ISSCR Travel Awards

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Students and postdocs who submit abstracts for the ISSCR Annual Meeting can be considered for a travel award to offset the costs of traveling to the meeting. Earning this award often is the difference-maker that allows a young scientist to attend the meeting. Let’s learn more about the science of these next gen researchers in their own words.

Travel Award selections are made by the ISSCR Membership and International Outreach Committee (MIOC) based on the strength of the abstracts from a pool of submitters who select to be considered for the award. To give even more students the opportunity to attend the ISSCR Annual Meeting, consider giving to the Travel Award Fund.

A woman in a black shirt and green pants standing in a laboratory surrounded by lab equipment and supplies, smiling with arms crossed.

Raquel Fueyo
USA

“This award allowed me to partially cover the costs of attending this meeting, which from the United States would have been too expensive to do otherwise. This year it was crucial for me to attend and give a talk, as I am currently searching for faculty positions.”

  • This award allowed me to partially cover the costs of attending this meeting, which from the United States would have been too expensive to do otherwise. This year it was crucial for me to attend and give a talk, as I am currently searching for faculty positions.

    Attending ISSCR allowed me to establish connections with institutes that showed interest in potentially hiring me as a principal investigator. This made a big difference in my job search and I am profoundly grateful for it! Furthermore, showcasing my work brought me fascinating conversations with other leaders in the field, that I now consider within my network of candidate collaborators. Finally, the science that was presented in the meeting was superb and I could return to my lab with updated knowledge in the stem cell field.

Young woman with black hair, glasses, and hoop earrings sitting in a restaurant with brick walls and black picture frames, wearing a green leather jacket and red top.

Olivia Majhi
India

“Attending ISSCR 2024 in person enabled me to connect with global experts and most significantly led to my selection for the Early Career Advisory Committee, where I have the honor of representing my country, India. This award opened doors to invaluable learning, networking, and mentorship opportunities I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

  • Imagine cells in our body as being part of a big orchestra, where instead of music notes, they use signals to “talk” to each other and keep everything working smoothly. My research focuses on one particular type of signal, called ROS or Reactive Oxygen Species, which are molecules that act like little messengers between cells.

    Until now, we mostly thought ROS worked within a single cell to control its own functions. But we’ve found that in certain stem cell types in fruit flies, ROS molecules are actually helping neighboring cells communicate and make decisions together.

    Questions am trying to answer: The main question I’m exploring is how ROS, previously seen mostly as troublemakers inside cells, actually help different types of cells communicate and regulate each other. Specifically, I want to understand how ROS levels influence two types of stem cells in fruit flies—Germline Stem Cells (GSCs) and Cystic Stem Cells (CySCs). We’re trying to figure out why CySCs have higher ROS levels than GSCs and how this affects their interactions, particularly how CySCs help control ROS levels in GSCs and influence their ability to remain stem cells or transform into other cell types.

    I hope to learn more about the fine balance of ROS in stem cell environments and how cells actively manage each other’s ROS levels to stay healthy. If we can unlock the mechanics of ROS as messengers, it may offer insights into slowing aging, improving regeneration, and even targeting cancer cells that have learned to hide from these signals.

    I have always been fascinated by how cells communicate and coordinate complex actions that allow us to grow, heal and live. The idea that cells are not just passive entities but are constantly communicating with each other, adapting and making decisions together is incredible. It is an exciting way to think about cellular behavior and this could provide entirely new ways to treat or even prevent diseases.

    The most surprising finding was that CySCs having high ROS levels, can influence the ROS levels in neighboring GSCs, effectively acting like guardians that help GSCs stay in their “stem cell” state. I didn’t expect that one type of stem cell would play such a protective role over another by managing ROS levels. Also, seeing ROS, which we usually associate with cell damage, actually working as a positive communication signal between cells was a revelation. It made me realize that there is so much more complexity to how cells interact than we previously thought, and ROS might be one of the crucial factor we need to rethink when it comes to stem cell stability and health.

    Receiving the ISSCR Travel Award for ISSCR 2024 was extremely necessary as it enabled my attendance and participation in the conference. Attending ISSCR 2024 in person enabled me to connect with global experts and most significantly led to my selection for the Early Career Advisory Committee, where I have the honor of representing my country, India. This award opened doors to invaluable learning, networking, and mentorship opportunities I wouldn’t have had otherwise. I am incredibly grateful for all these and the encouragement it represents.

