Expanding Opportunities for Students
For the second year now, we have created opportunities for early career scientists, primarily trainees and postdoctoral scholars, to design their dream session at the ISSCR Annual Meeting. Not only does this give early career researchers experience with developing scientific programming, but also encourages them to build new relationships with scientists from different institutions who can share their work as part of the theme of the session. The Science Spotlight Sessions will be held on Wednesday 10 July from 4:00 to 5:30 PM at ISSCR 2024.
This year, the program committee had the difficult task of selecting four Science Spotlights from a pool of outstanding applications. In the end, Spotlights were chosen with an eye towards highlighting compelling areas of research and creative activities not addressed elsewhere in the annual meeting program. In one Spotlight led by Canadian researchers, we will learn about the interplay between biophysical cues and pluripotent stem cell differentiation. In another Spotlight, organizers from Israel and Switzerland aim to dive into the relationship between academic and industry in differentiating animal stem cells as a sustainable nutritional source. A Spotlight from the Netherlands will focus on the challenges and opportunities associated with developing cell-based therapies in academic centers. Finally, our fourth Spotlight co-organized by researchers from the UK, USA, and Canada, will focus on advances in manipulating the epigenome using gene editing approaches. Science Spotlights bring together thought-provoking topics in our field and recognize the diverse contributions of our research community. The Science Spotlights also embrace the internationality of the ISSCR and our commitment to providing enriching opportunities to scientists who are at the earliest stages of their careers.
In 2023, we had so many wonderful Science Spotlight proposals that we could not accommodate all of the sessions at the annual meeting, so we invited those organizers to present the session in an ISSCR Digital webinar. These webinars have been extremely popular, and we have one coming up on the 2nd of April 2024 on Stem Cell Size and Shape: Emerging Links to Stem Cell Function. I encourage you to tune in!
Not only are Science Spotlights among the unique opportunities that ISSCR offers to give more members experience with programming at the meeting, any member can suggest a Meet-Up – a small group gathering to bring together attendees with similar research interests or from similar backgrounds. Hosting a Meet-Up is another opportunity to connect with the scientific community and build new relationships – and we are accepting proposals through 27 March 2024.
Visit ISSCR2024.org to learn more about the exciting and inspiring program and view the full agenda. I look forward to seeing you in Hamburg!
Amander