our impact

The word “stem cell” is more than 150 years old. And in a single generation, stem cell science has become the foundation of an entire discipline of medicine and biological understanding.

But scientific progress requires more than discovery. It requires guidance that crosses borders, advocacy that aligns hope with clinical reality, an established body of scientific evidence, stewardship of the next generation, and a place the field can challenge and refine its thinking before taking it to the world.

This is the work of the ISSCR.

  • 1. Where the field hears it first.

    In July 2026, three separate Parkinson’s disease cell therapy programs reported clinical results at the ISSCR Annual Meeting. One had met its primary endpoint, with twelve-month data published in Nature Medicine the same day. The work traced back 40 years, to the first attempts in Lund, Sweden to replace the neurons that Parkinson’s destroys.

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  • 2. National frameworks built on the work of the ISSCR.

    When the United Kingdom drafted the world’s first code of practice for stem cell-based embryo models in 2024, it acknowledged building its foundation on the ISSCR Guidelines and committed to keeping future versions aligned. Three years earlier, the ISSCR Guidelines had called for exactly this kind of national oversight.

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  • 3. Speaking when it matters.

    In January 2026, the NIH ended federal support for research using human fetal tissue, research that has underpinned vaccine development and the study of human development for nearly a century. The ISSCR objected publicly and urged reconsideration. Nature and Science both carried the Society's position.

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  • 4. The standard institutions use.

    The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, reviewing how neural organoids and chimeras should be governed, observed that the ISSCR Guidelines are widely followed by the institutions conducting this research. Not a claim the Society made—a finding by an independent body of the highest standing.

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  • 5. Building the mechanisms of oversight.

    The first ISSCR Guidelines published in 2006 proposed that research institutions establish dedicated stem cell oversight committees. Universities built them. Two decades later, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, Washington, Miami and institutions worldwide still run them and cite the ISSCR Guidelines in their governing policy. 5/10.

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  • 6. Defending the science in court.

    In 2024, a lower court in the U.S. ruled that the FDA could not regulate certain stem cell products. Left standing, the decision would have opened the door to unproven and unregulated stem cell therapies nationwide. The ISSCR filed a brief putting the science before the appeals court. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court decision, and the FDA’s authority held.

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  • 7. The next generation, already at the table.

    At the ISSCR, students and postdoctoral researchers design and host sessions at the Annual Meeting, serve on the editorial team of Stem Cell Reports, and sit on the Public Policy Committee. Programming the meeting, editing the journal, and establishing public policy are three of the ISSCR’s most impactful activities.

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  • 8. A seat where the rules are written.

    The ISSCR meets formally with the agencies that regulate this field, including the UK's MHRA, the European Medicines Agency, Japan's PMDA, South Korea's MFDS, and files comment with the FDA and with regulators in India and China. Few scientific societies hold that standing in even one jurisdiction.

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  • 9. Standing between patients and false promises.

    Unproven stem cell treatments are marketed to desperate people every day. The ISSCR publishes plain-language resources to help patients and families distinguish real science from false, unsubstantiated claims. Harvard and the European Union’s own gene therapy consortium send their audiences to read them.

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  • 10. From what is permitted to how it is done.

    In 2025 the ISSCR published a roadmap for developing a PSC stem cell therapy that covers cell line selection through drug product manufacturing, capturing key information and timelines for 9 regulatory jurisdictions worldwide. Manufacturing is one of the field’s most difficult challenges. This resource is aimed at guiding the journey.

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  • 11. Advancing clinical readiness.

    As stem cell-based therapies move closer to clinical practice, the ISSCR is helping ensure clinicians are ready. Through globally accessible continuing education jointly provided by Harvard Medical School, including Stem Cell Medicine: From Scientific Research to Patient Care and Stem Cell Medicine: Parkinson’s Disease, the ISSCR equips healthcare professionals with the knowledge to understand emerging therapies, evaluate evidence, navigate clinical trials, and guide patients toward safe, evidence-based care.

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  • 12. Advancing drug development models.

    The ISSCR is helping shape the future of drug discovery and development by advancing the responsible integration of stem cell-based models alongside informative animal models. By bringing together academic, industry, and regulatory leaders worldwide, the Society is building the standards, evidence, and collaborative infrastructure needed to accelerate adoption and establish these models as a trusted part of the emerging new approach methodologies (NAMs) landscape.

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on the horizon

Emerging therapies, at scale.

Several stem cell-derived therapies have reached patients, and more are in clinical trials. Others depend on this science without carrying its name. For example, many gene therapies act by correcting a gene within a stem cell that is then returned to the patient.

Most conditions that could be addressed this way have no candidate therapy, and in many, the underlying biology remains unresolved. This applies to common diseases and to rare disorders, where small patient populations weaken the case for investment. Therapies that do succeed must still be manufactured consistently, distributed affordably, and reimbursed within regulatory and payment systems designed for small-molecule drugs.

Better models, for all of medicine.

Stem cell-derived systems are becoming sufficiently predictive of human biology to inform decisions. The implications extend well beyond this field: most drug candidates fail late in development, at substantial cost, because the models used to evaluate them do not reflect human physiology. More predictive human models could shorten development timelines and reduce costs across pharmaceutical research, including for conditions unrelated to stem cell science.

Discovery, accelerating.

Imaging that resolves single cells within living tissue. Sequencing that characterizes millions of them simultaneously. Computational models and machine learning that identify structure in datasets beyond human interpretation. Individually, each represents an improved instrument of research. In combination, they are altering both the rate at which the field advances and the questions it is able to pose. Work that once required a decade now takes a year, and questions that could not previously be formulated are becoming tractable.

our work

Progress depends on more than the science. New capabilities require frameworks to govern them, evidence before the field will rely on them, clinicians and patients equipped to evaluate them, and scientists to carry the work forward. The ISSCR organizes its work around these requirements, through four programs: Foresight & Guidance, Disease Models & Drug Discovery, Clinical Readiness & Education, and Future of the Field.

about ISSCR

Across more than 80 countries, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) is the preeminent global, cross-disciplinary, science-based organization dedicated to advancing stem cell research and its translation to medicine.