Introducing "Stem Cells in Focus"

January 16, 2014

By Janet Rossant, ISSCR President | January 16, 2014

Happy New Year from the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) and welcome to our very first "Stem Cells in Focus" post.

The ISSCR is an independent nonprofit organization with over 4,100 members in 55+ countries. Our community is composed of researchers, clinicians and industry professionals working to advance stem cell research with the goal of finding or improving treatments for blood disorders, cancers, eye diseases, heart failure, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, stroke and other currently intractable diseases and injuries.

As we welcome 2014, the ISSCR is deepening its commitment to public education and outreach through a broad-based effort to share our science. We look forward to bringing you regular updates from the front lines of stem cell research and to sharing our excitement in the progress being made. Many of you have questions about what stem cell research is, the timeline and potential for treatments, specific diseases impacting you or loved ones and the validity of certain therapies. We will do our best to provide answers and guidance.

This blog is just one part of our commitment to you. Each month, we will work with our members and experts to highlight different advancements in stem cell research, such as heart repair and regeneration, disease modeling and drug discovery and personalized stem cell medicine. We will explain the importance of each topic and discuss its potential to improve human health.

If you have questions about topics, you may pose them directly to our experts via another new feature – regular and live public webcasts. Additional information from the ISSCR will be available to you 24/7 via ISSCR.org and A Closer Look at Stem Cells, both of which will be expanded in the months ahead.

Please visit "Stem Cells in Focus" each month and follow our more regular updates on the ISSCR Facebook page. Thank you in advance for your feedback and engagement, and we hope we can count on your interest in and support of stem cell research for years to come.