Priorities for our Future

As I begin my term as President of the ISSCR, I am honored to serve this dynamic and forward-looking global community of stem cell researchers, clinicians, and innovators. This year marks the final phase of our 2022–2025 strategic framework, which has guided our efforts around four central goals:

1. Integrating the Board and Committees and Improving Communications

2. Expanding Scientific Programming from the Bottom Up

3. Bridging Basic Research and Clinical Translation

4. Becoming a Truly Inclusive Society

In the year ahead, I intend not only to complete these goals but also to critically reflect on the progress we’ve made. What worked well? What challenges remain? And how can these insights guide our vision for the next strategic cycle? These four pillars remain deeply relevant and will continue to shape the ISSCR’s direction in the coming years.

At the same time, I would like to focus my presidency on several complementary priorities that I believe are essential to the Society’s continued impact and growth.

Toward a Successful ISSCR 2026

A key responsibility in my term is ensuring the success of the ISSCR 2026 Annual Meeting. I aim to work with the 2026 Annual Meeting Program Committee to create a compelling scientific program that appeals to a broad international audience, increases participation, and raises visibility. I am also committed to strengthening all of our scientific conferences, including AI and Biology: Accelerating Discovery and Therapies in Seattle, PSC-Derived Therapies Symposium in Boston, and the Summit on Access and Affordability in Cell and Gene Therapies in Los Angeles. For all of our meetings and events, we strive to provide opportunities for young investigators to present their work.,

Strengthening the Foundation: Committees and Strategic Initiatives

Our 12 ISSCR committees are the engine of many of our core initiatives — from continuing medical education, the Best Practices for Developing PSC-derived Therapies, and basic research standards to ethics and clinical guidelines. This year, I propose synthesizing committee outputs into a white paper that articulates ISSCR’s positions on key issues such as pluripotent stem cell applications, translational barriers, and evolving ethical concerns. This collective voice will reinforce the ISSCR’s position as a leading global voice for our field.

In particular, I believe we must strengthen our engagement with ethical dimensions of stem cell research, including emerging topics such as embryo models, human-animal chimeras, genome editing, and commercialization. By fostering robust dialogue across cultures and disciplines, we can help shape global consensus and responsible innovation.

Deepening Patient Engagement

As stem cell-based interventions move closer to the clinic, it is vital that we expand our partnerships with patient advocacy groups. These communities are not only beneficiaries of translational success — they are critical collaborators in defining meaningful outcomes, shaping regulatory priorities, and ensuring equitable access. I will prioritize creating stronger channels of communication and collaboration between ISSCR and patient advocates.

The Disease Model Consortium and the Future of Preclinical Science

We have recently launched a Disease Modeling Consortium, an initiative with profound potential. In alignment with regulatory trends such as the FDA’s support for reducing animal testing, this effort will explore how AI, organoids, and advanced in vitro models can drive innovation in drug discovery and toxicology. The ISSCR is well-positioned to lead this global conversation and identify the technical, infrastructural, and collaborative resources needed for the next generation of preclinical science.

Keeping Pace with Transformative Technologies

Stem cell science is advancing rapidly, fueled by technologies including AI, single-cell multiomics, organoid biology, embryo models, chemical genetics, epigenome editing, and engineered cell therapies like CAR-T. To stay ahead, the ISSCR must expand its reach to new scientific communities and ensure we are a welcoming and supportive home for interdisciplinary innovation.

Global Inclusion and Expansion

Diversity and inclusion remain core values of the ISSCR. Our current membership is geographically balanced — 32% in North America, 32% in Asia, and 31% in Europe — and we are actively working to expand engagement in regions such as Oceania, South America, and Africa. We will continue building bridges across continents, career stages, and cultures, recognizing that the future of stem cell science is inherently global.

Together with you — our members, partners, and colleagues — I am committed to driving the ISSCR forward as a scientific leader, ethical standard-bearer, and global catalyst for stem cell research and its applications. Let us work together to realize the enormous promise of this field, for science, and for society.

Hideyuki