Scientific Programme
The scientific programme will be updated as speakers and sessions are confirmed. Please check back for the full schedule.
Topics will include advances in gene editing technologies, cell therapy manufacturing, regulatory frameworks, and clinical trial updates.
6:30 AM onwards
REGISTRATION
8:00 – 8:45 AM
🍵 BREAKFAST AND TEA Scudder Auditorium
Parallel Sessions — 8:45 AM
Hall A
MANUFACTURING AND REGULATORY ASPECTS IN CELL AND GENE THERAPY
Chairs:
Dr. Punam Malik, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, USA
Dr. Jyothi Prasanna S, Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Bengaluru, India
| 8:45 – 9:10 AM | SAGES: Development and Translation of a Novel CRISPR Genome Editing Therapy to Induce Fetal Hemoglobin for Sickle Cell Disease
Jonathan Yen
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN |
| 9:10 – 9:35 AM | Configuring Chimeric Antigen Receptors for safety and efficacy
Sunil Martin
BRIC-Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Kerala, India |
| 9:35 – 10:00 AM | Robust Manufacturing of NK cells towards development of Allogeneic Therapies
Priyadarshini Chatterjee
Aurigene Oncology Ltd., Bangalore |
| 10:00 – 10:25 AM | What No T Cell Has Treated Before: Advances in CAR Design and Delivery to Patients
Bruce L. Levine
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA |
Hall B
POPULATION SCREENING & MANAGEMENT OF GENETIC DISORDERS
Chairs:
Dr. Sumita Danda, Christian Medical College Vellore, India
Dr. VGM Naidu, NIPER Guwahati, India
| 8:45 – 9:10 AM | Sickle Cell Anaemia: Kal, Aaj, aur Kal (Past, Present and Future)
Giriraj Chandak
Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India |
| 9:10 – 9:35 AM | Population based screening of Genetic Disease: A tip for prevention of hemoglobinopathies
Chinmayee Panda
Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar, India |
| 9:35 – 10:00 AM | Genetic screening of pheochromocytoma susceptibility genes: CMC experience
Rekha Pai
Christian Medical College Vellore, India |
| 10:00 – 10:25 AM | Personal Genomes are Moving the needle for Precision Medicine
Vinod Scaria
Karkinos Healthcare Private Limited, Bengaluru, India |
10:25 – 10:45 AM
☕ TEA BREAK
Parallel Sessions — 10:45 AM
Hall A
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
Chairs:
Dr. Aby Abraham, Christian Medical College Vellore, India
Dr. Eunice Sindhuvi, Christian Medical College Vellore, India
| 10:45 – 11:10 AM | Current status, challenges and opportunities with CAR-T cell therapy in India
Vikram Mathews
Christian Medical College Vellore, India |
| 11:10 – 11:35 AM | Gene Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease: State of the Field and Beyond
Punam Malik
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, USA |
| 11:35 AM – 12:00 PM | Cellular model for haematological diseases
Shaji R Velayudhan
Centre for Stem Cell Research, CMC Vellore, India |
| 12:00 – 12:25 PM | Pancreatic Islet Cell Transplantation for the treatment of Diabetes
Balamurugan N Appakalai
University of Louisville / Norton Healthcare, USA |
Hall B
ORGANOIDS AND DISEASE MODELLING
Chairs:
Dr. Barun Mahata, BRIC-inStem, Bengaluru, India
Dr. Joe Varghese, Christian Medical College Vellore, India
| 10:45 – 11:10 AM | Human 3D organoids as a preclinical platform for intervention testing
Arvind Ramanathan
BRIC-inStem, Bengaluru, India |
| 11:10 – 11:35 AM | Harnessing the potential of human liver organoid for therapeutics against non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Ruchi Tandon
Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, India |
| 11:35 AM – 12:00 PM | Stem cell derived organoid models to study eye diseases and validate newer drugs
Indumathi Mariappan
L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), Hyderabad, India |
| 12:00 – 12:25 PM | Guiding Next-Generation Therapies with Stem Cells
Maneesha S. Inamdar
BRIC-inStem, Bengaluru, India |
12:25 – 12:55 PM
Scientific Talk — Dr. Rajesh S. Gokhale, Secretary, Dept. of Biotechnology, Govt. of India Hall A
1:00 – 1:45 PM
INAUGURATION & ADDRESS — Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Science & Technology, Govt. of India Hall A
1:45 – 2:45 PM
🍽️ LUNCH Scudder Lawn
2:45 – 4:00 PM
POSTER SESSION AND QUIZ COMPETITION
Parallel Sessions — 4:00 PM
Hall A
MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS (MSCs) AND THEIR SECRETOME
Chairs:
Dr. Indumathi Mariappan, LVPEI, Hyderabad, India
Dr. Jayakanthan K, PGIMER, Chandigarh, India
| 4:00 – 4:25 PM | Modeling Vascular Pathophysiology in ACDC Disease Using Gene-Edited Human Aortic Endothelial Cells
Jyothi Prasanna S
Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Bengaluru, India |
| 4:25 – 4:50 PM | Articular cartilage repair and regeneration – are we there yet?
