhD
Professor at the Karolinska Institutet in the Department of Laboratory Medicine of the Division of Pathology, Stockholm, Sweden
Joint appointment in the Division of Cellular and Molecular Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh
Torsten och Ragnar Söderberg Professor in Cell Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine

Conference Presentation Topic: Perinatal Stem Cells to Treat Liver Disease

At the Karolinska Institutet he is the principal investigator for a Strategic Research Program in Cancer (StratCan) and the Vetenskaprådet (Swedish Research Council) study entitled, “Understanding the biology of genes associated with longevity and healthy aging using humanized mouse models.” His work also includes a European Commission study entitled, “HUMAN: Health and understanding of metabolism, aging and nutrition.”

Dr. Strom’s research interests include: hepatocyte transplantation as a clinical treatment of liver disease, expression and regulation of drug metabolizing enzymes and in human liver, regulation of human hepatocyte replication and differentiation and production of hepatocytes for transplantation from stem or progenitor cells.

Stephen Strom, PhD
Perinatal Stem Cells to Treat Liver Disease

Jan Stryja, MD, PhD
Vascular surgeon at Salvatella Outpatient Clinic and in the Cardiovascular Centre of Podlesi Hospital, Trinec

Conference Presentation Topic: Our experience with dehydrated amniotic membrane allograft usage in leg ulcer healing

Dr. Stryja has graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at Masaryk University Brno, Czech Republic in 1997. After graduation, he was trained at the residency programme as a general surgeon (2000). Dr. Stryja has continued his education at the vascular surgery residency programme and achieved the vascular surgery specialization in 2008. He has defended his doctoral thesis titled “New trends in healing diabetic foot ulcers” dedicated to surgical debridement in 2014 and received the title Ph.D.

During his doctoral and postdoctoral years Dr. Stryja has received several prestigious fellowships and awards (The 17th Conference of the European Wound Management Association, Glasgow, May 2007. Poster Prize: „Defaults and Failures in Healing Wounds”, member of Czech Society of Wound Healing Council (from 2005), member of the EWMA Council (from 2014) and the EWMA executive).

Through EWMA Dr. Stryja corresponds with the following groups: Surgical Site Infection Working Group, Patient Centred Care Working Group, Antimicrobials Stewardship in Wound Management Committee. He is on the editorial board of the following journals: Journal of EWMA, Wound Healing (Hojení ran, Geum, Czech Republic), Wound Treatment (Léčba ran, In-vzdelavani, Czech Republic), Case-studies in angiology (Kazuistiky v angiologii, Geum, Czech Republic).

Currently, Dr Stryja is employed as a vascular surgeon at Salvatella Outpatient Clinic and in the Cardiovascular Centre of Podlesi Hospital, Trinec, which is a part of the nationwide Cardiovascular Centre Network. His work is focused on the management of complicated acute and chronic wounds, particularly diabetic foot ulcers. He is the author of several wound healing textbooks: “The Textbook of Wound Healing 1 and 2” (2008, 2011), “Debridement and it’s role in the wound management” (2015) and Chapter “Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Systems and Their Usage in Practice” in the textbook Negative pressure treatment of wounds (2013). He has published more than 80 articles and oral presentations in the Czech Republic and abroad. He has also taken a role as the President of RANDE conference – an interdisciplinary congress focused on wound healing and tissue repair taking place in Trinec, Czech Republic.

Jan Stryja, MD, PhD
Our experience with dehydrated amniotic membrane allograft usage in leg ulcer healing

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Francisco J. Nicolás, PhD
Lab of Regeneration, Molecular Oncology and TGFß
IMIB-Arrixaca
Murcia, Spain

Conference Presentation Topic: Modelling Amniotic Membrane healing effect on chronic and diabetic foot ulcers into an in vitro cell system to unravel the molecular mechanisms behind its therapeutic effect.

Francisco did his Ph.D. at the Department of Genetics at Murcia University, Spain where he studied the expression of genes related to the biosynthesis of carotenoids in response to blue light. Then he went to University of Manchester, UK where he did a postdoc on Mechanisms of cell trafficking studying Ran protein and the control of nuclear/cytoplasmic protein shuttling. Then, at the London Research Institute of Cancer Research UK, at Dr. Caroline S. Hill’d lab, he studied TGFß-signalling regulation and the control of cell proliferation and cancer. Since then, he runs his own lab at IMIB-Arrixaca, a Biomedicine Institute of Research at Murcia, Spain.

