Optional Pre-Conference Activities
Monday, July 7 High School STEM Day
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High School STEM Day on Lung Science and Bioengineering
| Time | Details |
|---|---|
| 8:00 AM | Shuttle from COURTYARD BURLINGTON HARBOR HOTEL to UVM |
| 8:30 - 8:55 AM | Continental Breakfast |
| 8:55 - 9:00 AM | Welcome and Introductions |
| 9:00 - 9:40 AM | Wet Lab Activity Led by Bradford Smith, PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO |
| 9:40 - 9:50 AM | Break |
| 9:50 - 10:30 AM | Career Pathways Panel Discussion Moderated by Amy Ryan, PhD, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA |
| 10:30 - 11:00 AM | Coffee and Networking Break |
| 11:00 - 12:30 PM | Choice of Workshop |
Workshop I | Using Precision Cut Lung Slices (PCLS) to Study Lung Biology & Disease Darcy Wagner, PhD, McGill University, Canada |
Workshop II | Application of Organoids and Gene Editing to Study Lung Biology & Disease Dawei Sun, PhD, Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA |
| 12:30 - 2:00 PM | Mentoring Lunch |
| 2:00 - 2:40 PM | Scientific Pathways (How did you get there) Moderated by Bradford Smith, PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO |
| 2:40 - 2:50 PM | Break |
| 2:50 - 3:30 PM | Scientific Destinations (What you can do) Moderated by Bradford Smith, PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO |
| 3:30 - 4:15 PM | Coffee and Networking Break |
| 4:20 - 4:40 | Shuttle to COURTYARD BURLINGTON HARBOR HOTEL |
Optional Extras for Highschool Student Participants:
- Attendance at the Evening Scientific Session on Monday 7, after the workshop
- Attendance throughout the entire conference (July 7 - 10)
Monday, July 7
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Optional Pre-Conference Activities
| Time | Details |
|---|---|
| 8:00 AM | Shuttle from COURTYARD BURLINGTON HARBOR HOTEL to UVM |
| 8:30 - 8:55 AM | Continental Breakfast |
| 8:55 - 9:00 AM | Welcome and Introductions |
| 9:00 - 9:40 AM | Wet Lab Activity Led by Bradford Smith, PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO |
| 9:40 - 9:50 AM | Break |
| 9:50 - 10:30 AM | Career Pathways Panel Discussion Moderated by Amy Ryan, PhD, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA |
| 10:30 - 11:00 AM | Coffee and Networking Break |
| 11:00 - 12:30 PM | Choice of Workshop |
Workshop I | Using Precision Cut Lung Slices (PCLS) to Study Lung Biology & Disease Darcy Wagner, PhD, McGill University, Canada |
Workshop II | Application of Organoids and Gene Editing to Study Lung Biology & Disease Dawei Sun, PhD, Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA |
| 12:30 - 2:00 PM | Mentoring Lunch |
| 2:00 - 2:40 PM | Scientific Pathways (How did you get there) Moderated by Bradford Smith, PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO |
| 2:40 - 2:50 PM | Break |
| 2:50 - 3:30 PM | Scientific Destinations (What you can do) Moderated by Bradford Smith, PhD, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO |
| 3:30 - 4:15 PM | Coffee and Networking Break |
| 4:20 - 4:40 | Shuttle to COURTYARD BURLINGTON HARBOR HOTEL |
Conference Activities
| Time | Details |
|---|---|
| 4:30 - 5:30 PM | Welcome Reception Registration Check-In, Hotel Vermont |
| Transition to: COURTYARD BURLINGTON HARBOR HOTEL | |
| Session I: | Celebrating 20 Years of Progress in Lung Stem Cell Biology and Bioengineering Moderators: Daniel Weiss, MD, PhD, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT Robert Hynds, PhD, University College London, United Kingdom - 2025 Conference Co-Chair |
| 5:30 - 5:40 PM | Opening Remarks Representative of the University of Vermont |
| 5:40 - 6:10 PM | Featured Presentation: Title TBC Zea Borok, MD, University of California San Diego, CA |
| 6:10 - 6:40 PM | Featured Presentation: Title TBC Bernard Thébaud, MD, PhD, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Canada |
| 6:40 - 6:50 PM | Break |
