Department/Location: Wellcome Trust – Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge

Salary: £28,132-£36,661

Reference: PS03788

Closing date: 10 August 2014

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 30 June 2017 in the first instance.

The Stem Cell Institute is a world-leading centre of excellence in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, supported by a strategic funding partnership between the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council (www.stemcells.cam.ac.uk).

Increasing awareness and understanding of the promise and challenges of stem cell research is embedded in the Stem Cell Institute vision; “deep understanding of stem cell biology for the prevention and treatment of human disease”. The Institute’s 5 strategic goals include “Communication and public engagement; providing reliable information, useful resources, and dialogue opportunities for a range of audiences including schools, policy makers, patient groups, professional bodies and the media”.

The central role of the Public Engagement Officer (PEO) is to foster a community of scientists who recognise the importance of dialogue with the public and who have the skills and opportunities to undertake public engagement activities. The PEO will build networks with local schools, arts groups and businesses to develop activities/events with/for them. The PEO will liaise with other Public Engagement officers in the University, Wellcome Trust Centres and Medical Research Council Institutes/Units and will participate in international networks via EuroStemCell, ISSCR and other trans-national initiatives.

We are seeking a dynamic, innovative and self-motivated individual who will bring expertise and leadership for the Institute’s outreach activities. Experience of working in the HE or research sector would be an advantage. Educated to degree level (or equivalent) in a scientific discipline, you will be responsible for growing a community of researchers who are enthusiastic about dialogue with the public and who have the skills and confidence to deliver stimulating interactive events.

The Stem Cell Institute, is currently spread across several sites in Cambridge, you will organise training, logistics and activities with the aim that all groups in SCI will contribute to at least one event each year. The PEO will expand the existing Public Engagement strategy and design and implement innovative public engagement activities that will interconnect the SCI with target audiences. You will develop measures for evaluating the effectiveness and impact of public engagement activities. You will submit reports to the Institute steering committee and sponsors and will prepare funding applications for public engagement activities.

You must demonstrate a proven track record in relationship building, event organisation, report writing, and data management. You will have outstanding organisational and administrative experience and be comfortable working to tight deadlines with minimal supervision. You should have demonstrable experience in web-based/social media communication and you should have excellent written and verbal communication and negotiation skills. You will be IT literate and able to work both on your own and as part of a team.

The post will report to the Institute Director. You will have a degree (or equivalent).

Once an offer of employment has been accepted, the successful candidate will be required to undergo a health assessment.

To apply online for this vacancy and to view further information about the role, please visit: http://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/4403. This will take you to the role on the University’s Job Opportunities pages. There you will need to click on the ‘Apply online’ button and register an account with the University’s Web Recruitment System (if you have not already) and log in before completing the online application form.

Please upload your current CV and cover letter with your application by Sunday 10th August 2014.

Informal enquiries are also welcome via email: cscrjobs@cscr.cam.ac.uk.

Interviews will be held towards the end of August 2014. If you have not been invited for interview by 18th August 2014, you have not been successful on this occasion.

Please quote reference PS03788 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University values diversity and is committed to equality of opportunity.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

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Time for the second round of images from last year’s Woods Hole embryology course! Below you will find 4 fantastic images taken by students of the 2013 course. Choose the one you would like to see in the cover of Development by voting on the pole at the end of the post (you can see bigger versions by clicking on the images). The poll is set up to allow only one vote per person, so please stick to this rule to give all the images a fair chance!

Voting will close noon GMT on July the 30th.

1. Short-tailed fruit bat, Carollia perspicillata, at stage 20. This image was taken by Mary Colasanto (University of Utah) and Sophia Tintori (University of North Carolina).

2. Ovariole of a pupal stage Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterfly stained with DAPI (blue, nuclei) and Phalloidin (red, F- actin). Imaged on a Zeiss LSM 780 confocal. This image was taken by Ezgi Kunttas-Tatli (Carnegie Mellon University) and Duygu Ozpolat (University of Maryland).

3. Mouse embryo at E14.5 days. Preserved with Bouin’s fixative and imaged using a Zeiss Discovery V12 and a SPOT Flex camera. Multiple focal planes were assembled using Helicon Focus software. This image was taken by Georgina Stooke-Vaughan (University of Sheffield).

