City to host 6th international stem cell meet

CHENNAI: The sixth international stem cell meet, NCRM NICHE 2011, is to be held on October 15 in Chennai. Ten credit points of the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University’s Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme have been awarded to the conference. The organising committee of NCRM NICHE 2011 has extended the registration deadline to October 4, to enable the late entries. This one day meet will have a plenary session in which Prof.  Gary Levy, Chairman, Multi-organ transplant programme, University of Toronto will deliver a talk on early diagnosis of rejection after transplantation. Toronto University is the place where stem cells were discovered for the first time in 1961. Having Prof Levy as a collaborator to the academic programme at NCRM in person to share his experience in the field of regenerative medicine will be a great experience, said a member of the organising committee.The programme will also have Dr Kazutoshi Haraguchi from Japan who will deliver a special lecture on the account of the International Year of Chemistry 2011. He will talk on his original work of basic research in chemistry and development of nanomaterials to highlight the importance of the same by sharing with the audience, the various applications his research has yielded in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Dr Koichi Iwatsuki, a neurosurgeon who has successfully transplanted neural stem cells in spinal cord injury patients, will talk on his successful surgeries.As a part of the NCRM NICHE, the Fujio Cup Quiz on stem cells and regenerative medicine will be held for the sixth time in which medical and biotech students from all over the country will be participating. The valedictory session will be graced by the Consul General of Japan at Chennai, Mr Masanori Nakano.