The Stem Cell Podcast

Guest: In this special episode recorded live in Seattle, Washington at the Allen Institute for the Early Career Development Symposium. Dr. Crystal Rogers, Associate Professor at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and Dr. Ariel Waisman, CONICET Investigator at FLENI in Argentina, explore the unique career transitions and systemic challenges faced by early-career scientists. They discuss ov...

Guest: Dr. Lika Drakhlis is a Junior Group Leader at Hannover Medical School. She discusses how her lab uses human pluripotent stem cells to develop complex, multi-tissue organoids that model the co-development of the heart, vasculature, and foregut. She also explores how these models reveal the spatial organization and cellular interactions that shape early heart development, and how they can be...

Guest: Dr. Yonatan Stelzer is a Principal Investigator at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He discusses how his lab combines developmental biology, epigenetics, and single-cell technologies to understand how cells acquire distinct identities during embryonic development. He also explores building quantitative models that track development across space and time, how extracellular signals and epig...

Guest: Dr. Charles Easley is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the University of Georgia. He discusses how his lab uses pluripotent stem cells and in vitro models of spermatogenesis to investigate how environmental exposures affect male fertility. He also explores efforts to generate functional sperm from stem cells, develop regenerative therapies for male infertility, and...

Guest: Dr. Abdullah Khan is an Associate Professor of Tissue Engineering at the University of Oxford and a Group Leader at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine. He discusses how his lab engineers complex human tissue models to study the cellular interactions that drive development, aging, and disease. He also explores how multi-organoid systems can model interactions between tissues...

Guest: Nobel Laureate Dr. Shinya Yamanaka is the Director Emeritus of the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), President of the CiRA Foundation, Professor at Kyoto University, and Senior Investigator at the Gladstone Institutes. 20 years after the discovery of iPSCs, he discusses how his lab is advancing iPSC therapies toward the clinic while continuing to investigate the basic mec...

Guest: In July 2026, we attended ISSCR 2026, the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, in Montreal. We spoke with delegates about their research, the scientific advances that stood out to them, and the emerging trends shaping the future of stem cell biology. They also reflect on their own conference highlights and the unique opportunities that meetings like ISSCR prov...

Guest: In this special episode recorded live in Montréal , Canada at ISSCR 2026, Dr. Michael May, President and CEO of the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM), and Dr. Janet Rothberg, Senior Director of Process and Analytical Development at CCRM, explore how stem cell discoveries can be translated into commercially viable therapies through scalable manufacturing, company c...

Guest: In July 2026, Daylon and Arun attended the International Society for Stem Cell Research’s (ISSCR) annual meeting in Montreal, and recorded daily episodes discussing highlights of the previous 24 hours. Here is the final of four episodes from the meeting, where they discuss the challenges of making advanced cell and gene therapies accessible, the latest progress in organoids and regenerative...

Guest: In July 2026, Daylon and Arun attended the International Society for Stem Cell Research’s (ISSCR) annual meeting in Montreal, and recorded daily episodes discussing highlights of the previous 24 hours. Here is the third of four episodes, where Daylon and Arun discuss advances in synthetic biology, organoid engineering, regenerative medicine, developmental biology, and AI-driven approaches t...

Guest: In July 2026, Daylon and Arun attended the International Society for Stem Cell Research’s (ISSCR) annual meeting in Montreal, and recorded daily episodes discussing highlights of the previous 24 hours. Here is the second of four episodes, where Daylon and Arun discuss promising stem cell clinical trial updates for Parkinson’s disease, advances in cardiac, thymus, and vascular organoid...

Guest: In July 2026, Daylon and Arun attended the International Society for Stem Cell Research’s (ISSCR) annual meeting in Montreal, and recorded daily episodes discussing highlights of the previous 24 hours. Here is the first of four episodes, where Daylon and Arun discuss the opening plenary, major advances in iPSC research, organoids, CRISPR, and space biology, as well as their live podcast rec...

Guest: This special episode, created in partnership with the ISSCR Early Career Advisory Committee, features two rising leaders in stem cell research. Dr. Yifei (Simon) Miao, a Professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discusses engineering vascularized organoids and integrating bioengineering approaches to build more physiologically relevant human tissues. Dr. Anca Pașca, an Assistant Profess...

