Translational Approaches in Trophoblast Stem Cell Research and Pregnancy Health

We are delighted to invite you to join us at our international symposium on Stem Cell Biology and Pregnancy Research, bringing together leading experts in the field, and students to discuss groundbreaking advances and share insights in the field of pregnancy research and developmental biology.

Symposium Schedule Highlights

Day 1 – Monday, 15.7.2024: Stem Cell Biology

10:30 – Welcome Address
10:40 – Keynote: Trophoblast subtypes and the etiology of preeclampsia by Prof. Berthold Huppertz
14:00 – Keynote: Cell fate epigenetics in early development by Prof. Jose Polo

Full programm: Day 1

Basic Science

Time				Title of Talk	Speaker
10:30				Welcome	Dr Olivia Nonn
10:40	Keynote			Trophoblast subtypes and the etiology of preeclampsia	Prof Berthold Huppertz
11:10				Differentiation pathways in early trophoblast development	Dr Sandra Haider
11:40	Break
11:55				Temporal effects of BMP4 on mouse embryonic and extraembryonic development	Dr Markus Mittnenzweig
12:30	Lunch Break
14:00	Keynote			Cell fate epigenetics in early development	Prof Jose Polo
15:00	Break
15:15				Cell-segmentation free analysis of spatial transcriptomics data	Dr Naveed Ishaque
15:45	Student session			Mapping the Wnt pathway in mouse placental development	Georgia Wong
				Characterization of TGFb signaling and mechanotransduction as potential inducers of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in human trophoblast cells	Sophia Mähr
			Derivation of cynomolgus monkey induced trophoblast stem cells via fibroblast reprogramming			Elly Deirdre Walters
16:15	Coffee break
16:50	Student session			Spatial proteomics – an insight into novel methods	Jose Nimo
				Trophoblast organoid snRNA-seq models	Sunhild Hartmann
17:10	End Day 1

Day 2 – Tuesday, 16.7.2024: Clinical Translational Research in Pregnancy

10:10 – Cardio-Obstetrics - understanding the increased longterm cardiovascular risk in preeclamptic mothers by Prof. Ralf Dechend
11:30 – Keynote: Clinical trials evaluating drugs to treat preeclampsia: moving beyond small molecules by Prof. Stephen Tong

Full programm: Day 2

Clinical Translational Research in Pregnancy

Time		Title of Talk	Speaker
10:10		Cardio-Obstetrics - understanding the increased longterm cardiovascular risk in preeclamptic mothers	Prof. Ralf Dechend
10:30		Multi-omics approaches in preeclampsia and placenta research	Dr Olivia Nonn
10:50		The endothelium as a target for intervention in pregnancies complicated by placenta originated disorders	Prof Tanja Groten
11:20	Break 10min
11:30	Keynote	Clinical trials evaluating drugs to treat preeclampsia: moving beyond small molecules	Prof Stephen Tong
12:30	Lunch Break
14:00		Biomarker discovery for pregnancy complications	Prof Tu’uhevaha Kaitu’u-Lino
14:30		Pregnancy therapeutic development	Prof Natalie Hannan
15:00		Prenatal Diagnostic of Preeclampsia by PUFA-Metabolites	Dr Florian Herse
15:30		HyperDiP – a translational study in pregnancy	Dr Nadine Haase + Dr Pilar Palmrich
16:00	Coffee Break
16:30		PreFree -  Preeclampsia prediction and remote monitoring	Prof Verlohren / Dr Hackelöer
17:00	Student session	Smoking in pregancy - a muti-omics study in early pregnancy	Daniela Valdes
		THBS1 and CST6 as biomarkers in preeclampsia	Stefan Botha

Meet Our Keynote Speakers

Prof. Stephen Tong
Prof. Tong is a clinician-scientist and specialist obstetrician at The Mercy Hospital for Women and The University of Melbourne. He is renowned for his translational research in developing new diagnostics and treatments for pregnancy complications such as ectopic pregnancy and preeclampsia. Prof. Tong's work has led to numerous international clinical trials, and he has published over 180 papers in top-tier journals including Lancet and Nature Communications.

Prof. Jose Polo
Dr. Polo is a leading epigeneticist at Monash University, exploring the transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms that govern pluripotency and reprogramming of somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. 

His pioneering research has significant implications for regenerative medicine and therapeutic developments, which has been published in high-impact journals such as Cell and Nature. 

Prof. Polo has a rich academic background, having conducted groundbreaking research at Harvard University before joining Monash.