He works with a medical team applying Amniotic Membrane to chronic wounds and diabetic foot ulcers. His current research interest is knowing how perinatal stem cells, particularly Amniotic Membrane’s, elicit molecular responses in cells to implement repairing mechanisms in either chronic and difficult wounds. Additionally, he also investigates TGFß-signalling consequences on cell proliferation and cancer.

Francisco J. Nicolás, PhD
Modelling Amniotic Membrane healing effect on chronic and diabetic foot ulcers into an in vitro cell system to unravel the molecular mechanisms behind its therapeutic effect.

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Paul Loftus, PhD
Lead Scientist, Upstream Process Development, Orbsen Therapeutics

Conference Presentation Topic: Developing a GMP Process to Antibody Purify CD362+ Stromal Cells from Umbilical Cord Tissue

Dr Paul Loftus received his Bachelor's degree from the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG) and went on to receive a Master of research in the regenerative medicine institute at NUIG studying gene modification of MSCs for the treatment of osteoarthritis. He then began work on the ADIPOA project, a phase I clinical trial, evaluating the safety of a single injection of autologous adipose derived MSCs in the treatment of severe osteoarthritis of the knee joint. From here he joined Orbsen Therapeutics and worked on the development of the early processes for production of CD362+ ORBCEL-M and ORBCEL-C. After several years, he was awarded a grant from the Irish Research Council to investigate the role of CD362 in the stromal compartment of breast cancer in collaboration with Orbsen Therapeutics. This culminated in the development of novel CD362 based peptide therapeutics which can inhibit breast tumour growth and the awarding of his PhD. From here he continued work at Orbsen Therapeutics, assisting with the translation of the ORBCEL-C process to the Orbsen Therapeutics UK GMP facility. He now leads a team which focuses on research and development of Orbsen Therapeutics’ next generation process for fully closed, end to end, umbilical cord processing, CD362 selection and 3D bioreactor-based expansion to a drug substance, with which, Orbsen plans to treat several disease indications including ARDS, Sepsis and Lupus nephritis.

Paul Loftus, PhD
Developing a GMP Process to Antibody Purify CD362+ Stromal Cells from Umbilical Cord Tissue

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Gocha Shatirishvili, MD
Medical Director of family Cord Blood Bank Geocord, Tbilisi, Georgia and Chief Scientific Officer of Department for Cell Technologies and Therapy at Cancer Research Center, Tbilisi.

Conference Presentation Topic: Autologous Cord Blood Intrathecal Transplantation for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Dr. Gocha Shatirishvili is Medical Director of family Cord Blood Bank Geocord, Tbilisi, Georgia and Chief Scientific Officer of Department for Cell Technologies and Therapy at Cancer Research Center, Tbilisi.
Dr. Shatirishvili has earned his doctoral degree (Doktor der Medizin) at the Medical University Lubeck (Germany). In 2006 under his leadership in Georgia was founded the private cord blood bank Geocord.

Since 2000 his research interests were focused on stem cell research and therapy. His 17 years long experience includes cord blood banking, cell therapy with autologous bone marrow stem cells (spinal cord injury, liver cirrhosis, heart failure) and cord blood stem cells (ongoing study on autism), immunotherapy with lymphokine activated NK cells and DC vaccine against cancer. His research field includes hematopoietic stem cell expansion (including cord blood), MSC expansion (from Wharton’s jelly and bone marrow). His area of interests for many years was rare and orphan diseases. Dr. Shatirishvili has created program of Rare Disorders for The Ministry of Health of Georgia, he also worked for Georgian Rare Diseases Office and was a Board member and expert of Alström Syndrome International (Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, USA).

Dr. Gocha Shatirishvili is a member of Georgian National Committee on Transplantation, and Committee on Bioethics at State Medical University Tbilisi. He is a member of Cord Blood Association (Government and Global Affairs Committee, Geneva, IL, USA). He actively cooperates with Parent’s Guide to Cord Blood Foundation.

Gocha Shatirishvili, MD
Autologous Cord Blood Intrathecal Transplantation for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 Conference Speakersin Czech Republic

2021 Conference Speakers
in Czech Republic