Guest: Dr. Mekayla Storer is an Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge and a Principal Investigator at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. She discusses how mammalian digit tips regenerate after injury, focusing on the formation of the blastema and the cellular and molecular mechanisms that distinguish regeneration from scarring. She highlights the role of the extracellular matrix, tiss...

Guest: Dr. Filipa Simões is a Group Leader at the University of Oxford and Co-Director of the Oxford Organoid Hub. She discusses how macrophages shape heart development, repair, and regeneration, and how cellular crosstalk within the cardiac niche influences tissue outcomes after injury. Using zebrafish models, stem cell–derived cardiac organoids, and spatial genomics approaches, she explores the...

Guest: Dr. Vijay Sankaran is a Professor at Harvard Medical School and Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He discusses how his lab uses human genetics and stem cell biology to uncover mechanisms regulating hematopoiesis and blood disease, including the discovery of key regulators such as BCL11A and HOTSCRAMBL. He also explores how advances in genome editing, stem cell engineering...

Guest: Dr. Meenal Datta is an Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame and leader of the Tumor Immune Microenvironment Mechanics (TIME) Lab. She discusses how mechanical forces within tumors shape cancer progression and immune responses, with a focus on glioblastoma. She highlights how immunomechanics and mechanobiology influence tumor growth, treatment resistance, and immune cell funct...

Guest: Dr. Andrew Gaffney is Vice President, iPSC Platform at STEMCELL Technologies. In this episode, he discusses how his team is advancing pluripotent stem cell applications through high-quality iPSC line development, gene editing, organoid production, and GMP manufacturing for translational and clinical use. He also highlights key challenges in the field, including reproducibility, standardizat...

Guest: Dr. Kotaro Sasaki is an Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. In this episode, he discusses how his lab uses human pluripotent stem cells to model germ cell development and endocrine organs such as the testis and adrenal gland. He highlights progress toward in vitro gametogenesis, including generating spermatogonial-like cells and reconstructing testicular environments, as...

Guest: Dr. Aitor Aguirre is an Associate Professor at Michigan State University and Director of the Stem Cell Core. In this episode, he discusses how his lab uses pluripotent stem cells and cardiac organoids to model human heart development and disease. He highlights the role of self-organization and bioengineering in building complex heart models, including assembloids with immune and neural comp...

Guest: Dr. Thorsten Boroviak is an Assistant Professor at the University of Cambridge and a member of the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. He discusses how stem cell–based embryo models are helping researchers study early human and primate development, including implantation and gastrulation. He also talks about using primate systems such as marmoset to understand human development, the role of biom...

Guest: Drs. Shuibing Chen and Hans Clevers, members of the Steering Committee for the ISSCR Consortium on Advanced Stem Cell-Based Models in Drug Discovery and Development , discuss the need to accelerate the responsible integration of stem cell–derived models into preclinical drug development. Their conversation reflects growing regulatory and policy momentum around new approach methodologies (NA...

Guest: Drs. Fiona Doetsch and Nozomu Yachie, Co-Chairs of the ISSCR 2026 Annual Meeting Program Committee, join the podcast to discuss what to expect at the upcoming ISSCR 2026 meeting taking place in Montreal, Canada from July 8 – 11, 2026. This is the world’s largest and most comprehensive gathering dedicated to stem cell research and regenerative medicine, bringing together global leaders...

Guest: Dr. Joseph Wu is a Professor of Medicine and Radiology and the Director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute. He talks about the importance of pharmacology knowledge in drug discovery. He also discusses his early iPSC research, investigating vaccine-induced myocarditis , and  embracing New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) . (39:40) Featured Products and Resources: Submit your abstract for...

Guest: Dr. Pinar Mesci is the Global Head of Biomanufacturing and Biotechnology at Axiom Space, where she manages a portfolio focused on biomedical research programs including stem cells, tissue engineering, disease modeling, cancer research, and DNA-inspired nanomaterials. She talks about her early career developing brain organoid models, transitioning to the space industry, and how microgravity...