Meeting Reports

Applying Systems Thinking to Regenerative Medicine—A Workshop was organized by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Forum on Regenerative Medicine. The meeting brought together leaders from government, academia, industry, professional associations, foundations, patient communities, and other stakeholder groups to address the potential for cross-disciplinary systems thinking to advance regenerative medicine. Discussions during the meeting covered the role of data science in regenerative medicine and the importance of data science training and data literacy for the current and future regenerative medicine workforce.

This report summarizes key issues contributing to the cost of preparing human pluripotent stem cell lines for use in cell therapy manufacturing based on discussion between stem cell banking experts from ten countries at a workshop session on ‘cost of goods’ for human pluripotent stem cell banking organized by the International Stem Cell Banking Initiative (ISCBI) held at the Korea National Institutes of Health in Korea (25^th September 2019). In this report, we also build on the workshop discussion and highlight and discuss the full range of costs and unexpected challenges on resources for the delivery of stocks of hPSCs suitable for use as starting materials in the manufacture of stem cell-based medicines. The experiences of global leaders from different national resource centers highlight issues to consider in cost management and the possibilities for reducing costs while moving into the clinical application stage.

The synergy between biological and bioengineering advances is critical to developing novel and impactful translational therapies. However, there currently are few opportunities for regenerative scientists to be exposed to the methodologies commonly employed in the clinic by rehabilitation professionals, and most rehabilitation scientists and clinicians are not exposed to the many advances of regenerative medicine. This disconnect has impeded the pace of progress in the field. The Eighth Annual International Symposium on Regenerative Rehabilitation brought together basic scientists, engineers, and rehabilitation clinicians to present scientifically rigorous and cutting-edge research and clinical management, focusing on new and innovative approaches that combine discoveries in tissue engineering, medical devices, and cellular therapies with rehabilitative protocols.