Alex Zhang, PhD, is the co-founder and president of Zephyrm Biotechnologies, a start-up company that is dedicated to the development of pluripotent stem cell derived therapeutic products. Prior to starting Zephyrm, Alex was the Head of China R&D and Chief Scientific Officer of Asia-Pacific R&D Hub of Sanofi, where he oversaw R&D activities across the AP region. He is also a professor of neurobiology at Capital Medical University (Beijing), where he leads various research projects in the field of regenerative medicine. Alex holds a BS from University of Science and Technology of China and earned his Ph.D. from Northwestern University. His postdoctoral training was at Stanford University.

Prof. Dinnyes has been working on embryology, cloning and stem cell biology since 1985. He was a Fulbright Scholar in the National Zoo, Washington D.C., and worked at leading institutions in US, Belgium, Japan, New Zealand, China, UK. In 2000 joined the ?Dolly cloning team” team in Roslin Institute, UK as team leader. In Hungary he produced the first cloned mice and rabbit. He is full professor at University of Szeged and at the Hungarian Agricultural and Life Sciences University. Since 2005 as founder and CEO, he is leading BioTalentum Ltd focusing on human pluripotent stem cell research for biomedical, toxicology and pharma purposes and regenerative medicine. He was a Wellcome Trust International Senior Research Fellow and obtained more than 40 EU FP6/7/Horizon2020/Horizon Europe grants to Hungary, scientifically coordinating 15 of them. He has received the “Denis Gabor Innovation Award”, member of the Academia Europaea and Honorary Professor of Sichuan University, China. His current work includes hiPSC-based rare diseases modelling and ASO therapy projects, in vitro disease modelling and toxicology using 2D and 3D new approach methodologies (NAMs). In 2024 he has started an IPCEI Med4Cure project for clinical translation of hiPSC-based Type-1 diabetes regenerative therapy.

Andras Nagy is a senior scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System, and professor in the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto. Dr. Nagy has made significant breakthroughs in developmental genetics, mouse and human pluripotent stem cell biology (both embryonic and reprogramming-induced), disease modelling and cell therapy approaches. His team created the first Canadian human embryonic stem cell lines in early 2000. In 2009, they developed the first method allowing the generation of iPS cell lines without any genetic change. Their approach allowed studying the reprogramming process at multiple OMICS levels, almost at daily resolution from differentiated cells to pluripotency. His current research has become even more translational by addressing and coming up with solutions for two significant hurdles of cell therapies: safety and allogeneic cell acceptance without the need for suppression of the immune system.

Andreas Kurtz,Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering (IBMT), Berlin, Germany Charité Universit?tsmedizin Berlin, Berlin Instiutes of Health Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT). Dr. Kurtz received his Diploma in Genetics from Martin-Luther University in Halle/Germany and his PhD in Cell Biology from the Academy of Sciences in Berlin, Germany. He worked as Assistant Professor at Georgetown and Harvard Universities before becoming Director of the German Stem Cell Authority in 2003. He is founding PI of the Berlin Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT) in Berlin and heads its Stem Cell Research Lab until now; from 2009 to 2016 he joined the faculty of Seoul National University to establish a teaching program in cell biotechnology. In 2020, he joined Fraunhofer IBMT to further data related research and application in the stem cell field. His research concerns stem cell therapy and stem cell database development. He coordinates the European Stem Cell Registry (https://hPSCreg.eu) since 2010. From 2017-2021 he was member of the European Group of Ethics in Science and New Technologies at the European Commission.

Prof. Annelise Bennaceur-Griscelli has more than 25 years of expertise in stem cell biology (ESC and iPSC), hematology and immuno-oncology. Clinical applications: Off the shelf immunotherapies/ CAR-iPSC derived Immune Cells for Hematologic Malignancies and Solid Tumors.

Baoyang Hu is a Principal Investigator at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese academy of Sciences (IOZ/CAS), known for his work in stem cell based neural regeneration and transplantation. He is the executive director of the Innovation Academy for Stem Cell and Regeneration of CAS, the deputy director of State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, and the executive dean of Medical School at the University of the CAS (UCAS).

