Letter from the ESGCT board members
Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of the four organising societies, we are pleased to welcome you at the Convention Center of Hannover
Fairground to the Combined Meeting of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT), the German Society
for Stem Cell Research (GSZ), the German Society of Gene Therapy (DGGT) and the European Branch of the International
Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT).
Our conference will cover the entire spectrum of somatic gene therapy, stem cell biology and regenerative
medicine. This first Combined Meeting of our societies creates a unique opportunity to share the latest findings
on a truly interdisciplinary platform. We are expecting more than 700 scientists and physicians from all around
the world to contribute their knowledge, present exciting new data and discuss important hypotheses on a broad
range of topics including: stem cells & differentiation, reprogramming & induced pluripotency, cell therapy
& tissue engineering, and targeted cell modification by viral and nonviral genetic modification or
delivery of RNA, proteins and small molecules. Investigations into novel approaches of cell modification, the
safety of the engineered cells and tissues, their therapeutic potency, and the design of non-clinical models and
clinical trials will be of great importance in this conference. We all share the dream that our research will set
the stage for novel ways to prevent, treat or even cure a wide range of monogenetic and acquired disorders. We will
thus also cover fundamental regulatory and ethical issues, and do our best to foster interactions with patient
organisations and promote scientific networking between academia and innovative companies.
We are thrilled that outstanding scientists have accepted our invitation to present their most recent exciting
results. We thus offer you a rich resource comprising over 100 invited talks, > 100 selected oral abstract
presentations, and >350 poster presentations, the latter being on display for the duration of the meeting. Please
also take your time to visit the exhibitors, which are important supporters of our conference, and join us for
the free social events including the welcome reception, the poster party and the congress (beach!) party.
We hope you will find the program as stimulating and interesting as we expect it to be, and thus look forward to
sharing with you an outstanding scientific event. Most importantly, we are indebted to all of you who supported us
in the preparation and management of the conference, all of you who share your precious time with us in these
days, and to the academic, regional and corporate sponsors, without whom this meeting would not have been possible.
Sincerely,
Christopher Baum & Ulrich Martin, presidents of the local organising committee
Thierry VandenDriessche, ESGCT President
Jürgen Hescheler, GSZ President
Ulrich Hengge, DGGT President
Hildegard Büning, DGGT Scientific Secretary
TorstenTonn and Cor Lamers, ISCT board members