REGISTER | SCHEDULE | PROGRAM BOOK | SPEAKERS | POSTER INFO | SPONSORS
Join us for the IRM’s spring symposium! This year, we are taking a comprehensive look at hematopoietic stem cells: their biology, their failure in bone marrow syndromes, and their use in gene therapy approaches. Come learn all about these topics and more from Penn experts and leaders from around the world. Consistent with COVID-19 related health guidelines, this will be a virtual event.
Keynote
Sean Morrison, Ph.D. UT Southwestern
Speakers
Jeff Magee, M.D., Ph.D. Washington University St. Louis
Daniel Lucas, Ph.D. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Camilla Forsberg, Ph.D. UC Santa Cruz
Paula Rio Galdo, Ph.D. CIEMAT/CIBERER, Spain
Saar Gill, M.D., Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania
Stefano Rivella, Ph.D. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Vijay G. Sankaran, M.D., Ph.D. Boston Children’s Hospital
Akiko Shimamura, M.D., Ph.D. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Daria Babushok, M.D., Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania
Lightning Talks and Posters
We are excited to offer students and postdoctoral researchers the opportunity to present during this event! Trainees working in the broad area of hematopoietic stem cell biology or related disease and therapy areas are invited to submit abstracts for posters and consideration for lightning talks! Please read the information below and indicate your preferences during registration. Prizes will be awarded!
Lightning talks: A select number of trainees will be chosen to present 1 slide, 90-second overviews of their research during the main session of our event. These talks are “pitches” or previews of your poster sessions and should get your colleagues excited to come learn more about your work. Lightning talk speakers will be chosen from submitted abstracts and notified the week prior to our event.
Posters: Posters will be presented during our lunch hour in individual Zoom rooms. Please create a short slide deck corresponding to the sections of a traditional poster (Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusions, etc.). Attendees will be free to circulate into your Zoom room and listen as you present and ask questions. Judges will evaluate posters for potential prizes!
Abstract format and submission
Abstracts must include a title, authors and affiliations, and no more than 250 words describing the research.
Abstracts are due by 5 PM EST on Friday, February 26th. Submit abstracts via email to yaroshc@pennmedicine.upenn.edu. Use “HSC Symposium Abstract” as the subject line.
Sponsors
Thank you to our generous sponsors:


REGISTER | SCHEDULE | SPEAKERS | LIGHTNING TALKS |SPONSORS | COVID INFO
The IRM is excited to announce that we are partnering with the Institute for Immunology (IFI) for our fall 2021 symposium, Stem Cells & the Immune System: At the Crossroads of Regeneration. This hybrid in-person/virtual event will feature external speakers and Penn scientists discussing a rapidly emerging question: how does the immune system influence regeneration throughout the body?
Recent studies have pointed to a role for the cells of the immune system in modulating stem cell activity in a number of different tissues: T cells infiltrating neurogenic niches; inflammation mediating alveolar regeneration; macrophages providing transient muscle stem cell niches and more. Our fall symposium will explore these and related topics, focusing on the impact on stem cell biology.
Penn/CHOP faculty, postdocs, students, and staff are invited to join us in person in the Smilow Rubenstein Auditorium and Commons. Need directions to Smilow? Click here.
Schedule
Download the current schedule.
Speakers
Anne Brunet, Ph.D. (Stanford University) – Mechanisms of stem cell aging
Shruti Naik, Ph.D. (New York University) – Eavesdropping on the conversation between immune cells and epithelia during tissue repair
Joo-Hyeon Lee, Ph.D. (University of Cambridge) – Inflammation shapes lung regeneration
Peter Currie, Ph.D. (Monash University) – The role of a transient macrophage stem cell niche during skeletal muscle repair
Sina Bartfeld, Ph.D. (University of Würzburg) – Infection, innate immune signaling and cancer in the gut – organoids as model
Kara Spiller, Ph.D. (Drexel University) – Immunomodulatory biomaterials in regenerative medicine
Allie Greenplate, Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania Immune Health Project) – Immune Health: tracking coordinated systems to direct patient care
Songtao Shi, DDS, Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania) – TBD
Rumela Chakrabarti, Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania) – Nurturing role of macrophages in mammary gland development
Lightning talks
Students and postdocs: we are looking for lightning talk presenters! Lightning talks are 90 second, 1 slide “pitches” of your work to the gathered audience. If you are conducting research into an area related to our symposium theme, submit an abstract to yaroshc@pennmedicine.upenn.edu by Friday, October 22 at 5 PM. Abstracts must include a title, authors and affiliations, and no more than 250 words describing the research.
COVID-19 Information
In compliance with all University of Pennsylvania and City of Philadelphia guidelines, this symposium is subject to the following COVID-19 procedures:
- All in-person attendees must be vaccinated against COVID-19. You must attest to your vaccination status on the registration form. Please attend virtually if you are not vaccinated or do not wish to disclose your status.
- All in-person attendees must wear masks.
- Email contact information will be collected in case contact tracing is required.
The IRM will update all registrants if policies and procedures change. Please check this space in advance of the event for the latest information. Current University of Pennsylvania and City of Philadelphia coronavirus are available on the linked websites. If you have any questions, please contact Chris Yarosh, IRM Associate Director (yaroshc@pennmedicine.upenn.edu).
Sponsors
Thank you to our generous sponsors:
April Pyle, Ph.D.
Professor and Vice Chair
Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research
UCLA