1.
Horizons in Human Cells
Incorporating the 6th
Annual Quasi-VivoR
Users meeting
Host sponsor:
An international conference exploring the
interface
of science, engineering, medicine and society
in human cellular discovery and therapy
Edinburgh, Scotland
26-28th
May 2014
PROGRAMME

2.
Dear Colleagues and Friends
We have pleasure in inviting you to attend an international and interdisciplinary meeting exploring
Horizons in Human Cells: At the interface of science, engineering, medicine & society meeting, in
Edinburgh, Scotland, 26-28rd
May, 2014. Hosted by the University of Edinburgh this meeting will
feature leading public and private sector thought leaders, researchers and regulatory authorities
from across Europe and the United States. Together with adjoining satellites, the event will cover
developments, opportunities and issues arising from scientific and technological innovations in
human stem cell isolation & induction, cell differentiation and conversion, in vitro cell culture and
tissue reconstruction technology, analytical imaging and sensing. Individually and collectively these
developments will change the nature and power of future opportunities to use human cells for
disease modelling, screening for drug discovery and toxicology and as therapeutic cell products. The
meeting will provide opportunities for academic and industrial professional development, promotion
and interaction and will be organised as a Gordon Style conference at which every delegate will be
given the opportunity to participate, presenting papers or posters and exchange ideas and expertise
on how to deliver new human cell based screening and therapeutic products to meet industrial and
health care challenges and their predictive utility, cost, efficacy and safety. The meeting will be
divided into themed sessions with the session chair and invited and selected speakers drawn from
submitted abstracts to poster presentations. It will incorporate established and new focus groups,
and feature practical skills and exhibitor workshops including:
 European developments in human induced pluripotent stem cell banking for discovery and
therapy.
 The 6th
annual meeting of the Quasi-Vivo® Users group.
 Exhibitor led demonstrations and workshops showcasing new technologies and their
application to induced pluripotent stem cell culture such as by Kirkstall’s Quasi-Vivo ®
culture system.
 Medical, legal, and ethical dimensions to personalised medicine
The conference will be held at the Royal College of Surgeons within walking distance of the city
centre. There is still the opportunity to submit poster abstracts and the deadline for this is April 11th
2014. Please send your abstract to Linda Wilkinson at lgw@kirkstall.org
A conference dinner will be held on Tuesday May 27th
at the National Galleries of Scotland offering
the opportunity to taste fine Scottish produce in the elegant surroundings of Princes Street Gardens,
under Edinburgh Castle.
We look forward to welcoming you to Edinburgh in May for a lively, interactive and productive event
Paul De Sousa Malcolm Wilkinson
Dr Paul De Sousa Dr J Malcolm Wilkinson
Reader, University of Edinburgh Managing Director
CSO, Roslin Cells Ltd Kirkstall Ltd
Chancellor’s Building Aspen Way, Centurion Business Park
49, Little France Rotherham, South Yorkshire
EH16 4SB S60 1FB
Email: paul.desousa@ed.ac.uk Email: jmw@kirkstall.org
Tel: 44 (0) 131 242 6646 Tel: 44 (0) 1709 361241
Web: www.kirkstall.org
Web:
http://www.crm.ed.ac.uk/research/group/pluripotent-cell-translation

3.
Programme
Monday May 26th: Royal College of Surgeons, Symposium Hall
17.00-18.00 Registration Opens
17.30 Welcome address by Dr Paul de Sousa and Dr Malcolm Wilkinson
Session 1: Human cellular therapies- From past to present
Chair: Dr Paul de Sousa
Opening keynotes
17.30 Marc Turner (Medical Director, Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service)
“Pluripotent stem cell derived red blood cells for clinical transfusion”
18.00 David Earp (Biotech entrepreneur, CEO, ThyGen, CEO CIrcle Pharma)
"Cell therapy startups - challenges and opportunities".
18.30 Marc Peshanski (Director I-Stem, Paris)
“HSC based keratinocyte therapy for diabetic skin ulcers and MHC haplotype
banking”
19.00 Heiko Zimmerman (Fraunhofer IBMT, Germany)
“Automated pluripotent stem cells production and processing”
19.30 Comments and questions
20.00-21.30 Evening Receptions at the Royal College of Surgeons with Posters
Tuesday May 27th:
Royal College of Surgeons, Symposium Hall
Session 2: New cell therapies on the horizon
Chair: Prof Evelyn Telfer
09.00 Evelyn E Telfer (University of Edinburgh, Scotland,UK)
“How close are we to producing Artificial Gametes?”
09.30 Jed Johnson (Nanofiber Solutions Inc, Columbus OH, USA)
“Organ replacement: the trachea”
10.00-10.30 Coffee, posters and exhibition viewing
10.30 D. Hernandez (Plasticell Ltd)
“Brown adipose tissue as a cell therapy for obesity and diabetes”
11.00 Don Wellings (Sheritech, Runcorn, UK)
“Biocompatible resorbable scaffolds for regenerative medicine, cell culture and
wound repair”