A woman in a white lab coat standing with arms crossed, smiling, in front of a sign for the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy.

Michela Milani
Italy

“The Travel Award therefore allowed me to present my PhD work, without straining my new lab's budget excessively.”

  • My research line focuses on using genes as next-generation drug. We do this by turning foes into friends. In particular, we use viral-derived vectors devoid of all their harmful information that are replaced with the corrected sequence of a gene of interest, that is mutated (i.e. contains errors) inside the cells of a person affected by a genetic disease. We directly administer this viral-derived vectors, called lentiviral vectors, into the circulation and traveling through the blood they can reach the cells of interest. In my team we are interested in delivering corrected gene to the liver and/or to hematopoietic stem cells, in order to potentially cure a number of systemic genetic disorders. This unique job gives me the opportunity to continuously learn, to be curiosity-driven and to find potential cures for devastating diseases. It is highly demanding, but highly rewarding!

    During my PhD, I primarily worked with human embryos at blastocyst stage. After fertilization of the egg, the embryo needs to implant into the uterus to ensure survival. This process requires the formation of the blastocysts which contains cells, which will later mediate the interaction with the maternal environment (placenta and yolk sac), while also maintaining cells which will form the actual fetus. My PhD work investigated how cells communicate with one another to decide who does which job.

    The exact question I tried to answer was whether NODAL signaling was involved with initiation and maintenance of the human epiblast. Previous research, especially based on pluripotent stem cells which function as an in vitro model, suggested that NODAL signaling would be required to maintain expression of a pluripotency-associated transcription factor, NANOG.

    We were the first to characterize NODAL signaling activity in human embryos using immunofluorescence and we systematically explored three small-molecule drugs to inhibit it. This allowed us to reconcile conflicting data on the effects of NODAL signaling inhibition in human embryos from previous publications.

    To our surprise we found that NODAL signaling is active throughout the human epiblast, but the initiation and maintenance of the human epiblast is independent of it. This indicates a difference between the regulation of human pluripotency in the embryo and in current human embryonic stem cell lines.

    The ISSCR Travel Award was enormously important for me. I had already moved to a new lab to pursue my postdoc but wanted to seize the chance of participating in my first ever ISSCR conference. I was grateful to my new PI enabled me to attend this conference even though I was presenting previous work. The Travel Award therefore allowed me to present my PhD work, without straining my new lab's budget excessively.

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Michael Milevskiy
Australia

“For me, science is about delving deep. Carving out a niche into unknown knowledge and pushing the boundaries.”

  • I am aiming to understand the cells that cause breast cancer. Within the breast there are a pool of progenitors which we believe give rise to the majority of breast tumors. I work to understand their normal development, how they proliferate, differentiate and maintain homeostasis in the mammary gland. I am hoping to show that molecular features of these progenitors make them susceptible to cancer formation.

    For me, science is about delving deep. Carving out a niche into unknown knowledge and pushing the boundaries. This focus and specialization allows us to discover and share this knowledge with others to collaborate and push science even further. I find that this can lead to self-doubt at times - is what I am doing actually important and does anyone care about what I do? Going to a conference to share your work, having people come to my posters, ask insightful questions, be genuinely interested in my work. That validates what I do. Conference attendance is vital and being rewarded from ISSCR for my work, recognizing its values and contributing to the cost of travel from Australia, gives me perspective on my science and reinvigorates my passion to continue what I do.

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Shafiqa Naeem Rajput
Pakistan

“This experience was crucial for my professional development and for fostering collaborations that could advance my research further.”

  • My research focuses on expanding stem cells derived from human umbilical cords, aiming to develop a scalable strategy for their production. I’m investigating methods to increase both the yield and quality of these cells, which have significant potential in treating various diseases. The strategy applied involves re-culturing these human umbilical cord for expansion of stem cells for future autologous and allogeneic transplantation with less rigorous HLA typing, making them more accessible. I was drawn to this field by the promise of regenerative medicine, and I've been surprised by the variability in umbilical cord tissue quality, which affects our expansion processes. Ultimately, I hope to enhance the accessibility of these valuable stem cells for future medical therapies.

