Keck School of Medicine of USC to Co-Organize 2011 World Stem Cell Summit, Pasadena, Oct. 3 – 5

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Genetics Policy Institute (GPI), producer of the 2011 World Stem Cell Summit, and Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California announced today that the Keck School has joined the Summit as a co-organizer. This year, the interdisciplinary Summit is the largest stem cell meeting in the United States and one of the largest regenerative medicine conferences in the world.

“We are tremendously honored that the Keck School of Medicine of USC has joined the Summit leadership. The Summit will showcase Keck School researchers and their important contributions to the global community.”

GPI executive director Bernard Siegel, founder and co-chair of the Summit, said, “We are tremendously honored that the Keck School of Medicine of USC has joined the Summit leadership. The Summit will showcase Keck School researchers and their important contributions to the global community.”

“We’re excited to be part of the World Stem Cell Summit’s first meeting in Southern California,” said Keck School Dean Carmen A. Puliafito, M.D., M.B.A., who is also a member of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine’s (CIRM) governing board. “Last year, when we opened the Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC, we envisioned being part of an ongoing dialogue on stem cell research that knows no borders. This is an important opportunity to be part of that conversation.”

Keck School co-chairs for the Summit are Elizabeth Fini, Ph.D., vice dean for research and professor of Cell and Neurobiology, and Mark Humayun, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Ophthalmology, professor of Biomedical Engineering and Cell and Neurobiology and associate director of Research at the Doheny Retina Institute at USC.

The World Stem Cell Summit offers a global 360 degree view of the field featuring more than 150 prominent experts discussing the latest discoveries, business models, legal and regulatory solutions, translational strategies and advocacy. The Summit attracts 2,000 attendees from 25 nations, 60 exhibitors with 150 endorsing organizations and media partners.

Other co-organizing institutions of the 2011 Summit include GPI, City of Hope, Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute, Caltech and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

For more information about the World Stem Cell Summit visit: www.worldstemcellsummit.com.

About Genetics Policy Institute (GPI): GPI is a 501c3 nonprofit foundation with the mission to promote and defend stem cell research and its application in medicine to develop therapeutics and cures for many otherwise intractable diseases and disorders.