4. “Zebrabow” zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo 2 days post-fertilization. 4-Hydroxytamoxifen (4-OHT) administration at 24 hr post-fertilization, leading to ubiquitous expression of active Cre recombinase, and subsequent expression of GFP, RFP and CFP after recombination. Imaged on a Zeiss LSM 700 confocal. This image was taken by Brijesh Kumar (Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur).

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Applications are invited for PhD projects in the Department of Anatomy at the University of Otago, New Zealand, including  developmental biology based projects and neuroscience.

Competitive PhD scholarship funding is available.

See the following link for project description and application process. Applications due by the 18th of July.

http://anatomy.otago.ac.nz/phd-opportunities

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Here are the highlights from the current issue of Development:

Prime time for pluripotency

Embryonic stem cell (ESC) cultures display a marked heterogeneity in the expression of Nanog, one of several core pluripotency factors required for proper development in vivo. In addition, Nanog levels have also been shown to fluctuate in individual ESCs in vitro; however, the extent and functional consequences of these fluctuations in different pluripotency states has not been fully established. Now, on p. 2770, Domingos Henrique and colleagues take a closer look at Nanog expression in mouse (m) ESCs grown in both 2i/LIF and serum/LIF conditions, which promote naïve versus primed pluripotency states, respectively. Using confocal time-lapse imaging of individual Nanog-reporting mESCs, the authors show that the amplitude of Nanog fluctuation in individual mESCs is similar regardless of culture conditions. The authors also show that divergent Nanog levels exist even between sister cells, and that Nanog levels do not correlate in any way to the cell cycle. In both conditions, cells that expressed low levels of Nanog showed decreased clonogenic capacity and increased lineage priming, whereas the opposite was true when high levels of Nanog were observed. The authors conclude that fluctuating Nanog expression is a cell-intrinsic property that allows ESCs to explore available lineage options in the pluripotent space.

How to make excitatory versus inhibitory neurons

The balance between excitatory versus inhibitory neuron specification during development is crucial for sensory information processing in later life. The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors Ascl1 and Ptf1a are crucial for establishing this specificity in the dorsal spinal cord, but how these two factors, which recognise a similiar DNA motif, can have opposite downstream effects is unclear. Now, on p. 2803, Jane Johnson and colleagues use chromatin immuno-precipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq) and RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) to identify the precise target genes and DNA-binding motifs for both proteins in vivousing tissue from the developing mouse neural tube. The authors show that the downstream targets of Ascl1 and Ptf1a include many known homeodomain neuronal specification factors, but that the targets differ widely between the two proteins. Despite this distinction, Ascl1 and Ptf1a bind the same E-box motif; however, the authors show that Ptf1a also binds an additional motif where Ascl1 is not detected. This may explain, at least in part, some of the specificity achieved by Ptf1a. The authors also show that non-E-box motifs are enriched in Ascl1- and Ptf1a-bound regions, suggesting that cooperation from other transcription factors may further enhance this specificity.

Polarisation mediates lineage specification

During blastocyst development, asymmetric cell divisions generate polar and apolar daughter cells, which organise into outer and inner positions, respectively, to form the trophectoderm (TE) and inner cell mass (ICM) lineages. The Hippo signaling pathway is crucial for setting up this early lineage specification, but how Hippo signaling relates to cell position and polarity remains unclear. In this issue (p. 2813), Yojiro Yamanaka and colleagues carefully analyze the initiation process of the first lineage specifications in the 16-cell mouse embryo. The authors count the number of polar/apolar cells and outer/inner cells in intact embryos and find that many apolar cells are located in outer positions with only one or two cells fully internalized. Notably, many of these outer apolar cells have high cytoplasmic phosphorylated YAP, an early marker for inner cells. Further analysis of isolated 8-cell blastomeres confirms that polar and apolar cells have intrinsic differences in the regulation of phosphorylated YAP prior to setting up the outer/inner configurations in the embryo. The authors suggest that polarity regulates the outer/inner cell positioning, as well as Hippo signaling, in order to activate TE and ICM lineage specification.

