October, 25th, 2019
Sala delle Capriate, Palazzo Chiaramonte Steri
Palermo, Italy
The 13th Ri.MED Scientific Symposium entitled “Organ Insufficiency: change it or fix it” took place on October 25, 2019 in Palermo.
Tissue and organ transplantation have emerged as the treatments of choice for patients with organ insu‑ciency or end-stage organ disease. More than 125,000 patients are transplanted worldwide each year, with kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs, and bone marrows as the leading organs. Despite this remarkable success, many intractable challenges remain. These are the unavailability of su‑cient organ donors, the unrelenting decline and loss of function of transplanted organs due to chronic rejection, the unwanted side eects of immunosuppression, and in the case of bone marrow transplantation, the significant risk of graft-versus-host disease.
The first session of this timely Ri.MED symposium has provide a succinct update on the newest conditioning strategies that are being tested in transplant patients for the purposes of improving long-term graft function and survival while simultaneously reducing the burdens of immunosuppression and graft-versus-host disease. Special emphasis is placed on emerging and exciting cell therapies, the “living drugs” of the future, and on the intersection between stem cell transplantation and solid organ transplantation.
The second session of the symposium has explored some of the most advanced techniques and successful experiences of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine being translated to the clinic to repair and replace damaged tissues. Discussion focused on cell-based therapies used in patients, the hurdles that had to be overcome, the role of the immune system in the growth and integration of engineered tissues, and the opportunities oered by the rapid developments in biofabrication and 3D printing.
PROGRAM
Session 1: CONDITIONING STRATEGIES IN TRANSPLANTATION
- Chair introduction – Fadi Lakkis, MD – University of Pittsburgh, USA / Ri.MED Scientific Committee
- Keynote speaker – Kathryn Wood, PhD – Oxford University, England – REGULATORY T CELL THERAPY IN TRANSPLANTATION
- Silvia Gregori, PhD – SR-Tiget, Milano, Italy – ENGINEERED REGULATORY CELL THERAPIES
- Federica Casiraghi, PhD – Istituto Mario Negri, Bergamo – MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS FOR TOLERANCE INDUCTION
- Warren Shlomchik, MD – University of Pittsburgh, USA – MAKING HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION SAFER FOR TOLERANCE INDUCTION
- Salvatore Gruttadauria, MD – IRCCS ISMETT, Palermo – CONDITIONING STRATEGIES IN LIVER TRANSPLANTATION
Session 2: REGENERATIVE MEDICINE FOR ORGAN RESTORATION
- Chair introduction – Riccardo Gottardi, PhD – CHOP, USA / Ri.MED Foundation, Italy
- Keynote speaker – Ivan Martin, PhD – University of Basel, Switzerland – RE-ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESSES FOR CARTILAGE AND BONE REGENERATION
- Martin Birchall, PhD – University College London, UK – A SURGICAL STORY: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS FOR TRANSLATION OF COMPLEX THERAPIES
- Jennifer Elisseeff, PhD – Johns Hopkins, Baltimora, USA – LESSONS IN REGENERATIVE MEDICINE TRANSLATION: ENGINEERED TISSUES AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
- Lorenzo Moroni, PhD – Maastricht University, MERLN Institute, NL – BIOFABRICATION OF TISSUES ON DEMAND: BRINGING REGENERATIVE MEDICINE TO THE CLINIC ONE LAYER AT A TIME
