Poster Presentation at 8th International Conference on Stem Cells and Cancer: Proliferation, Differentiation and Apoptosis - AIIMS, New Delhi, India

The 8th International Conference on Stem Cells and Cancer (ICSCC): Proliferation, Differentiation, and Apoptosis was organized by the International Center for Stem Cells, Cancer and Biotechnology (ICSCCB) at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India. The conference is organized by Dr. Sheo Mohan Singh, Director of the ICSCCB. Co-organizers include Dr. Shilpa Sharma from the AIIMS, Dr. Christian Buske from the Institute of Experimental Cancer Research in Ulm, Germany, and Dr. Stefan K. Bohlander from the University of Auckland in Auckland, New Zealand. I, Prakriti Kandel, participated in this event as a delegate from the Neuroinflammation Research Lab, Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, South Asian University, New Delhi, India. It was my absolute privilege to be sharing my Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Biotechnology dissertation work titled "The role of the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) in the stabilization of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) mRNA" with a wide spectrum of audience amidst brilliant scientists from all over India and abroad. In this article, I have summarized the major highlights from the three-day event held from 20th December 2023 to 22nd December 2023 at JLN Auditorium, AIIMS, New Delhi.

Day 1 - Wednesday, 20th December 2023

Inauguration:

Chief Guest: Prof. D.K. Gupta [Former Prof. and Head, Department of Pediatric Surgery, AIIMS, New Delhi and Former Vice Chancellor, King George's Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow]

Guest of Honor: Prof. M. Srinivas [Director, AIIMS, New Delhi]

Special Guest: Dr. Geeta Jotwani [Scientist-G, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi]

Dignitaries: Dr. S.K. Sarin [President, National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS)], Dr. Umesh Kapil [Secretary, NAMS], Dr. KK Deepak [NAMS], Dr. Sheo Mohan Singh [Director, ICSCCB, New Delhi], Dr. Manish Khanna [President, Indian Stem Cell Study Group (ISCSG)], Dr. Madhan Jeyaraman [Joint Secretary ISCSG), Dr. Ramesh Babu [President, Indian Association of Pediatric Surgeons (IAPS)], Dr Vikesh Agarwal [Secretary, IAPS], Dr. Shilpa Sharma [Chairman, Research and Innovation Pediatric Surgical Society (RIPSS)] and Dr. Sagar Jawale [Secretary, RIPSS], Dr. Alpana Prasad [Chairman, DAPS] and Dr. Prashant Jain [Secretary, DAPS]

Keynote Speech:

• Speaker: Dr. Geeta Jotwani [Scientist-G, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi]
• Title: Regulation of Clinical Research for Cellular and Gene Therapy Products in India
• Context: As a representative of ICMR, she highlights the necessity of understanding national and international ethical guidelines while implementing stem cells for medical use.

Scientific Session 1:

Chair: Dr. Manoj Joshi, Professor, Dept. of Pediatric Surgery, MGM Medical College, Indore, India & Dr. Chabbi Ranu Gupta, Professor, Dept. of Pediatric Surgery, CNBC, Geeta Colony, Delhi, India

Speaker 1: Dr. Subhrajit Biswas, Director & HoI, Amity Institute of Molecular Medicine and Stem Cell Research (AIMMSCR), Amity University, NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh, India

• Title: Targeting the Context-dependent Dynamic Liver Microenvironment During Hepatocellular Carcinoma Progression
• Context: Majorly discussing the dynamic cancer microenvironment, Dr. Biswas focused on a component - survivin, which is responsible for inhibiting apoptosis and can be targeted during cancer therapy.

Speaker 2: Dr. Sujata Mohanty, Professor, Stem Cell Facility (DBT-Centre of Excellence), AIIMS, New Delhi, India

• Title: Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Cellular Biology and Advances in Regenerative Medicine
• Context: Dr. Mohanty is a distinguished researcher who has conducted diverse research in regenerative medicine. Some of her peculiar research is the use of hair follicles to transplant melanocytes on the skin to cure vitiligo, limbal cell transplantation to eyes, the use of fibrin glue to hold stem cells as liquid stem cells are difficult to retain, and the use of scaffold such as chitosan in bone transplantation.

Speaker 3: Dr. Sagar Jawale, Director, Jawale Hospital, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

• Title: Omental pouch and intrapancreatic Stem cell therapy for type 1 diabetes
• Context: Dr. Jawale's mission has been to establish a minimalistic hospital on a low budget where good quality research can be conducted. Jawale Hospital has a lab set up at INR.50,000 where omental pouch and intrapancreatic stem cell therapy is being performed for type 1 diabetes.

Speaker 4: Dr. Deepti Abbey, Assistant Professor, Kusuma School of Biological Sciences, IIT Delhi, New Delhi, India

• Title: Empowering Precision Medicine with Stem Cells-Derived Organoids
• Context: Dr. Abbey is involved in building organoids in the lab with a successful development of the brain with optic eyes in vitro. With an excellent presentation, Dr. Abbey initiated a stirring discussion about the hepatic organoids at the conference.