4.
11.30-12.00 Sponsors/exhibitors showcase (mini presentations)
12.00-13.00 Lunch, posters and exhibition viewing
Session 3: Innovations in cell and tissue engineering
Chair: Prof Jamie Davies
13.00 Dan Huh (University of Pennsylvania,USA)
“Microengineered Physiological Bio-mimicry: Human Organs-on-Chips”
13.30 Arti Ahluwalia (University of Pisa, Italy)
“An in vitro model of obesity using Quasi-Vivo”
14.00 Jon Aylott (Nottingham University, UK)
“Respiratory models: why existing paradigms have failed”
14.30 S. Ahmed (CSEM, Neuchatel and University of Fribourg, Switzerland)
“Modification of the Quasi-Vivo System into an Autonomous Electrical Sensing
System”
15.00 Jamie Davies (Edinburgh University, Scotland, UK)
“Self-organization in tissue engineering: leaving the hard work to the cells”
15.30 Coffee, posters and exhibition viewing
Session 4: New platforms for screening
Chair: Dr Heiko Zimmerman
16.00 Pankaj Vadgama (Queen Mary College, University of London)
“Manipulation of the transport and fluidics environment for cell culture”
16.30 Eva-Maria Materne et al (TU Berlin, Germany)
“Dynamic culture of human liver equivalents inside a micro-bioreactor for long-term
substance testing”
17.00 Sarada Devi Ramachandran et al (Medicyte GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany)
“Application of upcyte® Human Hepatocytes to CYP inhibition and induction
screening”
17.30 Megan Lewis et al (Kirkstall Ltd, Sheffield,UK)
“Trade-offs between scale and sensitivity in 2D and 3D in-vitro screening”
20.00-23.00 Traditional Scottish Dining and Entertainment

5.
Wednesday May 28th
: Royal College of Surgeons, Symposium Hall
Session 5: New platforms for discovery
Chair Malcolm Wilkinson (Kirkstall Ltd)
09.00 Oliver Flint (Bristol Meyer Squibb, USA)
“Use of human cells to investigate clinically adverse effects of drugs”
09.30 John Haycock (University of Sheffield, UK)
“Development of 3D skin models for paracrine in vitro testing”
10.00 Lenny Nelson (University of Edinburgh, Scotland)
“In vitro models of hepatic steatosis”
10.30-11.00 Coffee, posters and exhibition viewing
11.00 Giorgia Salvagiotto et al (Cellular Dynamics Inc , WI, USA)
“Implementation of iPS Cell Technology in disease research and drug discovery”
12.00-12.30 short presentations
Ann Kramer (Electrospinning Company) :”Consistent electrospun scaffolds for
reproducible 3D culture effects”
Aileen Crawford (University of Sheffield): “Effect of bioreactor culture on the
extracellular matrix production and differentiation of chondrocytes”
12.30 Lunch, posters and exhibition viewing
Session 6: Mind the Gap: From Cell Discovery to Therapies
This session will provide multiple perspectives on the cell technology marketplace and ‘bench
to bedside’ development of regenerative medicine. It will present the experiences of
stakeholders - from patients and researchers to funders and CEOs – with respect to
commercialisation of cells and therapies, and the views of advisors and academics on
approaches to governance that will enable developers to cross the translational ‘valley of
death’. Panellists will explore the role of public and patient attitudes in the adoption of new
technologies and clinical products, as well as the need for business models capable of
integrating research and commerce to promote the delivery of public benefits.
Chair: Gill Haddow
13:30 -15.00 Panel 1 : Governance
 Joyce Tait (U of Edinburgh, School of Social and Political Science; ESBAC - Emerging Science and
Bioethics Advisory Committee: governance of RM
 Alex Faulkner (U of Sussex School of Global Studies): reflections on the ‘readiness’ concept
 Alistair Kent (Genetic Alliance UK) : charity / patient perspective
 Carol George (U of Edinburgh, School of Law): ‘openness’ and profit in the cell technology
marketplace
 Robert Coleman (Safer Medicines Trust): Humanising drug safety testing

6.
15:30 -17:00 Panel 2 : Commercialisation
 James Mittra (U of Edinburgh, Science, Technology and Innovation Studies): sociology and value
chain analysis
 Aidan Courtney (CEO Roslin Cells / EBiSC): consortium for sustainable non-profit iPSC banking
 UK Stem Cell Foundation: opportunities for funding
 Cathy Prescott (Biolatris, consultancy): business development in life sciences/cells
 Simon Best (Chair Edinburgh Bioquarter): title to be confirmed
17:00 Closing comments and conference summary: Paul DeSousa
17.30 Conference ends
Conference Sponsors

7.
Conference and Scientific Chair: Dr Paul A. De Sousa
Reader, University of Edinburgh
CSO, Roslin Cells
E-mail: paul.desousa@ed.ac.uk
paul.desousa@roslincells.com
Sponsor & Exhibitor Chair: Dr J Malcolm Wilkinson
Managing Director
Kirkstall Ltd
Email: jmw@kirkstall.org
Conference Secretariat: Dr Marilyn Robertson
Director
Realise Solutions Ltd.
E-mail: Marilyn@realisesolutions.co.uk
Hosted by:
For more information and
registration visit:
www.horizonsinhumancells.org