Program

Wednesday, 15 October 2025

11:00 - 11:30 Plenary Hall	Opening GSCN Conference 2025
11:00 - 11:10	Welcome Helmholtz Munich Martin Hrabě de Angelis, Research Director Hemholtz Munich
11:10 - 11:20	Welcome address - tba
11:24 - 11:30	Opening of GSCN Conference 2025 Heiko Lickert, President GSCN
11:30 - 12:15 Plenary Hall	Keynote lecture I K1 - Advances in cell therapy for Parkinson's disease: Insights from the results of a phase 1 trial and future directions Viviane Tabar, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA Chair: Magdalena Götz
12:15 - 13:00 Plenary Hall	Keynote lecture II K2 - Long-term single live cell quantification: New tools for old questions Timm Schroeder, Biosystems Science and Engineering (BSEE), ETH Zürich, Basel, Switzerland Chair: Claudia Waskow
13:00 - 14:30 Mensa	Lunch break / Industry exhibition
14:30 - 16:00	Concurrent scientific working group session I
14:30 - 16:00 Plenary Hall	Stem cells in regenerative therapies supported by Eppendorf Chairs: Ulrich Martin & Wolfgang Wagner
14:30 - 15:00	T01 - Therapeutic CAR-T cell products: What can we learn for pluripotent stem cell based products? Ulrike Köhl, Fraunhofer IZI, Leipzig
15:00 - 15:15	T02 - Maximizing gene editing efficiency for enhanced clinical-grade iPSCs via sequential factor delivery Thomas Berger, Catalent, Langenfeld
15:15 - 15:30	T03 - Off the shelf immune-shielded stem cell-derived macrophages for clinical applications Stefanie Pfaender, Evotec, Cell Therapy, Göttingen
15:30 - 15:45	T04 - Prototypical ten-week end-to-end process for autologous Parkinson's disease cell therapy Diana Haberhausen, Mitenyi Biotec, Bergisch Gladbach
15:45 - 16:00	T05 - Enhancing stem cell derived beta cell survival in hypoxia and nutrient deprivation with small molecules Väinö Lithovius, Helmholtz Diabetes Center, Munich
14:30 - 16:00 SR1050	Tissue-derived stem cells & organoids supported by Sartorius Chairs: Sina Bartfeld & Thomas Braun
14:30 - 15:00	T06 - Mapping the transcriptome and DNA-methylome at the single cell level decodes stemness across the young and injured brain Ana Martin-Villalba, DKFZ Heidelberg
15:00 - 15:15	T07 - Manipulation of global protein translation rates and stem cell self-renewal by CRISPR mediated activation of rRNA transcription Stefan Stricker, LMU & Helmholtz Munich
15:15 - 15:30	T08 - Slit–Robo signaling controls early liver zonation during fetal development Gosia Golda, Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, Freiburg
15:30 - 15:45	T09 - Unveiling human cardiac regenerative mechanisms in iPSC-derived epicardioids Tobias Ellinger, TUM Munich
15:45 - 16:00	T10 - Human-specific morphoregulatory signatures in basal radial glia characterize neocortex evolution Mareike Albert, TU Dresden
14:30 - 16:00 LH23	Stem cells in disease modeling & drug development Chairs: Oliver Brüstle & Harald Stachelscheid supported by Evotec SE
14:30 - 15:00	T11 - tba Alessandra Moretti, TUM School of Medicine and Health, Munich
15:00 - 15:15	T12 - AI-guided protein design of synthetic growth factor mimetics Thomas Schlichthärle, TUM School of Natural Science, Munich
15:15 - 15:30	T13 - Enhanced fibrosis modeling in human skin organoids through hiPSC-derived macrophage integration Amelie Reigl, Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research (ISC), Würzburg
15:30 - 15:45	T14 - Heart organoids and engineered heart tissue as hiPSC-derived in vitro models for Fabry cardiomyopathy Anna Reinelt, University hospital Eppendorf (UKE), Hamburg
15:45 - 16:00	T15 - iPSC-driven drug discovery identifies sildenafil as a drug candidate for the mitochondrial disease Leigh syndrome Annika Zink, University hospital Düsseldorf