Dr. Hu’s research interests focus on human brain development, neural differentiation and neural degenerative diseases. He pioneered the neural differentiation of subtype specific neurons from hESCs and discovered the variable neural differentiation potency of human iPSCs (PNAS, 2010). Using hESC and neural differentiation as tool, his team discovered that SIRT6 represses H19 for proper development in primates, and knockout of SIRT6 cause development retardation of monkeys (Nature, 2018). He and his colleagues initiated the first clinical trial of treating Parkinson's disease using hESC-differentiated DA neuronal progenitors.

He has published more than 40 papers in prestigious journals such as Nature, Science, and Cell Stem Cells, and was granted 2 US patents. He serves as director of CSSCR and the Chinese Society of Cell Biology.

Prof. Reubinoff received his M.D. degree from the Hebrew University - Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel, and completed his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Hadassah Medical Center. He holds a PhD degree in developmental biology from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Prof. Reubinoff serves as Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Hadassah University Medical Center, Jerusalem and is the director of the Sidney and Judy Swartz Embryonic Stem Cell Research Center of the Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy at Hadassah. He founded and serves as the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd.

Claudia Spits is a professor at the faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where she teaches on stem cells and genetics. She is the principal investigator of group focusing on understanding how genetic variation determines cell fate in pluripotent cells, including stem cells and early human embryonic development. She has published over 60 peer-reviewed publications on this topic, in journals such as Nature Biotechnology, Nature Communications, Cell Stem Cell and Stem Cell Reports. Next to publishing, she is strongly involved in the sharing of scientific knowledge through meetings and societies. She has been very active within the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), where she has been deputy and later coordinator of the special interest group Reproduction and Genetics, in the period 2011-2019. She is also co-founder and president of the Belgian Society for Stem Cell Research, steering committee member of the International Stem Cell Initiative and Belgian Representative for the Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Registry.

Deborah Hursh is an expert on Chemistry, Manufacturing and Control (CMC, or Product Quality) issues for cell and gene therapies. She served as a CMC reviewer and Principal Investigator of a research laboratory at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) of the U.S. FDA for over 20 years. She has a Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology from Indiana University, and did post-graduate work at Harvard and the National Cancer Institute prior to joining CBER in 2000. At FDA, Dr. Hursh evaluated products derived from stem cells and participated in policy development in the areas of stem cells, assisted reproduction and xenotransplantation. She chaired the organizing committee for a CBER advisory meeting on oocyte and embryo modification for the prevention of transmission of mitochondrial disease and was the CMC subject matter expert for the 2022 FDA advisory meeting on xenotransplantation. She was the review chair of the Humanitarian Device Exemption review committee resulting in the approval of the Miltenyi CliniMACS CD34 Reagent System, a Class III device used to select stem cells. Her research lab studied issues relevant to the safety and effectiveness of cell therapy products, including those derived from MSCs and PSCs.

Georges Dagher is currently an Emeritus Senior Researcher at the National Institute for Health and Research, (Institut National pour la Santé et la Recherche Médicale, Inserm, Paris); visiting Professor at Graz Medical University, Austria; Visiting Professor at Faculty of Medicine, Milano-Bicocca University, Italy; Honorary professor at Stem Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. He is also the CEO of a private society, Paradigm 66.

He accomplished most of his career in pathophysiological and clinical research at Necker Hospital, College de France and Faculty of medicine Broussais-Hotel Dieu. He joined the Physiological Laboratory (Cambridge, UK) for a postdoctoral fellowship and was a visiting researcher to Biophysics & Physiological laboratory (Harvard Medical School), Cleveland Clinic and Farmitalia (IT). He published about 100 papers in international peer-reviewed journals on hypertension, arterial hypertrophy, obesity and lipid metabolism, manic depression, renal physiology and transmembrane ion transport.

He was the Director of the BIOBANQUES infrastructure, a French infrastructure that networks 85 biobanks and the vice chair of BBMRI-ERIC a pan European Infrastructure that networks more than 500 biobanks in Europe. Prior to this role, He acted as the Director of clinical research infrastructures at Inserm and Deputy Director of the department of clinical research at the Public Health Institute, Inserm, France.

He is the Convenor of a Working Group Biobanking and Biological Ressources at the ISO Technical Committee “Biotechnology” (ISO/TC 276) and member of several Technical Committees at International Standard Organisation: Medical laboratory (ISO/TC 212), Food Products (ISO/TC 34); Health informatics (ISO/TC 215). He actively contributed to the publication of 30 International standards related to the biomedical field, laboratory analysis and testing, and health informatics. He is also a reference expert to more than 200 standards in these fields (work in in progress). He is also affiliated to ISO CASCO and ISO REMCO.

