50 Million euro investment for LUMC spin-off RougeTx advances therapies for inherited bleeding disorders.
The fourth reNEW Annual Scientific Meeting took place 19-23 May in Leiden, the Netherlands, facilitating valuable knowledge sharing and promoting collaboration among our researchers across all three reNEW nodes.
The week kicked off with the showcase day at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). The Leiden node hosted more than 100 reNEW members and staff from Leiden, Melbourne, and Copenhagen. After a welcome by moderator Dr Heiko Locher, Leiden Node Director Professor Ton Rabelink, LUMC Dean Professor Marlies Reinders, and reNEW CEO Professor Melissa Little, participants immersed themselves in the stem cell research reNEW Leiden, based at LUMC.
During the showcase, a patient living with Type 1 diabetes was invited to share his experience on how diabetes impacted his life and how his life improved since receiving a stem cell-based islet-transplantation. This was an extraordinary insight into the challenges of living with this condition and the transformational power of the transplant.
The Annual Scientific Meeting then continued at a nearby conference centre, where our scientists shared an update on their progress towards targeted stem cell-based therapies and the fundamental research that underpins our discoveries.
We also heard about the new partnership between reNEW Melbourne and US biotechnology company Retro Biosciences, which will bring international commercial investment to advance our research towards a novel autologous cell therapy for blood disorders.
Novo Nordisk Foundation Cellerator CEO Dr Thomas Carlsen joined the meeting to share an update on Cellerator and the synergies between their work and reNEW.
Members of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), who advise the reNEW CEO on progress toward achieving our research goals, shared their excitement at the progress of reNEW’s research and the strength of the international partnerships created.
“This Annual Scientific Meeting was a fantastic meeting, and I am so pleased at the progress year upon year,” said CEO Melissa Little.
“Together, we are sprouting new ideas, connections and pathways”.
