PRESS RELEASES

ISSUED BY BBSRC ON BEHALF OF THE UK NATIONAL STEM CELL NETWORK

16 January 2007

London to host International Society for Stem Cell Research Annual Meeting 2009

London has been selected by the International Society for Stem Cell Research
(ISSCR) to host the Society’s Annual Meeting in 2009. The 7th ISSCR Annual
Meeting is expected to attract over 6,000 stem cell experts to the UK capital for
four days in summer 2009. The Annual Meeting allows stem cell scientists from
across the world to discuss the latest scientific, medical and ethical
developments in stem cell research.

London’s bid to host the 2009 Meeting at the ExCel Centre in London’s
Docklands fought off strong opposition from Amsterdam, Barcelona and
Stockholm. The London bid was led by the newly formed UK National Stem Cell
Network (UKNSCN), which was established in order to provide a national focus
to the UK stem cell community. The UKNSCN raised funding to make the
meeting feasible in London from three UK Research Councils: BBSRC, MRC and
ESRC; the East of England Stem Cell Network; the Scottish Stem Cell Network
and the North East England Stem Cell Institute.

Lord Naren Patel, chair of the UKNSCN Steering Committee, said: “For the UK
stem cell community winning the right to host the 2009 ISSCR Annual Meeting in
London is a significant achievement. This will bring the world’s foremost stem
cell researchers to London and give the UK the chance to demonstrate our
world-class expertise in this area.”

Minister for Science and Innovation, Malcolm Wicks, welcomed the news, which
he said would help boost the profile of stem cell research in the United
Kingdom.

“Stem cell research has tremendous potential to tackle some of the most
devastating diseases. It could benefit patients with conditions such as
Parkinson’s disease, juvenile diabetes and heart disease.

“The UK is a world leader in stem cell research. This meeting will be a chance to
showcase Britain’s expertise and enable experts to meet and exchange
valuable knowledge.”

ENDS

Contact

About the UK National Stem Cell Network

The UK National Stem Cell Network is designed to act as a network of the
existing regional stem cell networks in the UK, to bring coordination and
coherence to a range of national and regional activities in the field of stem cell
research.

The UKNSCN secretariat is currently hosted by the Biotechnology and Biological
Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) on behalf of the UK’s public funders of
stem cell research. The secretariat receives financial support from four of the UK
Research Councils:

• Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
• Economic and Social Research Council
• Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
• Medical Research Council