iPSCs: Progress, Opportunities, and Challenges

About This Grant

Abstract Support is requested for a Keystone Symposia conference entitled “iPSCs: Progress, Opportunities, and Challenges,” organized by Drs. Shinya Yamanaka, Yanhong Shi and Yasushi Kajii, with scientific programming input from Keystone Symposia. The meeting will take place January 26–29, 2026 at the International Conference Center (ICC) Kyoto in Kyoto, Japan. This conference is being held to mark the 20th anniversary of breakthrough discoveries in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technologies, which have matured into viable platforms for embryology and disease modeling, drug discovery, and cell-based therapy development for a variety of human diseases. Moreover, the combination of iPSC technology with three-dimensional organoids, organ-on-chip and the emerging technologies of AI and machine learning ensures that iPSC-based platforms will yield new applications in biomedical and translational science. These innovative technologies and their applications are the primary focus of this meeting. Therefore, this conference has been designed to gather the leading scientists from academia and industry to push forward basic knowledge and medical application of iPSCs, especially those being tested in clinical trials worldwide, toward new insights and potential drugs. Additionally, this Keystone Symposia conference will provide a unique opportunity for researchers, clinicians, industrial experts and investors to interact, creating unusual collaborative prospects. Moreover, this conference will provide a rare opportunity for attendees to hear from renowned stem cell researcher and Nobel Laureate, Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, who will be giving the Keynote Address and is one of the meeting organizers. The sharing of knowledge at this meeting is expected to be transformative for the field and lead to the development of new cellular platforms and therapeutic products, which will ultimately impact clinical practice favorably.