Scribble gets done for intracellular trafficking

Cell polarity is fundamental for biological activity across many varied cell types within different animal species. Intracellular trafficking regulates the differential distribution of proteins that is fundamental to establishing cell polarity, but how cell polarity regulators exert their effects on trafficking machinery is largely unknown. Now, on p. 2796, David Bilder and colleagues identify a specific and unexpected role for Scribble, a conserved core polarity protein, in controlling cargo sorting during intracellular trafficking in several Drosophila epithelial tissues. The authors show that Scribble mutants phenocopy endocytic internalization mutants but that they themselves are not defective in endolysosomal trafficking. Instead, Scribble controls cargo sorting within the retromer pathway, a system used to recycle proteins from endosomes to the trans-Golgi network. Depletion of the Scribble module affects the localisation of canonical retromer-dependent cargo, such as Wntless and Crumbs, but does not affect cargos that are retromer independent. This work brings a new aspect to the interplay between membrane traffic and polarity, and will help to decipher how these two essential pathways interact to establish and maintain epithelial polarity.

PLUS…

Regeneration, morphogenesis and self-organization

In March 2014, the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan, hosted a meeting entitled ‘Regeneration of Organs: Programming and Self-Organization’. Scientists from across the globe met to discuss current research on regeneration, organ morphogenesis and self-organization – and the links between these fields. As discussed by Daniel Goldman, a diverse range of experimental models and organ systems was presented at the meeting, and the speakers aptly illustrated the unique power of each. See the Meeting Review on p 2745.

Cellular and physical mechanisms of branching morphogenesis

Branching morphogenesis is the developmental program that builds the epithelial trees of various organs, including the airways of the lung, the collecting ducts of the kidney, and the ducts of the mammary and salivary glands. Recent advances in cell lineage analysis and real-time imaging have uncovered surprising differences in the mechanisms that build these diverse tissues. Victor Varner and Celeste Nelson review these studies and discuss the cellular and physical mechanisms that can contribute to branching morphogenesis. See the Review on p. 2750.

Harnessing developmental processes for vascular engineering and regeneration

The formation of the vasculature is essential for tissue maintenance and regeneration, and understanding how vascular formation is coordinated in vivo can offer valuable insights into engineering approaches for therapeutic vascularization and angiogenesis. Here, Kyung Min Park and Sharon Gerecht discuss how the process of vascular development can be used to guide approaches to engineering vasculature.  See the Review on p. 2760.

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Right now I am attending the Embryology Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL). I am a graduate school student from Osaka University in Japan and I am looking for what I will do during my postdoc next year. This course supplies both lectures and experiments for various modules, including C. elegans, Drosophila, planaria, hydra and frog and many other organisms. Previously, I have only worked with mouse, so this course is a very good opportunity for me to learn many kinds of animal development.
I have already spent a few weeks here, and they have been more wonderful than I had expected. Today I want to talk about the lectures, experiments and friends I have met here.

Lectures
Every morning we have a lecture from a different expert. They teach not only basic knowledge of each animal, but also discuss frontier research in their field. After the lecture, we have a research discussion. During this time, the students get to discuss the lecture with the expert and almost all students ask questions. The students have a positive attitude and this helps to further stimulate my interest. Unfortunately, one hour is not enough time for us to discuss everything. However, we have a chance to go to dinner with the lecturer and engage in further discussion of the topic. At that time we talk not only about science but our life plans, hobbies, and so on. This is a good opportunity to form a more personal and meaningful relationship.

Experiments
In the afternoon, we perform experiments. To my surprise, we are able to perform whatever experiments we want. There is a protocol of course, but there is a wide variety of different experiments to perform and no restrictions. Therefore, we can make a plan of experiments ourselves, enabling us to arrange and possibly improve the experiment.
The analyzing facility is very substantial. For example, there are more than 3 conforcal microscopes, a Lightsheet fluorescence microscope, a laser ablation system and an electroporator.
In the 2nd week of the course I succeeded in the time-lapse imaging of follicle cell rotation in Drosophila eggs. Follicle cells rotate during their development. I have never worked with Drosophila so it was a little hard time to take the egg from the ovary and perform the time-lapse imaging. However, after many tries I eventually got the result. I was very happy and had a great experience.