Glyn Stacey has a background in microbiology and cancer research. From 2003, he was the founding Director for the UK Stem Cell Bank for human embryonic stem cells. Glyn’s work has covered safety and quality issues in cell therapy, cells used for manufacturing purposes, development of novel cell-based assays genetic reference materials. Over more than 30 years, Glyn has maintained a strong interest in improvement of cryopreservation methods and biobanking of various biological materials. He has been the Chair for the Society for Low Temperature Biology (www.sltb.info). Glyn has also been a PI for a number of UK and EC funded research consortia and was a leading PI for the EBiSC European iPSC bank project. He serves as numerous SAB members for EU research programmes, a special advisor on cell substrates for WHO, an advisor on OECD initiatives. In the last 20 years his work has focused on stem cell applications including coordinating technical workshops, developing pluripotent stem cells for cell-based medicines and initiating the International Stem Cell Banking Initiative (www.iscbi.org) with members in 28 countries. His main role today is as a special expert supported by CAS PIFI program, where he advises the National Stem Cell Resource Center, on development of their research and clinical studies.

Professor Poptani is the Chair of the Centre for Preclinical Imaging (CPI) with a research focus on developing cutting-edge non-invasive imaging biomarkers for assessing early treatment response in cancer. Lately, his research has also focused on the development of high-resolution imaging methods to tract the fate and disposition of stem cells in animal models. His work is highly translational in nature and his group has been credited with identifying several markers for diagnosis or early treatment response which are currently used in the clinic. He completed his PhD in 1995 India, and after couple postdoc positions, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor in 2001 and Associate Professor in 2006 at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. He joined the University of Liverpool in December 2014. He has published over 150 peer reviewed papers, and several book chapters and review articles. In 2021, he was awarded the Senior Fellowship from the International society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) for his significant contributions to the field. He currently serves as the Chair of the British and Irish chapter of ISMRM. His research has been funded by various grants including funding from the UKRI as well as UK based charities such as the Wellcome trust and the North West Cancer Research. As the academic lead of the CPI, which is a shared resource facility within the University, Professor Poptani has been developing cutting-edge multi-modal preclinical imaging methods for the benefit of students and staff interested in the use of imaging towards achieving their academic and research goals.

Ines Lahmann, Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin-Buch, Germany. Dr. Lahmann holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry with a focus on cell and molecular biology. She has worked as a long-term Post-doc in the laboratory of Carmen Birchmeier at the MDC Berlin, concentrating on essential aspects of muscle stem cell development and differentiation. As a Senior Scientist in Dr. Mina Gouti's lab at MDC, Dr. Lahmann specializes in developing and automating iPSC-derived human neuromuscular organoid models. We employed a state-ofthe-art customized liquid handling robotic system, which precisely recapitulates cell culture conditions to facilitate the production of organoids on a large scale. The system was programmed to replicate the intricate steps required for neuromuscular organoid generation, advancing our ability to model neuromuscular diseases effectively.

Jack Mosher is the Scientific Advisor of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). Originally joining the ISSCR in 2015, Jack provides scientific support and leadership across educational, policy, and scientific initiatives. Most recently, he worked closely with the Standards Initiative Task Force in the development of the Standards for Human Stem Cell Use in Research. Jack has a PhD in Neurobiology from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr Sean Morrison. Prior to joining the ISSCR, Jack was research faculty at the University of Michigan.

Dr James Noble is a Senior Scientist and Delivery Manager for measurement services and contract research work for the Biometrology group. 

James received a BSc degree in Medical Biochemistry and an MSc degree in Toxicology from the University of Birmingham, UK. He obtained his PhD in Chemical Biology from the Imperial College London for research on enzymatic fluorescent biosensors for cellular screening applications. This work was in collaboration with Novartis and the University College London.

His current research focuses on the development of synthetic biomaterials for use as functional reference materials and their application in biomedicine and synthetic biology. James has published various high impact papers in JACS, Nature Commun and ACS SynBio, and won a Glazebrook Fellowship for a secondment to NIST. Earlier, he worked on diagnostic assay development and cTnI standardisation efforts in collaboration with the IFCC.