Scientific Session 2:

Chair: Dr. Sujata Mohanty, Professor, Stem Cell Facility, AIIMS, New Delhi, India

Speaker 1: Dr. Riyaz Ahmad Mir, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry AIIMS, New Delhi, India

• Title: High-Risk Human Papillomavirus Oncoprotein mediated hijacking of PAQOsome lead to abnormal cervical cancer cell proliferation
• Context: Dr. Mir calls attention to PAQOsome which has roles in the assembly of various cellular complexes and its therapeutic roles in treating cancer cases.

Speaker 2: Dr. Saran Kumar, Assistant Professor, Kusuma School of Biological Sciences, IIT Delhi, New Delhi, India

• Title: Beyond Passive Conduit: Tumor Vasculature’s Active Role in Glioblastoma Stemness

Speaker 3: Dr. Shilpa Sharma, Professor, Dept. of Pediatric Surgery, AIIMS, New Delhi, India

• Title: Clinical Application of Stem Cells in Children

Speaker 4: Dr. Sheo Mohan Singh, Director, International Centre for Stem Cells, Cancer and Biotechnology (ICSCCB), New Delhi, India

• Title: Role of Myeloid Transcription Factors and leukemic fusion proteins in the pathogenesis of Leukemic Cancers

Upon commencement of the conference, it became evident to me the remarkable strides India has taken in the realm of research and development. Participating in this conference at AIIMS, New Delhi, is not only a distinct privilege but also a unique chance to witness and actively contribute to the ongoing advancements within the scientific community.

Day 2 - Thursday, 21st December 2023

Scientific Session 1:

Chair: Dr. Ashim Gupta, Professor and Chief Science Officer, South Texas Orthopaedic Research Institute (STORI Inc), Laredo, TEXAS

Speaker 1: Dr. Ravi Kumar Gutti, Professor, Dept. of Biochemistry, University of Hyderabad, India

• Title: Developmental Megakaryocytopoiesis: A Study on Novel Role of Clinically Significant Non-coding RNA in Understanding Neonatal Thrombocytopenia

Speaker 2: Dr. Ranjit Kumar Sahoo, Additional Professor, Dept. of Medical Oncology, IRCH, AIIMS, New Delhi, India

• Title: Cellular therapy in acute GVHD

Speaker 3: Dr. Hemlata Jangir, Department of Laboratory Medicine, JPNATC, AIIMS, New Delhi, India

• Title: Do hair follicles have a role in wound healing?

Speaker 4: Dr. Somesh Gupta, Professor, Department of Dermatology, AIIMS, New Delhi, India

• Title: Cellular therapies in treating Skin lesions

Scientific Session 2:

Chair: Dr. Subhrajit Biswas, Director, Amity Institute of Molecular Medicine and Stem Cell Research (AIMMSCR), NOIDA, UP, India & Dr. Madhan Jeyaraman

Speaker 1: Dr. Megha Patel, Asst. Director of Medical Services, Viecell Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Surat, Gujarat, India

• Title: Subcutaneous and Intravenous Administration of Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Patients with Multiple Foot Ulcers Complicated by Scleroderma

Speaker 2: Dr Anita Dhar, Professor, Department of Surgery, AIIMS, New Delhi, India

• Title: Peripheral arterial disease

Speaker 3: Dr. Sunita Singh, Associate Professor, Dept. of Paediatric Surgery, AIIMS Raebareli, UP, India

• Title: Perinatal stem cell-based therapy in Pediatric Surgery

Speaker 4: Dr. Bharti Mangla, Assistant Professor and Incharge COO, Innovation and Incubation (DIIF) Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, DPSRU, New Delhi, India

• Title: Lipid-based nanocarriers as a Pivotal Delivery Approach in the Treatment of breast cancer

Scientific Session 3:

Chair: Dr. Venkat Iyer, Professor and Head,? Department of Pathology, AIIMS, New Delhi

Speaker 1: Dr. Lavleen Singh, Dept of Pathology, AIIMS, New Delhi, India

• Title: Theranostic implications of cancer stem cells in pediatric solid tumors

Speaker 2: Dr. Sasidhar Manda, Chief Scientific Officer, Apollo Hospitals Educational and Research Foundation, Hyderabad, India

• Title: Unlocking Companion Diagnostics in High-Grade Glioma: Exploring the Differential Expression of SOX2, OLIG2, and ZEB1 in Serum-Derived Extracellular Vesicles and Its Role in Mithramycin Sensitivity

Poster Presentation:

Presenter: Prakriti Kandel, Neuroinflammation Research Lab, Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, South Asian University, New Delhi, India

Title: The role of the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) in the stabilization of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) mRNA

The rationale of the study: To find an alternative pathway to reduce the levels of COX-2 without affecting its homeostatic function.