Friends
The people in the course are from various countries, including the US, Germany, Croatia, Argentina, Taiwan and so on. We do not all study the same organism, but we all are interested in developmental biology. The students are together almost every day from morning to midnight, so we have plenty of opportunities to interact with each other and make friends. This allows me to know the research techniques and research goals of the same generation in other countries, which helps to expand my views.

I really look forward to spending the rest of the course with these students!!

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In recent years, the zebrafish has emerged as an increasingly prominent model in biomedical research. Its optical transparency for the first few weeks, high fecundity and ex vivo fertilization have made it traditionally suitable to study developmental biology. However, over the past decade these same features have enabled the zebrafish to become a preeminent disease model and tool for studying disease mechanisms. Discoveries in zebrafish disease models are leading to new perspectives on human disease and new drugs that are entering the clinic in diverse areas from cancer to tuberculosis.

To showcase the translational impact of the model across multiple disease areas, Disease Models & Mechanisms has compiled a Special Issue packed with reviews, research and resource articles from researchers at the cutting-edge of their respective disease area of interest.

In the front section of the issue, Jennifer Phillips and Monte Westerfield provide an overview of the use of zebrafish in translational research in an ‘At a Glance’ poster article, illustrating recent examples of successful clinical translation of zebrafish studies. In the other Review articles, important insights from the zebrafish model into cancer, cardiovascular disorders, infectious diseases and more are discussed, with contributions from Jason Berman, Randal Peterson, David Langenau, Annemarie Meijer, Wolfram Goessling and others.

In the research section of the issue, striking examples of how the zebrafish can advance our understanding of disease mechanisms and contribute to the development of new disease models and therapeutic tools are presented. For example, Ana Vacaru, Kirsten Sadler and colleagues analyze zebrafish liver steatosis, protein markers and target gene expression to provide a new perspective on the unfolded protein response (UPR) and its role in fatty liver disease (FLD). In another study, Tamara Stawicki, David Raible and colleagues use forward genetics to identify new genes involved in resistance to hearing loss, a disorder that affects over 35% of people over 65. Alexa Burger, Daniel Haber and colleagues provide a new zebrafish model of chordoma, a rare type of bone cancer that is thought to arise from the remnants of embryonic notochord cells and for which, until now, there has been no animal model, few cell lines and limited treatment options. Nadia Danilova, Shuo Lin and colleagues use two genetic zebrafish models of ribosomal protein (RP) deficiency and find that treatment with exogenous nucleosides leads to improved survival, increased blood count and decreased morphological defects, suggesting the use of these compounds for novel therapeutic purpose in humans with RP deficiency, such as Diamond Blackfan anemia patients. Exquisite live imaging in zebrafish to visualize immune response is used by Tjakko Van Ham, Ben Giepmans and colleagues to study the resolution of neuroinflammation in vivo and by Mai Nguyen-Chi, Georges Lutfalla and colleagues to model chronic inflammation during transient Escherichia coli infection in the notochord.

For a more detailed introduction to our special issue read our Editorial by E. Elizabeth Patton, Paraminder Dhillon, James F. Amatruda and Lalita Ramakrishnan and to read all the articles in the issue, for free, visit http://dmm.biologists.org/content/7/7.toc

Don’t forget our special ‘Model for Life’ article in which the DMM Editor-in-Chief, Ross Cagan, interviews Leonard Zon, pioneer in the zebrafish disease models community. In this article, Zon recalls the evolution of his career from developmental biologist to physician-scientist and the stories behind some of his major research accomplishments. He also discusses challenges and opportunities in zebrafish research and provides advice on translating basic research findings to the clinic.

 “I think you could easily argue that zebrafish is the best chemical system. Access to the embryos is so easy, and the field really blossomed with interesting screens into all sorts of phenotypes”.

Read the full interview here: http://dmm.biologists.org/content/7/7/735.full

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The 2014 FIFA World Cup has mesmerised football fans all around the world over the past weeks, but besides just the fancy footwork on display, we’ve also seen some amazing athleticism. Many of the matches have taken place under scorching, highly humid conditions! Though this might not be foremost in our minds as marvel at the ball-mastery and cheer on our favorite teams, at the same time we are witnessing the marvel of muscle tissue too.

