Get Involved. Globally and Locally.

One of the greatest benefits of belonging to the ISSCR is the people we meet and connections we build. The strength of the ISSCR always has been its diverse members – individuals with varying career stages, research interests, and geography – comprise our growing global community.

At the same time, it can at times be challenging to know how to engage more in the society’s activities. There are opportunities to lend your time and talents to help ensure that diverse viewpoints are represented, and we fully consider the needs of our community. I thought I would take this month’s message to showcase some of the ways you can contribute to the field that not only help the society, but also will enrich your experiences with the ISSCR.

Create a networking event.

One of the newest ways we are supporting our community is by helping to promote local events that are developed and hosted by members. ISSCR local events are member organized meet-ups that could take the format of networking, scientific presentations, or career exploration. The ISSCR supports the events by leveraging our contacts to share invitations, listing the event on our website, and sharing on social media. The first event will be held in Maastricht, Netherlands later this month. Any member may propose a Meet-up, whether it is local or one of the Meet-ups at the ISSCR Annual Meeting.

Share and expand your scientific passions.

If you are more interested in organizing your dream scientific session, members should consider submitting a Science Spotlight proposal for the ISSCR 2025 Annual Meeting. For the second year now, these member-organized scientific sessions have been featured at our hallmark annual meeting. We had so much interest that we were able to continue supporting additional Science Spotlights as webinars throughout the year as well.

If you have a fondness for writing, ISSCR is always looking for science communicators who would like to contribute by helping the ISSCR create public educational content for AboutStemCells.org. Whether contributing as a writer or sharing video content, this website is focused on helping explain stem cell science and its translation to wider audiences

Volunteering to lead translations of ISSCR documents into other languages, such as the Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation, the Standards for Human Stem Cell Use in Research, and informed consent documents that serve our international community is a fantastic way to contribute to project connected to the society that is outside your day-to-day research endeavors. The ISSCR has recently piloted using an AI application to get the translations started with the goal of speeding up the initial work and easing the project for our member volunteers. Contributing to making key resources more accessible is an excellent way to immerse yourself in guidance documents that shape the field and provide a vital service to our community.

Cultivate your leadership skills.

There are multiple ways to engage with science and policy through one of our committees.  Some I would like to highlight include becoming a Goldstein Policy Fellow on the Policy committee or a member of the Stem Cell Reports Early Career Editorial Board.  We are also interested in hearing from you if you would like to become an abstract reviewer for the annual meeting in Hong Kong 2025 or for one of our many international symposia. Each of these opportunities bring you together with members of our community and offer meaningful ways to contribute to our field and enrich your experience with ISSCR.

Look for more information in the months to come about ways to engage with the ISSCR, and in the meantime, if you have an interest in getting involved in the above activities, please contact ISSCR@isscr.org.