Towards the clinic

EuroStemCell aims to build the foundations for regenerative medicine. While a large component of our research programme focuses on basic research, all of our work has a clinical orientation – from the generation of cell lines of therapeutic potential, to the testing of these cell lines in disease models, to a series of workshops aimed at enhancing communication between basic and clinical researchers.

Clinical Roadmap
Led by Lund University’s Olle Lindvall, EuroStemCell’s clinical project aims to generate a “roadmap to the clinic” - a statement on the steps necessary in developing clinical applications from stem cells. We are engaging clinicians, basic scientists, bioindustry representatives and ethicists in this process through a series of workshops focused on neurological, neuromuscular and skin disorders - corresponding to the research activities in workpackages 5, 6 and 7.

Workshop 1: Current Clinical Applications of Stem Cells
20 March 2006, The Royal Society, London

EuroStemCell's first event to actively promote interaction between stem cell scientists and clinicians was held in London in March 2006.

This EuroStemCell workshop, organized in association with the Academy of Medical Sciences, brought together more than 50 research-active clinicians, scientists and policy formers to discuss current clinical applications of stem cells, and some of the issues involved in taking stem cell research to the clinic.

Applications covered in the workshop, all making use of adult stem cells, included

bone marrow transplantation
skin and corneal grafting
islet cell transplantation
gene therapy

Take a look at the workshop programme (PDF, 61kb)
or download the workshop report (PDF, 183kb).

Workshop 2: Clinical Workshop on Neural Stem Cell Therapies
26 - 27 October 2006, Maritim Hotel, Bonn - Königswinter

EuroStemcell's second clinical workshop focused on the use of stem cells to treat neurodegenerative diseases, with particular emphasis on Parkinson’s disease, stroke and myelin diseases. The aim was to bring together scientists and clinicians working in this field, to define a "roadmap to the clinic".

Full workshop details

Workshop 3: Towards clinical trials in Muscular Dystrophy
3 - 4 April 2007, Grand Villa Serbelloni, Bellagio - Italy

EuroStemcell's third clinical workshop will focus on recent developments of new experimental therapies for muscular dystrophy, from stem cells to gene therapy and new drugs.

Full workshop details

Clinical Training
EuroStemCell’s multidisciplinary training opportunities permit pre-clinical and clinical investigators to participate in cutting edge science in both basic and clinical laboratories.
Link: training page

Clinical scientists are encouraged to participate in EuroStemCell's Summer School, and 2 bursaries were offered in 2005 to facilitate this participation.

Three clinical workshops will be held, focused on neurological disease, muscle disease and epithelial repair.

Clinical Advisory Panel
During the fourth year of the project, EuroStemCell will establish a Clinical Advisory Panel, comprising both clinical scientists working within the project and external clinical scientists with expertise in neurological disease, muscle disease and epithelial repair. This panel will be responsible for assessing progress towards clinical applications, for evaluating realistic therapeutic goals and, where appropriate, for proposing guidelines for clinical trials.