Muscle consists in organized patterns of muscle fibers that contain multiple nuclei. During development, these fibers are assembled from fusion of muscle cells. In the fruitfly Drosophila, founder cells fuse with multiple fusion-competent myoblasts (FCM) to form the muscle fiber. In a recent study published in Development, Ciglar and colleagues attempted to understand a bit more how different muscle cell fates (ie: founder cells and FCMs) are determined during development.

They showed that the proteins tramtrack69 (Ttk69) and lame duck (Lmd) were essential for the normal development of Drosophila muscles. Interestingly, they showed that the acquisition of FCM identity resulted from the combined actions of Ttk69 and lame duck: Ttk69 repressing the expression of founder cell genes whereas Lmd activating the expression of FCM genes.

On this picture you can observe (in white) the expression of β-3 tubulin, a marker of cell “skeleton”, in normal embryos (left picture) and in embryos in which Ttk69 has been deleted by genetic engineering (right picture). Since the deletion of Ttk69 leads to the formation of abnormal muscle fibers, the authors conclude that Ttk69 is mandatory for normal muscle development.

This study is a step toward the understanding of the complex machinery involved in muscle development. Robust understanding of what factors direct cell fates during development is key for stem cell biologists. As we try to direct stem cells towards a specific fate, we try to recapitulate development, and we base our experimental strategies on what we know from developmental biology. In this sense, biological research is like football: scoring a beautiful goal involves patience, hard work, and usually a long skillful build-up involving players with different expertise. And as we focus on the strikers that reach the scoring line, we must remember to admire the entire team!

Picture credit:

Ciglar, L., Girardot, C., Wilczy ski, B., Braun, M., & Furlong, E. (2014). Coordinated repression and activation of two transcriptional programs stabilizes cell fate during myogenesis Development, 141 (13), 2633-2643 DOI: 10.1242/dev.101956
 

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This month the Node celebrated its fourth birthday! Here are some of the other highlights:

Research:

– Kevin Chalut wrote about his recent paper  at the crossroads of biology and physics, where he shows that the nucleus of ES cells exiting pluripotency have an unusual physical property.

– How is the primitive streak formed? Octavian discussed his eLife paper

– Elsa and Aitana described a new embryo electroporation method that allows higher efficiency rates and reduces cell damage, published in Development

– And Thomas gave his perspective on past and current work on the evolution and mechanisms of segmentation.

Meeting reports:

– Juan attended the Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Developmental Biologists, which took place in Nagoya last month.

– A mix of lectures, practicals and community building featured at the latest Master Course on Bioimage Data Analysis.

– We had the pleasure to host two posts by high school bloggers who attended this year’s ISSCR meeting in Vancouver (here and here).

– And Angelo shared his reflections on the Woods Hole Embryology Course, where he has taught for the last 6 years.

 Photo Cred: Stem Cell Network

 Also on the Node:

– From trithorax to hedgehog, from Drosophila to zebrafish: read our interview with this year’s Waddington Medal winner Phil Ingham.

– Did you know that there is a model organism used in developmental biology that needs artificial moonlight? Read ‘A day in the life of a Platynereis dumerilii lab‘ to find out more!

– Developmental biologist Julian Lewis sadly passed away last April. We reposted an obituary by Paul Martin and David Ish-Horowicz looking back on his life and work.

– And Megan shared her tips on how you should prepare your application for a postdoc or lectureship position.

Happy reading!

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Jens Lüders leads the Microtubule Organization laboratory (Photo: Battista/Minocri, IRB Barcelona)

 “la Caixa” PhD student Nicolas Lecland is the first author of the study published in Nature Cell Biology (Photo: Battista/Minocri, IRB Barcelona)

A breakthrough at IRB Barcelona fills a knowledge gap in understanding how the cell division apparatus, the mitotic spindle, is formed.

The in vivo visualization and monitoring of the starting points of microtubules — filaments responsible for organising the mitotic spindle — provides novel insight into the dynamic architecture of this structure.

The findings will also contribute to understanding how the mitotic spindle is perturbed by drugs that target microtubules and that are used in chemotherapy.