16:00 - 16:30 CC & Build23	Break time / Industry exhibition
16:30 - 17:30 LH23	General Meeting Executive Board & Managing Director Heiko Lickert, Claudia Waskow, Sina Bartfeld, Michael Cross, Daniel Besser (excused Andreas Trumpp)
17:30 - 19:30 Build23	Poster session I - Poster number Pxxx - Pxxx supported by Biomerieux (with beverages) Tbd: Pxxx - Pxxx Tbd: Pxxx - Pxxx Tbd: Pxxx - Pxxx Even numbers: 17:30 - 18:30 Odd numbers: 18:30 - 19:30
19:45 -20:30 Plenary Hall	Keynote lecture III (on ELSA topics) K3 - Synthetic ex utero embryogenesis: From naive pluripotent stem cells to bona fide embryo models Jacob Hanna, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel Chair: Tobias Cantz
20:30 - 22:00 Mensa	GSCN Get-together for all participants Dinner buffet
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Thursday, 16 October 2025

09:00 - 10:30	Concurrent scientific working group session II
09:00 - 10:30 Plenary Hall	Basic, translational & applied hematopoiesis supported Chairs: Nina Cabezas-Wallscheid & Michael Milsom by Thermo Fisher
09:00 - 09:30	T16 - Blood stem cell expansion: Technology to biology Adam Wilkinson, Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, UK
09:30 - 09:45	T17 - C57BL/6 Kit-mutant immunodeficient mouse models uncover mechanism of successful hematopoietic stem cell xenotransplantation Julia Fröbel, Leibniz Institute on Aging – FLI, Jena
09:45 - 10:00	T18 - From codons to blood: A new perspective on hematopoietic differentiation Marius Külp, Goethe University, Frankfurt
10:00 - 10:15	T19 - Multimodal omics identify an age resilient multipotent progenitor population that preserves youthful identity and function in the hematopoietic system Mari Carmen Romero-Mulero, ETH Zurich, CH
10:15 - 10:30	T20 - Development of accessible ex vivo culture models of the human hematopoietic bone marrow niche Sigrid Uxa, University Leipzig
09:00 - 10:30 SR1050	TACTIC Symposium on iPSC-based Heart Repair BMBF-funded Projekt „Tailored Application for individualized Cell Therapy with iPSC-derived Cardiomyocytes (TACTiC) Chairs: Ulrich Martin & Robert Zweigerdt
09:00 - 09:30	T21 - Deep immune-phenotyping of HLA-homozygous iPS-cardiomyocytes Dirk Strunk, PMU Salzburg, Austria
09:30 - 10:00	T22 - Biological-engineering and application of a myocardial patch Joost Sluijter, UMC Utrecht, The Netherlands
10:00 - 10:15	T23 - Large-scale production of human pluripotent stem cell–derived cardiomyocytes Kevin Cyrys, MH Hanover
10:15 - 10:30	T24 - Automated myocardial cell injection Raphael Mönkemöller, LU Hanover
09:00 - 10:30 LH23	Pluripotency, differentiation & PSC-derived models Chairs: Mina Gouti & Hans Schöler
09:00 - 09:30	T25 - Developing a safe and immune-evasive stem cell source for off-the-shelf therapeutic products Andras Nagy, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada
09:30 - 09:45	T26 - Lineage single-cell multi-omics identify novel regulators and barriers in iPSC reprogramming Angeliki Spathopoulou, University of Innsbruck, Austria
09:45 - 10:00	T27 - You shall not pass - functional pluripotency testing using hiPSCore Jochen Dogner, Leibniz-Institut für umweltmedizinische Forschung (IUF) Düsseldorf
10:00 - 10:15	T28 - PluripotencyScreen – quantification of early cell fate decisions of iPSC based on DNA methylation Kira Zeevaert, UK RWTH Aachen
10:15 - 10:30	T29 - Does gene dosage influence cell fate during human gastrulation? Theresa Gross-Thebing, Gurdon Institute, Cambridge, UK
09:00 - 10:30 HPC	Stem cells in disease modeling & drug development II Chairs: Bert Klebl & Karl-Ludwig Laugwitz
