ISSCR News

New Podcast Episode. Don’t Dull the SPARCL: The Lung Microvasculature and its Role in Development
The mature lung in both humans and mice is highly vascularized, with approximately 30% of all cells being endothelial cells (ECs). The blood vessels have a physiological role in gas exchange within the tissue, but the vascular cells have additional role(s) beyond supplying oxygen and nutrients to the tissue. For example, the adult lung endothelium responds to injury by activating pathways for alveolar re epithelialization and during embryonic development, disrupting vascularization ex vivo affects the stereotypical pattern of airway branching, consistent with a perfusion-independent crosstalk between the endothelium and epithelium. Today’s guests explore the molecular contribution of ECs and pericytes to the differentiation of distal airway progenitor cells into mature alveolar epithelial cells and will discuss the broader role of the vascular system in the maturation and regeneration or the lung.

ISSCR Journal Stem Cell Reports Named Official Conference Journal for BaCell 3D Conference
Stem Cell Reports, the premier open-access journal dedicated to advancing stem cell research, has been named the official conference journal for BaCell 3D, taking place from 23-25 June 2025, in Basel, Switzerland.

Stem Cell Transplant Clears Clinical Safety Hurdle for the Treatment of Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Wet AMD in its early stages can be treated with drugs to reduce the formation of new blood vessels, but this treatment is inefficient in cases where blood vessel formation is already in its advanced stages. A new, alternative treatment for those patients may be surgical removal of the abnormal blood vessels followed by the transplantation of stem cell-derived retinal cells, according to a recent study led by Yong Liu and colleagues from Third Military Medical University Southwest Hospital, China, published in the journal Stem Cell Reports.

Call for Applications: Stem Cell Reports Early Career Scientist Editorial Board
Stem Cell Reports, the peer-reviewed, open access, online journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), is seeking highly motivated and accomplished early career scientists to join the Early Career Scientist Editorial Board (ECEB). Applications are due 15 March 2025.

Janet Rossant Takes the Helm at ISSCR’s Stem Cell Reports as Editor-in-Chief
World-renowned developmental biologist Janet Rossant begins as the new editor-in-chief of Stem Cell Reports, the journal of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). She takes over the position held by Martin Pera, The Jackson Laboratory, USA, for nearly six years.

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