Experts from China and Abroad Gather at Hengqin to Discuss Advanced Technologies in Regenerative Medicine

As one of the activities to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of UM FHS, FHS and the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health (GIBH), the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently co-organised the “2^nd International Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Conference in Regenerative Medicine”. The two-day event attracted more than 200 renowned scholars, biomedical experts, industry practitioners, researchers, and students from the United States, Singapore, mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao. In the event, they exchanged ideas on the theories and technological advances in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.

UM Vice Rector (Research) Wei GE, in his speech, said that the Greater Bay Area is an important hub for the open development of the medical and pharmaceutical industry, adding that the conference aimed to create a platform for displaying the latest research results in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.

The two-day conference included four keynote speeches and 21 session talks. Many world-renowned experts held in-depth discussions on line and off line on field of embryonic development, stem cell biology, regenerative medicine and bioengineering. In the keynote speech, Prof. Haifan LIN, a world-renowned scientist, who is also the president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, revealed genetic regulation in germ cells and outlined future research directions in the Piwi-piRNA field. Prof. Duanqing PEI, Professor of West Lake University, introduced the importance of nuclear chromatin remodeling and repair complex (NuRD) for gene regulation and cell reprogramming. Prof. Shaorong GAO, Distinguished Professor of Tongji University, shared the epigenetic regulation of early embryo development and somatic cell reprogramming. Prof. Baoyang HU, Investigator of the Institute of Zoo Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, shared the new progress of the stem cells for therapy.

In addition, the talks of feature sessions covered a wide range topic of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Animal Model of Human Diseases and Cell lineage Development, Epigenetics and Stem Cell Fate and Bioengineering and Cell Therapy which introduced the cutting-edge progress in China and abroad.

This year, the conference displayed more than 40 outstanding posters. Upon the Poster Review Committee’s professional selection and evaluation of all entries, Ms. Shuqi DONG received the first prize, Ms. Wei LI and Ms. Yingying ZHAO received the second prize, Mr. Xuepeng WANG, Mr. Linfan XIAO and Mr. Manish Kumar RAIKWAR received the third prize.

The conference was co-chaired by Prof. Chuxia DENG, Prof. Duanqing PEI, Prof. Ren-He XU and Prof. Guangjin PAN, Investigator of GIBH, were the co-chairs of the organizing committee. The conference was co-organised by Zhuhai UM Science and Technology Research Institute,  Macau Society for Stem Cell Research, Ministry of Education Frontiers Science Center for Precision Oncology, University of Macau, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, GIBH-CUHK Joint Research Laboratory on Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, GIBH-HKU Joint Research Centre on Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Guangdong Precision Medicine Application Association, Stem Cell and Regeneration. Guests attending the opening ceremony included Ge DAI, Deputy Director-General of Zhuhai Science & Technology Innovation Bureau; Yankang XIE, Representative of Economic Development Bureau in Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin; Kun Wai CHEANG, Member of Administrative Committee of the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT), Macao S.A.R.; Dongjie XU, Representative of Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region.