MCELS: Advances in Basic Research and Translational Opportunities

March 26-28, 2025 | OMNI Hilton Head Resort

One of the grand challenges facing our scientific community is to develop the capability to design, engineer and produce complex, multi-cellular engineered living systems (M-CELS).

These systems might arise from guided differentiation of a cluster of pluripotent stem cells, drawing upon the capabilities to apply chemical, physical, or electrical cues to direct co-differentiation, as well as the intrinsic, natural capabilities of cell populations to produce functional interactions through emergence. Or they can be engineered, by first producing a high-level conceptual design, leading to the specification of components consisting of cell clusters, each comprised of phenotypically distinct cell types. This symposium will bring together experts from a variety of domains, including developmental biology, microphysiological systems, synthetic biology, tissue engineering, biobots, and computational modeling. The MCEL series of meetings has evolved into a hallmark global event that delves into the latest advancements and applications in multi-cellular biological systems and related fields.

CONTACT:
Darlene Ray
MCELS2025@mit.edu


ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:

Jonathan Babb (MIT)
Mo Ebrahimkhani (University of Pittsburgh)
Roger Kamm (MIT)
Melissa Kemp (Georgia Institute of Technology)
Jennifer Lewis (Harvard University)
Milica Radisic (University of Toronto)
Rashmi Mohanty (MIT)
Nuria Montserrat (IBEC)
Taher Saif (UIUC)
Ron Weiss (MIT)


AGENDA


DAY 1, Room Palmetto Ballroom

Session
Speaker
Talk Title
9:00 – 9:45 Keynote Mark Skyler-Scott
Session 1 Advanced technologies for engineering multicellular living systems
9:45 – 10:15 Speaker 1 Thomas Hartung
10:15 – 10:45 Speaker 2 Zev Gartner
10:45 – 11:00 Coffee break
Session 2 From organoids to organs
11:00 – 11:30 Speaker 1 Takanori Takebe
11:30 – 12:00 Speaker 2 Jennifer Lewis
12:00 – 12:15 Short talks/Sponsor talks-1
12:15 – 12:30 Short talks/Sponsor talks-2
12:30 – 1:45 Lunch and poster session
Session 3 Self-organization of tissues & modeling tissue organization
1:45 – 2:15 Speaker 1 Melissa Lambeth Kemp
2:15 – 2:45 Speaker 2 James Sharpe
2:45 – 3:00 Short talks/Sponsor talks-1
3:00 – 3:15 Short talks/Sponsor talks-2
3:15 – 3:45 Coffee break
Session 4 In vitro vascular systems
3:45 – 4:15 Speaker 1 Manu Platt
4:15 – 4:45 Speaker 2 Christopher Hughes
4:15 – 5:00 Short talks/Sponsor talks-1
4:45 – 5:15 Short talks/Sponsor talks-2
5:15 – 6:00 DEI Career Panel
6:00 – Dinner

DAY 2, Room Palmetto Ballroom

Session
Speaker
Talk Title
9:00 – 9:45 Keynote (morning) Kimberly Homan
Session 5 Cell and tissue mechanics
9:45 – 10:15 Speaker 1 Valerie Horsley
10:15 – 10:45 Speaker 2 Tracy Hookway
10:45 – 11:00 Coffee break (Room May 1 & 2)
Session 6 Modeling embryogenesis
11:00 – 11:30 Speaker 1 Mo Ebrahimkhani
11:30 – 12:00 Speaker 2 Jianping Fu
12:00 – 12:15 Short talks/Sponsor talks-1
12:15 – 12:30 Short talks/Sponsor talks-2
12:30 – 2:00 Lunch (May 1 & 2) and poster session (Sabal 1 & 2)
2:00 – 2:45 Keynote (afternoon) Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic
2:45 – 3:15 Ethics, Societal Considerations, & Policies Insoo Hyun
3:15 – 3:45 Coffee break (Room May 1 & 2)
Session 8 Disease modeling
3:45 – 4:15 Speaker 1 Milica Radisic
4:15 – 4:45 Speaker 2 Shuichi Takayama
4:45 – 5:00 Short talks/Sponsor talks-1
5:00 – 5:15 Short talks/Sponsor talks-2
5:15 – 5:45 NSF program manager

DAY 3, Room Palmetto Ballroom

Session
Speaker
Talk Title
9:00 – 9:45 Keynote Alysson Muotri
Session 9 In vitro cardiac and skeletal muscle
9:45 – 10:15 Speaker 1 Ritu Raman
10:15 – 10:45 Speaker 2 Oscar Abilez
10:45 – 11:15 Coffee break (Room May 1 & 2)
Session 10 Organ on chip
11:15 – 11:45 Speaker 1 Ankur Singh
11:45 – 12:15 Speaker 2 Linda Griffith
12:15 – 12:30 Short talks/Sponsor talks-1
12:15 – 12:45 Short talks/Sponsor talks-2
Omni Hilton Head Resort
VENUE:

OMNI Hilton Head Resort
Website | Directions | Transportation

IMPORTANT DATES:

Abstract submission: 12/20/2024

Notification of acceptance: 01/15/2025

Early registration: 02/07/2025

Late registration: Onsite

Conference dates: March 26-28, 2025