Jeremy Sugarman, MD, MPH, MA is the Harvey M. Meyerhoff Professor of Bioethics and Medicine, professor of medicine, professor of Health Policy and Management, and deputy director for medicine of the Berman Institute of Bioethics at the Johns Hopkins University. He is an internationally recognized leader in bioethics with particular expertise in applying empirical methods and evidence-based standards for evaluating and analyzing bioethical issues. His contributions to bioethics and policy include his work on the ethics of informed consent, umbilical cord blood banking, stem cell research, international HIV prevention research, global health and research oversight.

Dr. Sugarman is the author of over 400 articles, reviews and book chapters.  He has also edited or co-edited four books (Beyond Consent: Seeking Justice in Research; Ethics of Research with Human Subjects: Selected Policies and Resources; Ethics in Primary Care; and Methods in Medical Ethics).  Dr. Sugarman is on the editorial boards of several academic journals.

Dr. Sugarman consults and speaks internationally on a range of issues related to bioethics. He was senior policy and research analyst for the White House Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments, consultant to the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, and Senior Advisor to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues. He also served on the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission.

Dr. Jonathan Campbell began his research career with a PhD at the IRC in Biomaterials at Queen Mary University of London studying the role of mechanics in stem cell differentiation. He later developed his post-doctoral career at the University of Cambridge developing controlled scaffold materials for in vitro studies of development and disease. He then moved to the National Measurement Laboratory hosted at LGC ltd in the United Kingdom, leading the cell metrology team with responsibility for steering a centrally funded cell metrology program as well as delivering analytical solutions for a range of government, private industry and university sector stakeholders. From 2018 to 2023 he was the Chair of the cell analysis working group within the Consultative Committee for Amount of Substance (CCQM) at the BIPM, Paris, coordinating inter-laboratory studies for reference materials and methods development in cell biology applications. Jonathan is currently consulting for the Standards Coordinating Body (US), leading the technical development of documentary standards with biotechnology and regenerative medicine applications.

Jonathan is currently a Research Director at the A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology where he also serves as the Division Director for the Cell Biology and Therapies research. Concurrently, he is an Associate Professor (Adjunct) at the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS Faculty of Science and NUS Graduate School of Integrative Sciences and Engineering. Jonathan is the Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Innovation Officer for two Biotech start-ups, which focus on development of high quality stem cells and alternative proteins, respectively. His research focuses on dissecting the mechanisms regulating cell fate changes, and developing novel tools for the use of stem cells in clinical cell based therapies.

Ken Kono is the Chief of the Viral Safety Section in the Division of Cell-Based Therapeutic Products at the National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS), Japan. He is responsible for the viral safety of cell-processed therapeutic products and is involved in several research projects assessing viral safety using Next Generation Sequencing technologies. 

Prior to joining the NIHS in 2011, Kono worked at Osaka University, where he conducted basic research on host factors involved in HIV replication.

Martin Pera was amongst a small group of researchers who pioneered the isolation and characterization of pluripotent stem cells from human germ cell tumours, studies that provided an important framework for the development of human embryonic stem cells. His laboratory at Monash University was the second in the world to isolate embryonic stem cells from the human blastocyst, and the first to describe their differentiation into somatic cells (precursors of the central nervous system). Currently his lab studies the regulation of self-renewal and pluripotency, heterogeneity in pluripotent stem cell populations, and neural specification of pluripotent stem cells. His work on neural differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells led to the development of a new treatment for macular degeneration, a common form of blindness, which is now in clinical trial in Israel. He has provided extensive advice to state, national and international regulatory authorities on the scientific background to stem cell research, and has delivered hundreds of commentaries for print and electronic media on stem cell research, ethics, and regulatory policy. At the Jackson Laboratory Pera will continue work on the regulation of pluripotency, and will study the genetic basis of individual differences in the response of the central nervous system to injury.

Megan Munsie PhD is a highly experienced interdisciplinary researcher who combines her scientific expertise with a deep understanding of the ethical, legal and societal implications of stem cell science and its clinical translation. Her work focuses on understanding community attitudes and expectation in regenerative medicine and other emerging technologies, and the development of policy and professional standards to enable responsible translation of stem cell and related research. Findings from her research have influenced policy reforms at a national and international level, and informed the design and delivery of educational resources for patients, healthcare professionals and the general public for over a decade.