| 6:50 - 7:20 PM | Featured Presentation: Title TBC Laura Niklason, MD, PhD, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT |
| 7:20 - 7:50 PM | Featured Presentation: Improving Mucociliary Clearance in the Face of Climate Change Brigitte Gomperts, MD, University of California Los Angeles, CA |
| 7:50 - 8:20 PM | Featured Presentation: Pluripotent Stem Cells to Model and Treat Lung Disease Darrell Kotton, MD, Boston University, MA |
Conference Agenda
Tuesday, July 8, Morning Activities
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All Sessions at the Dudley H. Davis Center, UVM Campus, Grand Maple Ballroom
| Time | Details |
|---|---|
| 7:45 - 8:45 AM | Breakfast and Breakfast Session I: What Editors Are Looking For (or How to Avoid Desk Rejection), Panel Discussion Moderator: Janette Burgess, PhD, University Medical Centre Groningen, NL Panelists: Rory Morty, Chief Editor, ERJ Open Research Juile Stacey, Editor-in-Chief, eBioMedicine Andrew Halayko, Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology |
| 8:45 - 9:00 AM | Welcoming Remarks Amy Ryan, PhD and Robert Hynds, PhD 2025 Conference Co-Chairs |
| Session II: | Endogenous Lung Stem Cells Moderators: Laure-Emmanuelle Zaragosi, PhD, Université Côte d'Azur Jaymin Kathiriya, PhD, Mount Sinai, New York |
| 9:00 - 9:25 AM | Featured Presentation: Title TBC Mitsuru Morimoto, PhD, RIKEN BDR, Japan |
| 9:25 - 9:50 AM | Featured Presentation: Title TBC Xin Sun, PhD, University of California San Diego, California |
| 9:50 - 10:15 AM | Featured Presentation: Title TBC Purushothama Rao Tata, PhD, Duke University, North Carolina |
| 10:15 - 10:30 AM | Outstanding Abstract Achievement Award Presentation |
| 10:30 - 10:50 AM | Panel Discussion |
| 10:50 - 11:15 AM | Coffee and Networking Break |
| 11:15 - 11:20 AM | Introductory Remarks Kirk Dombrowski, PhD, Vice President for Research, University of Vermont, Vermont |
| 11:20 - 12:00 PM | 'Minute To Win it' Competition Moderators and Judges TBC. See competition instructions for details |
| 12:00 - 1:00 PM | Mentoring / Meet The Faculty Lunch |
Tuesday Afternoon
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All Sessions at the Dudley H. Davis Center, UVM Campus, Grand Maple Ballroom
| Time | Details |
|---|---|
| 1:00 - 2:30 PM | Poster Session #1 |
| Session III: | The Julia Polak Memorial Session on Bioengineering: Lessons from Transplantation Moderators: Harry Karmouty-Quintana, PhD, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, TX Lei Wang, PhD, University Medical Center Groningen, Netherlands |
| 2:30 - 2:55 PM | Featured Presentation: Early Warning signs of Chronic Lung Diseases: New Imaging Modalities to the Rescue Anna Podolanczuk, MD, MS, Weill Cornell, NY |
| 2:55 - 3:20 PM | Featured Presentation: Animal Models for Lung Transplantation Kalpaj Parekh, MBBS, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA |
| 3:20 - 3:45 PM | Featured Presentation: Title TBC Marcelo Cypel, MD, University of Toronto, Canda |
| 3:45 - 4:00 PM | Outstanding Abstract Achievement Award Presentation |
| 4:00 - 4:15 PM | Panel Discussion |
| 4:15 - 4:30 PM | Coffee and Networking Break |
| Session IV: | Careers in Lung Stem Cells, Cell Therapies, and Bioengineering Moderator: Amy Ryan, PhD, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA |
| 4:30 - 5:15 PM | Featured Presentation: Title TBC Darcy Wagner, PhD, McGill University, Canda |
| 5:15 - 6:30 PM | LUNG STEM CELLS, CELL THERAPIES AND BIOENGINEERING PANEL AND NETWORKING Panelists: Patricia Prelock, PhD, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT Enid Neptune, MD, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD |
Wednesday, July 9, Morning Activities
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All Sessions at the Dudley H. Davis Center, UVM Campus, Grand Maple Ballroom
| Time | Details |
|---|---|
