May 2 2018, Irvine (USA)

The inaugural meeting on May 1 - 2, 2018 of the Stem Cells for Huntington's Disease (HD) (SC4HD) was a successful and exciting meeting co-sponsored by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and CHDI Foundation. Over the last decade the biology of stem cells as a donor cell source for neurodegenerative disease has advanced considerably and is approaching the point of first-in-human studies for HD. However, there are many preclinical and clinical translational road blocks to clear before this can be achieved. Further, to prevent delays in the design of well-defined clinical trials for stem cell approaches, it is necessary to begin to tackle translational issues in parallel with addressing preclinical criteria, progress and challenges. These considerations formed the motivation to begin building an international consortium.

 

The meeting aimed to build upon efforts by CIRM, Repair HD, CHDI and other organizations to help bring stem cells safely to the clinic for HD. We included individuals who have used, or are using, stem cell based therapeutic approaches for Parkinson’s, ALS and spinal cord injury.  Bringing together experts working in many areas relevant to this mission allowed sharing of knowledge and experience, leading to greater coherence across specialty and geographical boundaries to achieve preclinical criteria and accelerate progress to the clinic.

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We hosted 56 attendees in total with 6 attendees joining us by web conference for the two-day conference at the Beckman Center for National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and UC Irvine Stem Cell Research Center. The first day of the meeting began with an overview of HD stem cell efforts globally, followed by discussions on a) manufacturing and cell product, b) preclinical criteria, c) clinical development - immunological and surgeries and devices, d) brain imaging/human trials design, and e) regulatory and ethics. The second day of the meeting focused on next steps, groups aspirations, program management, development and strategy of the network, funding sources and venue for next meeting.

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Attendees were:

Romina Aron-Badin (CEA France)
Anne-Catherine Bachoud-Levi (INSERM)
Roger Barker (University of Cambridge)
Gerhard Bauer (UC Davis)
Monica Busse (Cardiff University)
Josep M. Canals (University of Barcelona)
Elena Cattaneo (University of Milan)
Emanuele Cozzi (Università degli studi di Padova)
David Craufurd (Manchester Center for Genomic Medicine)
Steve Dunnett (Cardiff University)
Dan Felsenfeld (CHDI)
Liam Gray (Cardiff University)
Philippe Hantraye (CEA France)
Neal Hermanowicz (University of California Irvine)
Lisa Kadyk (CIRM)
Paul Kemp (Cardiff University)
Michael Levine (University of California Los Angeles)
Meng Li (Cardiff University)
Yuna Muyshondt (University of California Irvine)
Ignacio Munos (CHDI)
Anselme Perrier (INSERM)
Jack Reidling (University of California Irvine)
Anne Rosser (Cardiff University)
Christina Sampaio (CHDI)
Jihwan Song (CHA Stem Cell Institute Korea)
Leslie Thompson (University of California Irvine)
Tom Vogt (CHDI)
Vicki Wheelock (University of California Davis)
George Yohrling (HDSA)
Pei Zhong (Duke University)