She has been involved in stem cell research since the mid 1990s, has led public education and policy activities for a series of major Australian Government funded programs in stem cell science, and currently heads the preparedness program for the international Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Stem Cell Medicine (reNEW). She is also a Professor of Emerging Technology (Stem Cells) at the Melbourne Medical School and co-lead of the University of Melbourne Collaborative for Better Health and Regulation.

Megan is Vice President of the Australasian Society for Stem Cell Research and serves on advisory committees to peak national and international bodies including the International Society for Stem Cell Research and International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy. She has extensive experience in biotechnology and has also worked for ten years as a clinical embryologist in Australian IVF clinics. She completed her Masters and PhD at Monash University and her science degree at the Queensland University of Technology.

Misun Park, Ph.D., is the Managing Director of the Korea Regulatory Science Center (KRSC), where she leads regulatory science research and education programs for government agencies, industry, and academia. Prior to joining KRSC, she served as Director of the Advanced Bioconvergence Product Research Division at the National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation in the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. In this role, she spearheaded the development of quality assessment methods and guidelines for innovative biotherapeutics, including organoid-based products, microbiome, exosome-based therapies, xenotransplantation, and cell & gene therapies. Dr. Park has over a decade of research experience in stem cell and cardiovascular diseases at academic institutions in South Korea and the United States. She has held academic positions at Columbia University Medical Center, UMDNJ / New Jersey Medical School, and Yonsei University in South Korea, including Associate Research Scientist, Assistant Professor, and Research Professor. Her research focuses on the regulatory science of advanced biopharmaceuticals and stem cell-based therapies.

Prof. Nissim Benvenisty is the Herbert Cohn Chair in Cancer Research and the Director of The Azrieli Center for Stem Cells and Genetic Research at the Hebrew University. He earned his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Hebrew University, and conducted postdoctoral studies at Harvard University. Prof. Benvenisty’s research projects focus on stem cell biology, tissue engineering, human genetics, and cancer research. He published numerous original and review papers on human pluripotent stem cells, and serves on the editorial board of various stem cell related journals. He is a member of the steering committee of the International Stem Cell Initiative (ISCI), the Programme Board of the UK–Regenerative Medical Platform (MRC), and serves as the academic advisor for the International Symposia of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). Prof. Benvenisty presents the issue of human embryonic stem cells in many international conferences, and gave testimonies before the US Senate and the European Union. He was awarded several prizes among them the Foulkes Prize (London), the Hestrin Prize, the Teva Prize, the Kaye Prize, the Milken Prize, the ACTO Award and the Katzir Prize.

Qi Zhou, Ph.D., is a professor in life sciences, and is now the Vice President and Member of the Presidium of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He is also the president of Beijing Institute of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine. Prof. ZHOU is CAS Member and Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS). Prof. ZHOU's research interests cover stem cell, reproductive, and developmental biology, and he is also dedicated to promoting the application of stem cells to clinical use. He has been serving as the chief scientist of several national and CAS research projects in areas of reproductive and developmental biology, and stem cells.

Rosario Isasi, J.D., M.P.H., is an Associate Professor of Human Genetics at the Dr. J. T. Macdonald Foundation Department of Human Genetics at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Law at UM School of Law. She directs the Program in Genome Ethics and Policy at the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics. Her research is devoted to identifying and analyzing the social, ethical and policy dimensions of disruptive technologies (e.g., precision, genomics, and regenerative medicine) and is internationally recognized as an expert in   international comparative law, ethics, and health disparities. She holds many leadership roles in major national and international initiatives. As a recognition of her scholarly contributions, from 2017-2019 she was appointed as President’s International Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Shan He is an immunologist with a 20-year career in cancer immunotherapy. Shan currently serves as the VP of Vitalgen Biotech, responsible for the discovery and development of cell therapeutic products. Prior to joining Vitalgen, Shan worked at Johnson & Johnson, USA, where she led the Oncology cell therapy discovery and translational team, and has intensively supported the development of BCMA.CAR-T (recently approved cilta-cel, Carvykti). She oversaw the next generation cell therapy platform and led and supported end-to-end therapy discovery and development across hematological and solid tumor programs. Shan holds a PhD from Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, and MBA from Temple University, USA.

