Key Dates
6 May 2008
Notification of Acceptances
26 May 2008
Early Registration Cut-off Date
9 June 2008
Late breaking Abstract Submission Date
2 July 2008
Pre & Post Congress Tours
2 July 2008
Social Program Bookings
2 July 2008
Congress Day Tours
9 July 2008
Accommodation Bookings
9 July 2008
Accommodation Deposit deadline
9-10 August 2008
Postgraduate Weekend Courses
10-14 August 2008
Congress Opens
With thanks to
Dr. Robert J Deans, PhD
Sr Vice President of Regenerative Medicine
Athersys, Inc
Dr. Deans is responsible for regenerative medicine technology development. Athersys is developing cell therapeutics based on pluripotent stem cells isolated from adult bone marrow. Athersys is currently enrolling patients in several Phase I clinical studies. These are for treatment of acute myocardial infarct, and treatment of graft vs host disease in allogeneic bone marrow transplant. IND filing for stem cell treatment of stroke is expected in 2008.
Dr. Deans has more than 16 years experience in stem cell therapeutics, having previously served 4 years at Osiris Therapeutics as VP of Research. His group was responsible for clinical cell manufacturing and research programs leading to adult stem cell clinical trials for stromal disorders and cancer therapy. His group proved the allogeneic utility of mesenchymal stem cells in rat, dog, and baboon models.
Before joining Osiris in 1998, Dr. Deans was Director of R&D at the Immunotherapy Division of Baxter Healthcare (Nexell Therapeutics), responsible for antibody engineering and co-development of the Isolex300i device used for CD34+ cell selection.
In addition, Dr. Deans served on the faculty of the Norris Cancer Center at USC Medical School from 1984 to 1992. He received a B.Sc. from MIT in 1973, a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Michigan in 1979, and postdoctoral training in molecular immunology at UCLA from 1980 to 1984.
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