concurrent track: capturing development

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Highlighting advances in stem cell and tissue biology relevant to early development and organ formation, exploring stem cell models of human development and species-specific differences in an evolutionary context.

Organized by:

*Additional invited and abstract-selected speakers to be determined. Session descriptions and titles may change slightly.

germline development and maintenance

Petra Hajkova, PhD, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS), UK 
ShauPing Lin, PhD, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, China 
Young Sun Hwang, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA
Tom Levy, PhD, Stanford University, USA
Jitesh Neupane, PhD, University of Cambridge, UK
Niki Vontzou, Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Germany

  • This session explores mechanisms regulating germ cell specification and development, including epigenetic reprogramming and somatic tissue signaling, and examines implications for fertility and health across species

systematic and metabolic regulation of development

sponsored by: Stem Cell Reports

Ina Sonnen, PhD, Hubrecht Institute, Netherlands
Yann Pretemer, PhD, Kyoto University, Japan
Miram Meziane, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA
Alejandro Aguilera Castrejon, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Janelia Research Campus, USA
Carlos Pinzon, PhD, Harvard University, USA
Jan Zylicz, PhD, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

  • This session explores systemic regulation of development, with an emphasis on the metabolic control of early processes and how metabolic crosstalk between cells influences stem cell function and tissue formation. 

extra-embryonic development

Myriam Hemberger, PhD, University of Calgary, Canada
Kara McKinley, PhD, Harvard University/HHMI, USA; ISSCR 2026 Early Career Impact Award Honorable Mention recipient  
Ishtiaque Hossain, McGill University, Canada
Jean Francois Ouimette, Institut Curie, France
Areej Khatib, PhD, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Israel
Nikola Sekulovski, PhD, Medical College of Wisconsin, USA

  • This session examines extra-embryonic structures, such as the placenta, through both in vivo studies and stem cell models to deepen our understanding of how these tissues form and function in early development. 

spatial-temporal control of organ formation

sponsored by: Stem Cell Reports

Ramkumar Sambasivan, PhD, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati, India
Naihe Jing, PhD, Guangzhou National Laboratory, China 
Jie Li, Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), China
Emilia Luca, PhD, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Canada
Liam Wilson, MH-Hannover, Germany
Sander Tans, PhD, AMOLF, Netherlands

  • This session highlights the role of morphogen gradients in the spatial and temporal regulation of organogenesis and examines how these gradients are reset during regeneration.