Satoshi YASUDA, PhD, is currently Head at Division of Cell-Based Therapeutic Products, National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS), Japan. He is also a visiting professor at Nagoya City University and a guest professor at Osaka University. He received his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Nagoya City University. In his research career, he worked on biochemistry and cell biology as a postdoctoral researcher at National Institute of Infectious Diseases and University of Tennessee Health Science Center. After continuing his area of interest as an instructor of Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, he joined Division of Cellular and Gene Therapy Products at NIHS as Senior Researcher in 2009. Until now, he has been dedicated to development and validation of testing methods evaluating safety and quality of cell-based therapeutic products derived from human pluripotent stem cells, especially from the perspective of their tumorigenicity and differentiation biases. He participates in ICH Cell and Gene Therapies Discussion Group as Deputy Topic Leader, and is involved in an international consortium of the platform on HESI CT-TRACS.

Dr. Ng Shyh-Chang is the PI of the Stem Cell and Regenerative Metabolism Lab at the Institute of Stem Cell and Regeneration, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.

He graduated with an A.B. (highest honors) from Princeton University, and a Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School, before becoming a PI at the Genome Institute of Singapore. He was one of the early pioneers in the field of stem cell metabolism, with a focus on the metabolic changes required for stem cell differentiation and tissue regeneration. In his earlier work, he found that adult mammals, including humans, possess a dormant gene that promotes the juvenile state, Lin28. This stem cell factor can regulate mitochondrial metabolism in a unique fashion to promote regeneration in a variety of damaged tissues. Dr. Ng's team also achieved another breakthrough in the study of muscle stem cell metabolism and exploited its therapeutic windows in metabolism to treat muscle wasting disorders. His findings have been published in Science, Nature, Nature Medicine, Cell, Cell Stem Cell, Cell Metabolism, Cell Reports, Genes Dev, Development and other journals. He has won numerous accolades, including the VcanBio Prize for Biomedical Breakthroughs, CAS Person of the Year, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)-Gates Foundation International Scholar. He serves as the Associate Editor of Cell Proliferation.

Dr. Tenneille Ludwig currently serves as the Director of the WiCell Stem Cell Bank overseeing the banking, distribution, and core services operations at WiCell. Dr. Ludwig holds a Ph.D. in embryology and developmental biology with a minor in bioethics from The University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her early work in the laboratory of James Thomson (2001-2007) resulted in the development of mTeSR1 - a revolutionary medium at the time, it remains the most widely used pluripotent cell culture medium today. Dr. Ludwig's current work focuses on efforts to refine standards for banking, characterization, and distribution of research and clinically compliant materials, and working with investigators to support the advancement of stem cell technologies through clinical trial. In addition to her duties at WiCell, Dr. Ludwig serves on numerous international committees and consortia, including the Steering Committee of the International Stem Cell Banking Initiative, and The International Stem Cell Initiative Genetics Study Group.  She currently serves as the Vice-Chair for the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Manufacturing, Clinical Translation and Industry Committee, and is a member of the ISSCR Board of Directors.  She served as Co-Chair of the ISSCR Standards Initiative for Human Stem Cell Use in Research, and was recently named the co-recipient of the 2024 ISSCR Public Service Award for her leadership in the Standards Initiative and overall commitment to the field.

Tongbiao Zhao, Professor/Principal Investigator of Stem Cell and Immunology at the Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Dr. Zhao’s researches aim to address some bottlenecks restricting clinical development of stem cells. His team has defined the immunogenicity of mouse and human induced pluripotent stem cells (Nature 2011, Cell Stem Cell 2015, Cell Discovery 2015); established oxidative phosphorylation and high autophagic flux are intrinsic characters for pluripotent stem cells to maintain their identity (Protein & Cell 2022, Autophagy 2016, Cell Death Differ 2017, Nature Commu 2019, Bio Rev 2019, Protein & Cell 2020); developed the first stem cell standard in ISO/TC276 (ISO/TC276 FDIS 24063). Dr. Zhao serves as a committee expert at the International Organization of Standards ISO/TC276, a steering committee member of International Society for Stem Cell Research, the director of Standard Committee of Chinese Society for Cell Biology, and a committee member of Chinese Society for Stem Cell Research. His team will continue work on the transplantation immunology for stem cells, and will work on a serial of stem cell standards both nationally and internationally.