The division of a cell in two requires the assembly of the mitotic spindle, an extremely complex structure, which is the result of the coordinated action of a multitude of proteins and a finely tuned balance of their activities. A large part of the time that a cell requires to divide is devoted to assembling the mitotic spindle, which, superficially, resembles a ball of thread with the shape of a rugby ball.

The most abundant components of the spindle are the microtubules. “By labelling the ends of thousands of these fine filaments, which are indispensable and extremely dynamic and variable, we have finally been able to follow their distribution and movement during the assembly of the mitotic spindle,” explains Jens Lüders, a cell biologist from the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona). The breakthrough appeared yesterday in the advanced online edition of the journal Nature Cell Biology.

“For more than 10 years we have been able to track only the growing ends of microtubules but not the starting points. As a result, we lacked essential information in order to understand the dynamic architecture of the mitotic spindle and how it contributes to cell division,” says Lüders. Headed by the German scientist who runs the Microtubule Organisation group at IRB Barcelona, the study carries only two names, his own and that of the French researcher Nicolas Lecland, first author, who completed his PhD at IRB Barcelona through a “la Caixa” fellowship.

The scientists have demonstrated that the protein γ-tubulin localizes at the starting points of the microtubule filaments and is relatively stably associated with these structures. Using a version of γ-tubulin that carries a fluorescent label activated by laser light, the researchers were able to follow the movement of the starting points of microtubules within mitotic spindles by filming dividing human cells.

The Advanced Digital Microscopy Facility, a joint IRB Barcelona-Barcelona Science Park Facility run by the IRB physicist Julien Colombelli, has been crucial for setting up the technology required. “The success of this study is also the result of the technical know-how and cutting-edge technology available, without which we would never have been able to tackle this project,” emphasizes Lüders.

The researchers describe for the first time where most microtubules form inside the mitotic spindle, how they develop, and how their starting points are transported—with the help of three motor proteins—to opposite poles of the spindle, where they attach. Simultaneous to this process, the opposite ends of the filaments extend towards the cell centre, where they interact with chromosomes.

When the spindle is finally assembled, the microtubules pull the chromosomes to opposite poles and initiate the physical division of the cell. “We now have a more complete understanding of how the spindle assembles and functions and can use our novel marker for testing old and new hypotheses about underlying mechanisms,” says the scientist.

A new tool to study cancer

In addition, the breakthrough paves the way to “better” understanding the mode of action of drugs that inhibit microtubules and that are used in chemotherapy. These kinds of drugs impede the mitotic spindle, thus preventing cell division and interfering with tumour growth.

In spite of the many years of clinical success of these treatments against cancer, little is known about how they impair spindle architecture and function. Although these drugs are highly efficient, they do not show the specificity desirable as they also affect healthy dividing cells. In addition, they affect non-dividing cells such as neurons, in which microtubules also have important functions.

“A better understanding of the differences in spindle organisation between cancer and healthy cells and how they respond to microtubule-targeted drugs is essential in order to optimise treatments, for example by identifying more specific drugs or new targets. This tool could be useful to achieve these objectives,” states the researcher.

The study has been supported by structural funds from the Generalitat de Catalunya, a Marie Curie grant from the European Union, and the Plan Nacional, of the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

Reference article:
The dynamics of microtubule minus ends in the human mitotic spindle
Nicolas Lecland and Jens Lüders
Nature Cell Biology (2014) Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncb2996

Video: gtubpaGFPmerge copy

This article was first published on the 30th of June 2014 in the news section of the IRB Barcelona website

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StemCellTalks is a Canadian high school stem cell outreach initiative that has been running in 7 cities in Canada since 2010. The program has featured over 50 stem cell “experts” during this time, involved the participation of over 500 gradute student volunteers and reached over 5000 grade 11/12 students. This year, sponsored by Stem Cell Network and Let’s Talk Science, the Vancouver chapter was able to partner with the International Society for Stem Cell Research and send five talented student bloggers – Lauren Dobishok, Tanner Jones, Mindy Lin, Vivian Tsang and Michelle Tse –  to its Annual Meeting, which was hosted in Vancouver last week from June 18-21th. Three of these blog posts (here, here and here!) have been featured on another excellent stem cell blog – Signals – and we are happy to be able to share the final two posts here on The Node!