09:00 - 09:15	T30 - Modulating reactive astrocytes in Alzheimer’s disease Bastian Zimmer, Evotec SE, Hamburg
09:15 - 09:30	T31 - Evaluating the potential of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase inhibitors to modulate microglial inflammation to attenuate multiple sclerosis progression Alica Blenkle, Fraunhofer ITMP, Göttingen
09:30 - 09:45	T32 - A reproducible human brain tissue model to study physiological and disease-associated microglia phenotypes Dominik Paquet, LMU Munich
09:45 - 10:00	T33 - Integration of CNTNAP2-deficient neurons into defined E/I networks unmasks functional pathophenotypes Jasmin Aicher, University of Bonn
10:00 - 10:15	T34 - Capturing disease severity in LIS1-lissencephaly reveals proteostasis dysregulation in patient-derived forebrain organoids Matteo Gasparotto, ZI Mannheim
09:00 - 10:30 HPC-VIP	ELSA symposium Panel: Jacob Hanna, tbd Moderation: Tobias Cantz
10:30 - 11:00 CC & Build23	Break time / Industry exhibition supported by Minaris
11:00 - 12:30	Industry session: "Technologies from GSCN industry partners"
11:00 - 12:30 Plenary Hall	Main Supporter Chairs: Magdalena Götz & Hartmut Geiger
11:05 - 11:25	C01 - Tackling leachables in stem cell bioprocessing: Ensuring safety and scalability in single-use systems for clinical studies Philipp Nold, Eppendorf SE
11:25 - 11:55	C02 - Advance your research with genetically diverse human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived models and a novel mRNA-lipid nanoparticle platform to rapidly generate functional forebrain neurons Katharina Debowski, STEMCELL Technologies GmbH
11:55 -12:15	C03 - Forging the future of regenerative medicine with synthetic peptide growth factors Kazuki Shigematsu, Active Bioscience and PeptiGrowth
12:15 -12:30	C04 - Approaches for optimizing pluripotent stem cell spheroid expansion in multi-liter bioreactors through the use of constant medium perfusion David Kuninger, Thermo Fisher Scientific
11:00 - 12:30 SR1050	Supporter II Chairs: Hannes Klump & Ana Martin-Villalba
11:05 - 11:20	C05 - The world's fastest PCR-based mycoplasma detection assay Sabine Hahnau-Jurth, Biomerieux Deutschland GmbH
11:20 - 11:35	C06 - Enabling reliable PSC culture for advanced research applications Hannah Johannsen, Miltenyi Biotech B.V. & Co. KG
11:35 - 11:50	C07 - The role of full-length laminins in enhancing in vitro cellular microenvironments Chiara Annunziata, BioLamina
11:50 - 12:05	C08 - Live-cell 3D cell imaging innovations Marco Benkisser-Petersen, Sartorius
12:05 -12:20	C09 - Recent advancements in gentle single-cell handling: The iotaSciences way Matthias Hoja, iotaSciences
11:00 - 12:30 LH23	Supporter III Chairs: Andreas Kurtz & Claudia Waskow
11:05 - 11:20	C10 - Alt-R™ CRISPR capabilities to accelerate your next breakthrough Katarzyna Julia Duda, Integrated DNA Technologies
11:20 - 11:35	C11 - Cell therapy at Evotec – end-to-end from process development to clinical manufacturing Matthias Austen, Evotec
11:35 - 11:50	C12 - What we've discovered: Opening Pandora's box of genomic mutations using NGS technology Reda Zenagui, Stem Genomics
11:50 - 12:05	C13 - Commercial media formulations vs chemically defined home-brewed media for iPSC maintenance Liz Stewart, Qkine
12:05 - 12:20	C14 - A global vision for cell and gene therapies Karin Abitorabi, Minaris
11:00 - 12:30 HPC	Supporter IV Chairs: Thomas Schwarz-Rommond & Zoltan Ivics
11:05 - 11:20	C15 - tba tbd
11:20 - 11:35	C16 - tba tbd
11:35 - 11:50	C17 - tba tbd
11:50 - 12:05	C18 - tba tbd
12:05 - 12:20	C19 - tba tbd