Xiuwu Bian, M.D. & Ph.D., is a professor of pathology and the member of Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is the director of the Institute of Pathology and Southwest Cancer Center, Southwest Hospital, Chongqing, China. He is now the vice-president of Chinese Society for Stem Cell Research and the president of Chinese Association of Pathologists. His research interests cover stem cell variation, cancer stem cells and tumor microenvironment. Dr. Bian has been devoted to characterization of various cancer stem cells (CSCs) from human cancer, identification of CSC plasticity and heterogeneity, and the interaction of CSCs with tumor microenvironment. He found that CSCs contribute to angiogenesis through production of angiogenic factors and trans-differentiation into endothelia and pericytes, thus generated new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for precision medicine. He also established a biobank for CSCs and COVID-19 tissues.

Dr. Yong Zhang is a researcher at the Shanghai National Engineering Research Center for Biochip. With 20 years of experience in the fields of omics research, biobanks, precision medicine, and international standards, he has published 81 academic papers (h-index = 53). He is the lead author of the first and second international standards in the field of high-throughput sequencing, ISO 20397-1:2022 and ISO 20397-2:2021, respectively, and the lead author of the first international standard for stem cell data, ISO 8472-1:2024.

Dr. Yong Zhang holds the positions of Vice Chairman of ISO/IEC JSYC BDC, member and secretary of the working group of ISO/TC 276, member of SAC/TC 559, member of the China Standardization Expert Committee, executive member of the Biobank Branch of China Biotechnology Association, executive member of the Professional Committee of Clinical Data and Sample Resource Banks of China Research Hospital Association, deputy director of the Standards Working Committee of the Chinese Society for Cell Biology, member of the CACA International Exchange Working Committee, and supervisor-in-chief of Guangdong Association of Human Genetic Resources Preservation and Application, among others. Currently, he is leading the development of two international standards for stem cells, one for automation equipment in biobanks, one for organoids, and one for high-throughput sequencing.

Dr. Yaojin Peng currently is an associate professor of biotechnology law and ethics, at the Institute of Zoology (IOZ), Beijing Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in Beijing, China. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in life science and a Master’s degree in Law. He finished his PhD at the Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Dr. Peng’s research focuses on legal and ethical issues in the fields of biotechnology and medicine, intellectual property law and standards, policy and management of S&T, etc. He has published several articles in top academic journals, including Nature Biotechnology, Cell Stem Cells. Moreover, Dr. Peng is an expert of National S&T Expert Bank, a member of Expert Committee of National Stem Cell Resource Bank Innovation Alliance, the deputy secretary general of the Center for Science & Technology Development and Governance, Tsinghua University, and an external researcher of the School of Law, Singapore Management University.

Zlatibor Velickovic is the Facility Director of Cell & Tissue Therapies WA (CTTWA) at Royal Perth Hospital in Western Australia. Zlatibor earned his BSc (Hons I) in Molecular Biology and Physiology from the University of Belgrade in Serbia and his PhD in Immunogenetics from the University of Otago in New Zealand. Zlatibor began his scientific career in Australia at the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) in Sydney in 2001. During his time at ARCBS, he managed the TGA-accredited molecular testing laboratory for matching transplant patients and donors, gaining extensive GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) experience. In 2012, he helped set up and validate the GMP facility at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital using his GMP expertise. He implemented cell processing procedures to manufacture clinical-grade Immune effector cell therapies and established a state-wide cell processing service for commercial CAR T-cell products. Zlatibor has implemented and managed several Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP) projects for partners and established regulatory-compliant production and formulation processes for industry-sponsored ATMP clinical trials. In his current role, Zlatibor directs a FACT, TGA, OGTR, and NATA-accredited GMP facility for the manufacture of ATMPs. Zlatibor has successfully led several in-house process development projects for ATMP manufacturing in collaboration with local and national partners. He has also established regulatory-compliant ATMP manufacturing and formulation processes for clinical trials both investigator-led and sponsored by the industry. From 2022 to 2024, he served as the vice president of the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy (ISCT) for the Australia and New Zealand region. Additionally, he holds the position of Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Western Australia.