What is stem cell tourism? Narrated by Professor Timothy Caulfield from Stem Cell Network on Vimeo.

By Tanner Jones (Dr. Charles Best Secondary, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

With the promising restorative properties of stem cells, the hopes for treating a variety of diseases are close at hand; however, are these discoveries being accurately conveyed to the public? What are the repercussions of showing diseased patients a treatment that may not be available to them? As patients search for these therapies, many will travel to other countries where their regulatory laws are not in compliance with western standards. This hazardous phenomenon has been classified as stem cell tourism, and it poses an immense risk to patients who seek treatment in illegitimate clinics.

While attending StemCellTalks Vancouver, a conference where youth are educated on the capabilities of stem cells, I was captivated by Dr. Tania Bubela’s speech. Her account of how media can exaggerate research to the general public resonated with me. Dr. Bubela explained that while many clinical trials using stem cells are being run, these trials usually take as long as fourteen years to complete. As these clinical trials are being performed, the media often overstates the work that is being done, creating a certain amount of hype towards the general public. Although this ripple effect seems positive, it leaves many desperate patients confused as to why these treatments are not accessible to them. While seeking treatments that have been reported by the media, many individuals will stumble upon clinics in other countries who have promised successful outcomes for clinical therapy. Using patient testimonials, perspective applicants for these clinics are drawn in, hoping that there experience will be positive as well. In reality, most of these clinics have little evidence or research that supports their claims, yet patients will travel great lengths to visit them as they feel it is their only option. Not only are these clinics extremely expensive, in some cases, treatments my result in harmful side effects for the patient.

The 2014 ISSCR Annual Meeting, held at the Vancouver Convention Centre, provided some of the attendees a rare opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the ethical issues associated with stem cell research. As part of this conference, I was quickly introduced to an issue surrounding stem cell tourism during the Presidential Symposium where Dr. Paolo Bianco, Dr. Elena Cattaneo, and Dr. Michele De Luca, were being presented with the ISSCR Public Service Award. These phenomenal scientists have been championing the cause to halt the introduction of a new stem cell treatment in Italy. The Stamina Foundation in Italy has been treating patients with unproven stem cell therapies that have not been tested in rigorous clinical trials. The Foundation claims that by using mesenchymal stem cells, they can treat Parkinson’s disease as well as Spinal Muscular Atrophy; however, there is no evidence that mesenchymal stem cells can aid in the treatment of either of these diseases. One of the potential dangers of this therapy is the possible generation of bone or fat in organs. These public figures have been tirelessly debating the medical standards and regulatory oversights associated with the Stamina Foundation. As Dr. Bianco humbly accepted his award, he stated that researchers and physicians should be protecting patients from the physical harm, the financial exploitation and the moral illusion that can be produced by these illegitimate clinics.

With the daunting task of ending stem cell tourism, some wonder if it will ever be accomplished. Despite the challenges, Dr. Zubin Master, a Professor at the Albany Medical College, has proposed a few ideas that may lead to the extinction of this problem.  He suggests that physicians, patients and the public should be educated on the danger of these unproven therapies. If a greater understanding is developed within the population, many people will be less likely to engage in stem cell tourism. Dr. Master also believes that the most powerful initiative that can be taken to end stem cell tourism would be the involvement of patient advocacy groups. As ambassadors for their disease, patient advocacy groups disseminate information and educate individuals who are suffering from the same disease.  These trusted organizations are perceived as a neutral party with the patient’s best interests in mind, while some individuals may view scientists and clinicians as a barrier to certain treatments due to scientific protocols and regulations to clinical trials. With the sharing of information and by releasing statements on the potential risk of illegitimate stem cell clinics and the need for strict regulations, patient advocacy groups can generate an influential effect on patients currently thinking of participating in stem cell tourism.

Will stem cell tourism continue to be a problem in the future? With the prospective advancements in regenerative medicine and other treatments, many hope that patients will remain in their country to seek therapy. Until that time, it is possible that patients may continue to expose themselves to the possible physical harm and financial exploitation associated with these unproven therapies. Unless they are educated on the potential hazards of these illegitimate clinics, stem cell tourism will continue to attract those who are desperate and feel they have no alternatives.

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