| 7:30 - 8:30 AM | Breakfast and Breakfast Session II: What Funders are Looking For (or How to Get Your Grant) Moderator: Claudia Loebel, PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI Panelist: Katherine Tuggle, PhD, The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation |
| Session V: | Lung Extracellular Matrix and Matrix-Based Therapies Moderators: Janette Burgess, PhD, University Medical Centre Groningen, Netherlands René Girard, MSc, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, TX |
| 8:30 - 8:55 AM | Featured Presentation: Novel Approaches for Visualizing Cell-Matrix Mechanical Interactions Apeksha Shapeti, PhD, KU Leuven, Belgium |
| 8:55 - 9:20 AM | Featured Presentation: ECM Remodeling in the Vascular System and the Role of Soluble ECM Fragments Grazyna Kwapiszewska, PhD, Medical University of Graz/Institute for Lung Health, Giessen, Germany |
| 9:20 - 9:45 AM | Featured Presentation: Tissue Engineered Avatars for Regenerative Medicine and Cancer Research Mary (Cindy) Farach-Carson, PhD, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX |
| 9:45 - 10:00 AM | Outstanding Abstract Achievement Award Presentation |
| 10:00 - 10:20 AM | Panel Discussion |
| 10:20 - 10:50 AM | Coffee and Networking Break |
| Session VI: | Patient Access to Stem Cell-Based Therapies Co-sponsored by the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT) Moderator: Laertis Ikonomou, PhD, University at Buffalo, NY, Chair of the ISCT Committee on the Ethics of Cell and Gene Therapy |
| 10:50 - 11:00 AM | Introduction to the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy (ISCT) Laertis Ikonomou, PhD, University at Buffalo, NY |
| 11:00 - 11:20 AM | Featured Presentation: The Regulatory Foundation to Protect Patients from Stem Cell Fraud Bambi Grilley, B.S., Baylor College of Medicine, Baylor, TX |
| 11:20 - 11:40 AM | Featured Presentation: Prosecuting a Stem Cell Clinic: Lessons Learned Mark Alonzo, JD, Vinson Law, Tampa, FL |
| 11:40 - 12:00 PM | Panel Discussion |
| 12:00 - 1:00 PM | Lunch |
Wednesday Afternoon
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All Sessions at the Dudley H. Davis Center, UVM Campus, Grand Maple Ballroom
| Time | Details |
|---|---|
| 1:00 - 2:30 PM | Poster Session #2 |
| 2:30 - 2:40 PM | Coffee and Networking Break |
| Session VII: | Immune Regulation of Lung Regeneration Moderators: Amy Ryan, PhD, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA Sarah Moore, MD, Mount Sinai, NY |
| 2:45 - 3:10 PM | Featured Presentation: The Lymphatic Vasculature in Lung Homeostasis and Disease TBC |
| 3:10 - 3:35 PM | Featured Presentation: Intercellular Communication Between Immune Cells and the Epithelium in Alveolar Repair Ana Pardo-Saganta, PhD, Justus Liebig University, Germany |
| 3:35 - 4:00 PM | Featured Presentation: Immune Cell Regulation of Terminal Bronchiole Remodeling Tillie-Louise Hackett, PhD, University of British Columbia, Canda |
| 4:00 - 4:15 PM | Outstanding Abstract Achievement Award Presentation |
| 4:15 - 4:35 PM | Panel Discussion |
| 4:40 - 5:20 PM | Buses |
| 6:00 PM | Dinner Cruise on Lake Champlain and Award Ceremony (Cruise boards from 6:00-6:15 and departs promptly at 6:30pm.) |
| 9:00 PM | Cruise disembarks (Please advise UVM in advance if you will need transportation back to the hotel following the cruise. The distance to walk is about two blocks uphill.) |
Thursday, July 10, Morning Activities
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All Sessions at the Dudley H. Davis Center, UVM Campus, Grand Maple Ballroom
| Time | Details |
|---|---|
| 7:30 - 8:30 AM | Breakfast and Breakfast Session III: Transitioning to Independence (or How to Start Your Lab) Moderator: Amy Ryan, PhD, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA Panelists: Ruobing Wang, MD, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA Thomas Lynch, PhD, Nationwide Children's Hospital, OH Sinem Koc Gunel, MD, University of Frankfurt, Germany |
