The 2nd Vinmec International Conference on Cell & Gene Therapy (VCGT2018) last October in Hanoi had become an oppotunity for leading experts from the US, Germany, France, UK, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam presents, discusses and exchanges the newest achievements as well as challenges in stem cell, immune cells researches and gene technology.
Basic and clinical researches conducting at Vinmec Research Institute of Stem Cell and Gene Technology made a deep impression to the field and created the premise for cooperation with leading universities and research institutes in the world.
“The best” scientific reports at the conference
VCGT2018 contained two main themes in the individualized and regenerative medicine trend: Gene therapy and Cell therapy.
Opening the cell therapy session, Prof. Ludovic Vallier, Director of National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre hIPSCs, United Kingdom presented his latest achievements on bile duct formation and modeling of liver disease in humans. His results are currently being tested and ready for clinical application.
Prof. Ludovic Vallier, Director of National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre hIPSCs, United Kingdom
In the efforts to develop stem cell therapy, Prof. Anthony Ho, Ruprecht-Karls-University of Heidelberg, the world’s leading expert in hematology, blood cancer and stem cell transplantation for blood cancer, shared his valuable experience in 30 years of developing cell therapies, using hematopoietic stem cells and CAR-T cells to treat cancer in Heidelberg.
Prof. Anthony D. Ho, Department of Medicine V (Hematology, Oncology & Rheumatology), Ruprecht-Karls-University of Heidelberg, Germany
Prof. Daniel Besser, Managing Director, German Stem Cell Network (GSCN), Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Germany
The achievements in stem cell research and application in the treatment of neurological diseases such as autism, cerebral palsy, and cerebral hemorrhage in young children at Vinmec had made a big impact at the conference. Despite many questions from managers, advances in treatment outcomes are the most obvious demonstration of cellular therapy, Prof. Nguyen Thanh Liem, Director of VRISG shared.
Prof. Nguyen Thanh Liem, Director of VRISG
With the rapid development of gene-editing combined with next-generation sequencing technology, genetic mutation diseases which previously had untreated predisposition is now possible rescued.
During the first session, Assoc. Prof. Takao Togawa, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Japan, shared his experience of developing molecular genetic tests for the diagnosis of hepatic cholestasis in infants, a rare and complicated disease. Assoc. Prof. Togawa and his colleagues have successfully researched the pathogenesis method using new generation sequencing techniques and built a panel on 18 disease-causing genes. This results open a new hope for people with this serious disease.
Assoc. Prof. Takao Togawa, Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Japan.
In another report, Prof. Thomas LaFramboise, Case Western Reverse University, USA, has updated new progress in diagnosis of genetic diseases associated with the mitochondrial genome. Also in this session, the trends of development and application, together with the challenges and difficulties of individualized medicine, were also discussed. That is the diversity of human genetic, so it is necessary to create bilateral and multilateral cooperation..
Affirming the reputation of Vinmec in the field of stem cell research & gene technology
The VCGT conference this year had made a great improvement both in terms of quality and scale. With the participation of 18 leading speakers in the world and Vietnam research field, the conference attracted over 300 participants nationwide.
The conference attracted speakers from many developed countries all over the world.
This success affirms the position and opens many opportunities for development and cooperation not only for Vinmec but also other universities, research institutes and hospitals. One of the great achievements after the workshop was that many cooperation agreements were signed as well as an invitation to lecture and academic exchange were agreed by the parties.
Japanese partners invited Prof. Nguyen Thanh Liem lectured in Japan and proposed the implementation of research cooperation in using of stem cells for the treatment of congenital atrophy. Dr. Thomas LaFramboise (Case Western Reverse University, USA) has proposed titer cooperation in the field of genetic pathology and medical statistics with Vinmec. Prof. Anthony Ho and Prof. Ludovic Vallier invites VRISG staff to visit and exchange cooperation at the HiPSC Center, University of Cambridge (UK).
Participants discussed at the conference
With a desire to promote research and application of gene therapy and cell therapy, the Stem Cell Research Institute will create the annual VCGT workshop with increasing quality and size.
