NY STEM CELL CLUB
A Cross-Institutional Gathering of the NY Stem Cell Community
June 12, 2026
The inaugural meeting will be held at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
1468 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10029
The Program at a Glance
Stern Auditorium
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
1468 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10029
Friday, June 12, 2026
8:00 AM – 8:45 AM: Check-in & Breakfast
8:45 AM – 9:00 AM: Welcome Remarks
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM: Scientific Session I - Stem Cells in Cancer Biology
10:00 AM – 10:30 AM: Trainee Lightning Talks
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM: Poster Session
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM: Scientific Session II - Human Stem Cell-Derived Model Systems
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM: Lunch
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM: Keynote Talk
2:30 PM – 3:10 PM: Scientific Session III - Stem Cells in Aging and Disease
3:10 PM - 3:30 PM: Faculty Lightning Talks
3:30 PM - 3:40 PM: COREdinates Presentations
3:40 PM – 4:00 PM: Coffee Break
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Career Panel
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Faculty mixer
5:00PM – 5:15 PM: Closing Remarks & Awards
5:15 PM – 6:30 PM: Wine & Cheese Reception
Meet our Keynote Speaker
From Stem Cell Discovery to the Clinic, Developing a Therapy for Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Dr. Sally Temple, Ph.D.
Scientific Director
Neural Stem Cell Institute
https://www.neuralsci.org
Dr. Sally Temple is the co-Founder and Scientific Director of the Neural Stem Cell Institute located in Rensselaer, NY.
A native of York, England, Dr. Temple leads a team of 30 researchers focused on using neural stem cells to develop therapies for eye, brain, and spinal cord disorders. In 2008, she was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship Award for her contribution and future potential in the neural stem cell field. As the Scientific Director of NSCI, Dr. Temple oversees the research mission from basic to translational projects. She is also responsible for the staff, budget, and developing the overall strategic plan for the institute.
Dr. Temple is a member of the board of directors of the International Society for Stem Cell Research and of the medical advisory boards of the NY Stem Cell Foundation and the Genetics Policy Institute. Her numerous articles havea been published in such journals as Nature,Cell Stem Cell,Neuron, and Cell.
Bruna Paulsen, Ph.D.
VP of Manufacturing
Gameto
Kristina Ames, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Beth P. Weinman, J.D.
Counsel
Ropes & Gray LLP
Catherine Landis, Ph.D.
Scientific Editor
Cell Stem Cell
Elvin Wagenblast, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Meet our Panelists
Dr. Bruna Paulsen is a stem cell biologist, with over 15 years of expertise in reprogramming, human pluripotent stem cell culture and differentiation approaches to generate disease-relevant cell types, and identify disorder-specific phenotypes in vitro. Prior to joining Gameto, Bruna did her postdoctoral research at the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University. Bruna has a successful publication record with 23 peer-reviewed and 7 as first-author publications including Nature and Nature Biomedical Engineering, and over 30 invited presentations and multiple awards, including International Society for Stem Cell Research Award for Scientific Excellence, and Rising Star Award from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Kristina Ames is an Assistant Professor and Assistant Director for Cancer Research Training and Education Coordination at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she completed her postdoctoral fellowship. She earned her PhD from the Graduate Center at CUNY. Her scientific research focused on the role of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway in hematopoietic stem cells, uncovering how disrupted autophagy drives the defective differentiation seen in myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia. Since transitioning into her current role, she has dedicated her career to expanding access to biomedical research training, leading programs including BEYOND ALBERT, a initiative that introduces Bronx high school students to scientific research, and collaborative programs connecting undergraduate and master's students from Lehman College to hands-on research experiences at Einstein.
Beth Weinman is a member of the life sciences regulatory and compliance practice group at Ropes & Gray, where she focuses on FDA regulation and enforcement of laws governing pharmaceuticals, biologics, medical devices, cosmetics, and dietary supplements. Before joining the firm, she spent nearly eight years as Associate Chief Counsel for Enforcement within the FDA's Office of Chief Counsel, where she worked closely with the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations and the Department of Justice. Prior to her time at the FDA, she spent more than seven years as a litigation associate at a large New York law firm representing pharmaceutical companies in government investigations and securities class-action lawsuits. She earned her J.D. from NYU School of Law and her B.A. from Columbia University and has written on the evolving regulatory landscape surrounding stem cell clinics.
Dr. Catherine Landis is an editor at Cell Stem Cell with a background in cancer metabolism and stem cell biology. She began her editorial career at Cell Press as an intern during her postdoc at the Wistar Institute and joined full-time in 2021, moving to Cell Stem Cell in 2022. Catherine completed her PhD at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she studied how metabolic changes drive glioblastoma stem cell behavior. She is based in Philadelphia, where she can often be found running along one of the many trails.
Dr. Elvin Wagenblast completed his undergraduate training at Heidelberg University in Germany before pursuing graduate studies at Cornell University and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he earned his PhD. He then completed his postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. John Dick at the University of Toronto, developing models of human leukemia with a focus on Down syndrome-associated childhood leukemia. Since 2022, he has been an Assistant Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. His laboratory applies advanced genome editing technologies in human primary blood stem cells to model the preleukemic and leukemic phases of acute myeloid and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Participating Institutions
With Support from Institutional Stem Cell Leaders
Sarah Millar, Ph.D.
Icahn School of Medicine
Britta Will, Ph.D.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Emmanuelle Passegué, Ph.D.
Columbia University
Andrea Brand, Ph.D.
New York University
Deepak Vashishth, Ph.D.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
Mary Dickinson, Ph.D.
The Jackson Laboratory - NYSCF
Shahin Rafii, M.D.
Weil Cornell Medicine
Sally Temple, Ph.D.
Neural Stem Cell Institute (NSCI)
Made Possible by the Generous Support of Sponsors