12:30 - 14:00 Mensa	Lunch break / Industry exhibition supported by IDT Germany GmbH
14:00 - 16:15 Plenary Hall	Presidential Symposium Chair: Heiko Lickert
14:00 - 14:45	Presidential Invite PS1 - Translation of tissue engineered heart repair Wolfram-Hubertus Zimmermann, University Hospital Göttingen
14:45 - 15:15	GSCN 2025 Young Investigator Award PS2 - Molecular regulation of mammalian dormancy Aydan Bulut-Karslıoğlu, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Genetics, Berlin
15:15 - 15:45	GSCN 2025 Hilde Mangold Award PS3 - Harnessing RNA Modifications for Cancer Therapies Michaela Frye, DKFZ, Heidelberg
15:45 - 16:15	GSCN Publication of the Year 2024 - 2025 Award PS4 - The role of safeguard repressors in cancer Bryce Lim, Moritz Mall, DKFZ, Heidelberg
16:15 - 16:30 CC & Build23	Break time / Industry exhibition supported by Biolamina
16:30 - 18:30 Build23	Poster session II - Poster number Pxxx - Pxxx supported by Miltenyi (with beverages) tbd: Pxxx - Pxxx tbd: Pxxx - Pxxx tbd: Pxxx - Pxxx tbd: Pxxx - Pxxx Even numbers: 16:30 - 17:30 Odd number: 17:30 - 18:30
19:00 - 01:00	GSCN networking event for all participants supported by STEMCELL Technologies The entrance fee is collected on site Event location: ➚ Gasthof Neuwirt, Garching Münchener Str.10 85748 Garching

Friday, 17 October 2025

09:00 - 10:30	Concurrent scientific working group session III
09:00 - 10:30 Plenary Hall	Stem cells in ageing & disease Chairs: Hartmut Geiger & Michael Rieger
09:00 - 09:30	T35 - Tracing clonal architecture and differentiation trajectories in cancer using single cell barcoding Michael Rieger, Goethe University Frankfurt
09:30 - 09:45	T36 - Role of aging and environmental stress in the decline of lung stem cell function and regenerative capacity Maja Funk, Helmholtz Munich
09:45 - 10:00	T37 - Investigating aging and telomere biology in lung disease using induced pluripotent stem cell derived models Mari Ozaki, Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI), Dublin, Ireland
10:00 - 10:15	T38 - High fat diet affects the stromal niche signaling in the porcine intestine Falk Farkas, Helmholtz Munich
10:15 - 10:30	T39 - TET2-mutant clonal hematopoiesis drives inflammation-associated hepatocarcinogenesis in a murine NAFLD model Sena Alptekin, DKFZ/HI-STEM Heidelberg
09:00 - 10:30 SR1050	DZL/Breath Symposium: Stem Cells in Lung Research Chairs: Ulrich Martin & tba
09:00 - 09:30	T40 - Modelling type 2 alveolar epithelial cell biology and disease using patient-derived iPSC Killian Hurley, RCSI, Ireland
09:30 - 09:45	T41 - Sotatercept as a novel therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension: attenuation of fibrosis and contractility in iPSC-derived smooth muscle cells Aileen Schmidt, MH Hanover
09:45 - 10:00	T42 - The lung microvasculature promotes alveolar type 2 cell differentiation via secreted SPARCL1 Paolo Panza, UKGM, Gießen
10:00 - 10:15	T43 - Differentiation of airway epithelial basal cells into organotypic mucociliary tissues Janna Nawroth, TU Munich
10:15 - 10:30	T44 - Role of aberrant basaloid cells in interstitial lung disease Jonas Schupp, MH Hanover
09:00 - 10:30 LH23	Pluripotency, Differentiation & PSC-derived models II Chairs: Micha Drukker & Ralf Jauch
09:00 - 09:15	T45 - Wnt/Planar cell polarity signaling orchestrates ciliogenesis and cell-cycle exit during endocrine lineage commitment Tobias Greisle, Helmholtz Munich
09:15 - 09:30	T46 - Single-cell multiome uncovers differences in glycogen metabolism underlying species-specific speed of development Christian Schröter, Leiden Academic Center, NL