| Session VIII: | Physics and Engineering Principles in Lung Biology Moderator: Jaime Hook, MD, Mount Sinai, NY |
| 8:30 - 8:55 AM | Featured Presentation: Title TBC Pankaj Mehta, PhD, Boston University, Boston, MA |
| 8:55 - 9:20 AM | Featured Presentation: Lung Branching Morphogenesis: A Physics-Based Perspective Uduak George, PhD, San Diego State University, CA |
| 9:20 - 9:45 AM | Featured Presentation: Title TBC Bela Suki, PhD, Boston University, Boston, MA |
| 9:45 - 10:00 AM | Outstanding Abstract Achievement Award Presentation |
| 10:00 - 10:15 AM | Panel Discussion |
| 10:15 - 10:35 AM | Coffee, Networking Break and Group Photo |
| Session IX: | The Darwin Prokop Memorial Session on Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Moderator: Anna Krasnodembskaya, PhD, Queen’s University, Belfast, United Kingdom |
| 10:35 - 11:00 AM | Featured Presentation: GMP grade MSC EVs as a Therapy for Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: Large-Scale Manufacturing and Mechanisms of Action Michela Pozzobon, PhD, University of Padova, Italy |
| 11:00 - 11:25 AM | Featured Presentation: Title TBC Duncan Stewart, MD, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Canda |
| 11:25 - 11:50 AM | Featured Presentation: MSC Mitochondrial Transplantation as a Novel Therapeutic Approach for Vascular Cell Therapy Juan Melero-Martin, PhD, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA |
| 11:50 - 12:05 PM | Outstanding Abstract Achievement Award Presentation |
| 12:05 - 12:20 | Panel Discussion |
| 12:20 - 1:00 PM | Lunch |
Thursday Afternoon
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All Sessions at the Dudley H. Davis Center, UVM Campus, Grand Maple Ballroom
| Time | Details |
|---|---|
| Session X: | iPSC Models of Lung Health and Disease Moderator: Ruth Olmer, PhD, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany |
| 1:00 - 1:25 PM | Featured Presentation: Title TBC Killian Hurley, MB BCh BAO, PhD, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Ireland |
| 1:25 - 1:50 PM | Featured Presentation: Title TBC Ruobing Wang, MD, PhD, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA |
| 1:50 - 2:15 PM | Featured Presentation: iPSC Models of Airway Disease for Discovery and Therapy Finn Hawkins, MBBCh, Boston University, Boston, MA |
| 2:15 - 2:30 PM | Outstanding Abstract Achievement Award Presentation |
| 2:30 - 2:45 PM | Panel Discussion |
| 2:45 - 3:00 PM | Coffee and Networking Break |
| Session XI: | Concluding Discussion Moderator: Daniel J. Weiss, MD, PhD, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT |
| 3:00 - 4:00 PM | Open Discussion - Feedback, Priority Setting and Recommendations |
Course Directors and Faculty
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| Faculty and Organizing Committees: | ||
|---|---|---|
Conference Co-Chairs | ||
University College | 
Associate Professor, University of Iowa | 
Professor |
| Executive Committee Continued | |
|---|---|
| Vice Chair | Claudia Loebel, PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI |
| Emeritus Chair | Darcy Wagner, PhD, Lund University, Sweden (2017-2019) |
Senior Organizing Committee | |
| Janette Burgess, PhD, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, NL | Harry Karmouty-Quintana, PhD, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX |
| Laertis Ikonomou, PhD, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NJ | Anna Krasnodembskaya, PhD, Queen’s University, Belfast, United Kingdom |
| Jaime Hook, MD, Mount Sinai, New York, NY | Ruth Olmer, PhD, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany |
| Jaymin Kathiriya, PhD, Mount Sinai, New York, NY | Laure-Emmanuelle Zaragosi , PhD, Université Côte d'Azur, Sophia-Antipolis, France |
Junior Organizing Committee | |
| Sinem Koc-Gūnel, MD University of Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany | |
| Quick Links | ||
|---|---|---|
| Attendee Registration | Presentations and Competition | Conference Home |