Day 3 - Friday, 22nd December 2023

Scientific Session 1:

Chair: Dr. Karun Jain & Dr. Naveen Jeyaraman

Speaker 1: Prof. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Epigenetics and Chromatin Biology Group, Advanced Centre for Treatment Research and Education in Cancer, Tata Memorial Centre, Navi Mumbai, India

• Title: Epigenetics of gastric cancer: Their potential implication as biomarker and therapeutic applications

Speaker 2: Prof. Dr. Sanjeev K Waghmare, Tata Memorial Centre – Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

• Title: Epigenetic modification in Sfrp1 activates non-canonical Wnt signaling in human skin cancer stem cells

Speaker 3: Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Assistant Professor and Coordinator Cancer Research Group, Department of Biotechnology, SMVDU, Katra, India

• Title: Role of ANKLE1 in DNA damage and repair

Speaker 4: Dr. Binayak Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Life Sciences, Sharda School of Basic Sciences and Research, Sharda University, G. Noida, U.P, India

• Title: Potential miRNAs to Re-Sensitize Abemaciclib and Palbociclib Resistant Breast Cancer by Aiming at Stem Cell Transcription Factors

Scientific Session 2: Oral Presentation

Chair: Dr. Ravi VR & Dr. Arulkumar Nallakumarasamy

Speaker 1: Ms. Aishwarya Guha, Department of Immunoregulation and Immunodiagnostics, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, 37 Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Road, Bakul Bagan, Kolkata, India

• Title: Tumor-educated platelets (TEPs) promote metastasis in breast cancer by enhancing the aggressiveness of cancer stem cells

Speaker 2: Mr. Khagendra Ghimeray, Neuroinflammation Research Lab, South Asian University, New Delhi, India

• Title: Purinergic P2Y6 receptor antagonists as Potential anti-tumour agents

Speaker 3: Ms. Kiran Kumari, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi Central University Bihar (MGCUB), Motihari, India

• Title: Identification of Candidate Genes Associated with Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) in Cervical Cancer: An In-Silico Study

Speaker 4: Ms. Neha Shree Maurya, Department of Biotechnology, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology Allahabad, Prayagraj, India

• Title: Unlocking the Potential of CA2, CA7, and ITM2C Gene Signatures for Early Detection of Colorectal Cancer: A Comprehensive Analysis of RNA-Seq data by Utilizing Machine Learning Algorithms

Speaker 5: Mr. Pradeep Kumar Doneparthi, Department of Molecular Medicine, School of Allied Health Care and Sciences, Jain (Deemed-to-be) University. Whitefield, Bangalore, India

• Title: Wedelolactone: A Promising Anticancer and Antioxidant Agent for Gliomas and Hepatomas

Speaker 6: Ms. Riya Manna, Department of Biotechnology, and Dr. B. C. Guha Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, University College of Science, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India

• Title: Evaluating the Effect of p-Benzoquinone in Guinea Pig Lung- Deciphering the Role of Vitamin-C

Speaker 7: Mr. Rohit Siddhartha, Department of Biochemistry, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, India

• Title: Clinical significance of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in NMIBC and MIBC patients

Speaker 8: Ms. Shreyoshi Guha, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pondicherry University, Puducherry, India

• Title: Evaluation of the therapeutic potential and the underlying mechanism of green-synthesized vanadium nanoparticles against hepatocellular carcinoma: an in vivo and in vitro approach

Speaker 9: Ms. Niharika, Department of Biochemistry, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, India

• Title: Pilot study to examine the diagnostic potential of Beclin1 and p62 in urothelial carcinoma of bladder patients

Scientific Session 3:

Chair: Dr. Kanchan Mishra, Deputy Director, Surat Raktadan Kendra & Research Centre, Surat (Gujarat), India

Speaker 1: Dr. Dhruv Kumar, Professor & Cluster Head, Allied Health Sciences, School of Health Sciences & Technology, UPES University, Dehradun, India

• Title: Combinatorial Therapeutic Approach for Head and Neck Cancer through Targeting Cancer Cells and Tumor Microenvironment

Speaker 2: Dr. Jitendra Badhai, Senior Scientist, Division of Molecular Genetics, Netherlands Cancer Institute Amsterdam, the Netherlands

• Title: Loss of BAP1 as a biomarker for drug combination exploiting epigenetic vulnerabilities

Speaker 3: Dr Madhan Jeyaraman

• Title: Exosomes as Regenerative Frontiers

Speaker 4: Dr Naveen Jeyaraman

• Title: Regenerative products of adipose tissue and Nanofat in cartilage regeneration

In addition to acquiring comprehensive knowledge in various facets of stem cell research, I had the perk of engaging in a remarkable opportunity to establish connections and network with accomplished scientists from across India.

Coming from a background in Biotechnology, I encountered several concepts that surpassed my immediate understanding. Despite facing challenges in comprehension, the overall experience proved to be enriching in knowledge. This exposure is particularly valuable given that AIIMS is an institution at the forefront of advanced research. In conclusion, I depart feeling inspired by the depth of insights acquired during this period.