09:30 - 09:45	T47 - NSD1 governs H3K36me2-mediated DNA methylation and drives differentiation of human iPSCs by regulating ‘HIDEN’ lncRNA expression Deepika Puri, UK Aachen
09:45 - 10:00	T48 - Patient-specific gene correction in LMNA-linked cardiomyopathy using 3D hiPSC-derived heart-tissues and native myocardial slices Eleonore Baier, TUM Munich
10:00 - 10:15	T49 - 3D transcriptomic reconstruction highlights human heart-forming organoid development as a model of early organogenesis Liam Wilson, MH Hannover
09:00 - 10:30 HPC	Computational stem cell biology Chairs: Ingmar Glauche & Carsten Marr
09:00 - 09:30	T50 - Digital reprogramming decodes epigenetic barriers of cell fate changes Eva Hörmanseder, Helmholtz Munich
09:30 - 09:45	T51 - Reinforcement learning for relapse prediction from sparse measurements in exponentially progressing disease Arina Shelashen, TU Dresden
09:45 - 10:00	T52 - Uncovering transcriptional drivers of cell identity with generative modeling and high-throughput reprogramming Mariia Minaeva, Helmholz Munich
10:00 - 10:15	T53 - High resolution spatio-temporal mapping reveals dedifferentiation niches in mammalian cardiac repair Andy Shing-Fung Chan, Würzburg Institute of Systems Immunology
10:15 - 10:30	T54 - Napari-organoid-counter: An open-source tool for high-throughput organoid detection in brightfield microscopy Marie Piraud, Helmholz Munich
10:30 - 11:00 CC & Build23	Break time / Industry exhibition supported by Qkine
11:00 - 12:30	Concurrent strategic working group session
11:00 - 12:30 Plenary Hall	Technologies in stem cell research supported by iotaSciences Chairs: Sebastian Diecke & Ole Pless
11:05 - 11:25	S1 - Reproducible brain organoids for disease phenotyping and screening Jakob Metzger, Max Delbrück Center, Berlin
11:25 - 11:45	S2 - High-content phenotypic profiling reveals subpopulation-specific modulation of human microglia by inflammasome-targeting compounds Johannes Wilbertz, Ksilink, Strasbourg, France
11:45 - 12:05	S3 - Bioreactor-based innate immunocompetent hiPSC-derived neurospheroids as preclinical models for advanced therapy development Catarina Brito, iBet, Qeiras, Portugal
12:05 - 12:25	S4 - BMP, MEK and WNT inhibition: A novel dSMAD-independent paradigm for rapid generation of hiPSC-derived neurons amenable to regional patterning Peter Reinhardt, Abbvie, Ludwighafen
11:00 - 12:30 SR1050	Career development Chairs: Marieke Essers & Karin Hoehne
	S5 - Stay calm and clear: Communication strategies for difficult situations Nele Haasen, konteam, Munich
11:00 - 12:30 LH23	Clinical trials & regulatory affairs Chairs: Andreas Kurtz & Torsten Tonn
11:00 - 11:30	S6 - tba Joel C. Glover, Norwegian Center for Stem Cell Research, Oslo, Norway
11:30 - 12:00	S7 - tba Joannis Mytilineos, German National Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ZKRD), Ulm
12:00 - 12:30	S8 - tba Gerald Schumann, Paul Ehrlich Institute, Langen
12:30 - 14:00 Mensa	Lunch break time / Industry exhibition supported by Stem Genomics
14:00 - 14:45 Plenary Hall	Keynote lecture IV K4 - From bench to bedside: Chemical reprogramming and the future of regenerative medicine Hongkui Deng, Peking University (PKU), Beijing, China Chair: Matthias Hebrok
14:45 - 15:30 Plenary Hall	Keynote lecture V K5 - Epigenetic mechanisms of cellular plasticity Maria Elena Torres-Padilla, Helmholtz Munich Chair: Ana Martin-Villalba
15:30 - 15:50 Plenary Hall	Award ceremony Daniel Besser Poster awards supported by Active Bioscience (AB) / PeptiGrowth (PG) Travel awards
15:50 - 16:00 Plenary Hall	Closing remarks by the GSCN president Heiko Lickert
	End of GSCN Conference 2025
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