    Earning a Travel Award for ISSCR 2024 was a significant honor for me. It recognized the hard work and dedication I had put into my research and provided an invaluable opportunity to share my findings with leading experts in the field. Attending the conference allowed me to network with peers, gain insights from other presentations, and receive feedback that helped refine my work. This experience was crucial for my professional development and for fostering collaborations that could advance my research further.

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Jyothi Nair
India

“The travel award was deeply meaningful to me, as it enabled my first international trip, which was made possible solely through the travel grant. Beyond the financial support, I regard this award as the most significant achievement I have received in my field to date.”

  • My research focused on gaining a fundamental understanding of pathways involved in neural stem cell maintenance. Our laboratory primarily investigated the evolutionarily conserved Notch signaling pathway and its downstream target, Hes1. Hes1 is an essential transcription factor with a central role in maintaining and differentiating stem cells. Conventionally, Hes1 activation has been associated with the canonical Notch signaling pathway. Along with other reports, we found the existence of Notch-independent Hes1(NIHes1) activation in mouse neocortex. To explore potential activators of NIHes1, we conducted a reverse ChIP assay of its promoter, followed by mass spectrometric analysis, which identified specific transcription factors capable of binding to the NIHes1 promoter. Additionally, we demonstrated the critical role of NIHes1 in early developmental stages using a conditional knockout mouse model. Further investigation is needed to unravel the complexities involved in early developmental processes.

    The travel award was deeply meaningful to me, as it enabled my first international trip, which was made possible solely through the travel grant. Beyond the financial support, I regard this award as the most significant achievement I have received in my field to date.

A male scientist or researcher in a lab at Boston Children's Hospital, wearing a white lab coat, glasses, standing with arms crossed in a laboratory filled with scientific equipment and supplies.

Ran Jing
USA

“What surprised me most about my research is how complex the process of T cell development is, even in a lab setting. While we’ve made significant progress, the cells don’t always behave the way we expect, and small changes in the environment can lead to vastly different outcomes. It reinforces my commitment to pushing the boundaries of stem cell research and advancing new therapeutic approaches.”

  • When I describe my research to friends or family, I often say that I'm working on finding new ways to create immune cells from stem cells, which could one day help fight diseases like cancer. Specifically, I use human pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to grow T cells, a type of white blood cell that plays a key role in our immune system. These lab-grown T cells could potentially be used for therapies, making it easier to provide treatments for people who might need immune cell transplants. Instead of relying on donor cells, we're learning how to make them in the lab using stem cells.

    The big question I’m trying to answer is how we can efficiently turn iPSCs into fully functional, mature immune cells, specifically T cells. We know that T cells are essential for immune responses but making them from stem cells has proven tricky—sometimes the cells aren’t as mature as we’d like them to be. I’m also interested in how we can engineer these lab-made T cells to be even more effective than natural ones, especially in treating diseases like cancer. Understanding these mechanisms can open doors to new therapies that are "off-the-shelf," meaning they can be mass-produced and available whenever needed.

    I hope to learn more about the signals and factors that guide stem cells to become specialized immune cells. By uncovering these details, we can improve how we generate T cells in the lab and make them more reliable and potent for therapies. This area of research excites me because it combines cutting-edge stem cell biology with practical applications that could change the way we treat diseases like cancer and immune deficiencies. The potential to provide new, life-saving treatments to people drew me to this field.

    What surprised me most about my research is how complex the process of T cell development is, even in a lab setting. While we’ve made significant progress, the cells don’t always behave the way we expect, and small changes in the environment can lead to vastly different outcomes. But this complexity is also what makes the research so fascinating—there’s always more to learn and more ways to refine our approaches.

    Earning the travel award to attend the ISSCR annual meeting in Hamburg, Germany, is an incredible honor for me. It not only recognizes the significance of my research but also provides me with a unique opportunity to connect with global leaders in stem cell science. This award allows me to share my work, gain valuable feedback, and be inspired by the latest advances in the field. It reinforces my commitment to pushing the boundaries of stem cell research and advancing new therapeutic approaches.