Ilyas Khan
Swansea University Medical School, Wales, UK |
| 4:50 – 5:15 PM | Potential of Wharton's Jelly MSC-Derived Small Extracellular Vesicles in Managing Metabolic Syndrome
Yogeswaran Lokanathan
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| 5:15 – 5:40 PM | MSCs in the clinic – Current status & future prospects
Pawan K Gupta
Stempeutics Research, Bangalore, India |
Hall B
MOLECULAR GENETICS OF INHERITED DISEASES
Chairs:
Dr. Vinod Scaria, Karkinos Healthcare, Bengaluru, India
Dr. Alan Mathew Punnoose, SRIHER, Chennai, India
| 4:00 – 4:25 PM | Deciphering the "omics" for Alkaptonuria
Sumita Danda
Christian Medical College Vellore, India |
| 4:25 – 4:50 PM | Population Genomes to Precision Medicine – Impact on Public Health in India
Sridhar Sivasubbu
Karkinos Healthcare Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, India |
| 4:50 – 5:15 PM | Genetics of Insulin Secretion: Insights from massive parallel sequencing
Aaron Chapla
Christian Medical College Vellore, India |
| 5:15 – 5:40 PM | Mission program in pediatric rare genetic disorders
Ashwin Dalal
Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad, India |
5:40 – 6:15 PM
☕ TEA BREAK AND INDUSTRY EXHIBITION
⭐ KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Chair: Dr. Vikram Mathews, Christian Medical College Vellore, India
6:15 – 7:00 PM
Gene Therapy for Hemoglobinopathies: Recent Developments and Ongoing Challenges
Mitchell Weiss — St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, USA
7:00 PM onwards
🎭 CULTURAL PROGRAM AND DINNER Eden Garden
8:00 – 9:00 AM
🍳 REGISTRATION & BREAKFAST Scudder Lawn
Parallel Sessions — 9:00 AM
Hall A
INDUSTRY UPDATES
Chairs:
Dr. Priyadarshini Chatterjee, Aurigene Oncology Ltd., Bangalore, India
Dr. Rajkumar Banerjee, CSIR-IICT, Hyderabad, India
| 9:00 – 9:20 AM | From Discovery to Cure: Bridging the gap between Innovation and Application
Prathap Naidu
Thermo Fisher Scientific |
| 9:20 – 9:40 AM | Driving CAR T Cell Innovation with Agilent's Integrated Analytical Platforms
Vadiraja Bhat
Agilent Technologies India Pvt Ltd. |
| 9:40 – 10:00 AM | Cytokine Profiling in Cell & Gene Therapy: Bridging Mechanistic Insight and Translational Impact
Anisha Polley Sikder
Krishgen Biosystems PVT. Ltd., Mumbai, India |
| 10:00 – 10:10 AM | Turning Biology for Therapy: MSCs, T cells and 3D Cell Culture
Priti Warke
HiMedia Laboratories |
| 10:10 – 10:30 AM | Allogenic Off-the-shelf Natural Killer (NK) Cell therapy for Cancers
Renjitha Gopurappilly
NKure Therapeutics / CCAMP / Miltenyi Biotec |
Hall B
CELL THERAPY FOR HEMATOLOGICAL DISORDERS
Chairs:
Dr. Everette J R Nelson, VIT Vellore, India
Dr. Poonkuzhali B., CMC Vellore, India
| 9:00 – 9:25 AM | Looking beyond matched sibling donor transplants for hematological malignancies
Biju George
Christian Medical College Vellore, India |
| 9:25 – 9:50 AM | Lentiviral gene therapy for haemophilia A — an update of the clinical trial
Aby Abraham
Christian Medical College Vellore, India |
| 9:50 – 10:15 AM | Toward Safer Therapies: Development of DNA Break-Free Genome Editing for Various Genetic Disorders
Mohankumar K.M.
Centre For Stem Cell Research, CMC Vellore, India |
| 10:15 – 10:40 AM | Gene-Edited Allogeneic CAR-T Cells for B-Cell Malignancies
Thiyagaraj Mayuranathan
Centre For Stem Cell Research, CMC Vellore, India |
10:40 – 11:25 AM
☕ TEA BREAK AND POSTER EXHIBITION
Parallel Sessions — 11:25 AM
Hall A
IMMUNE MODULATION IN THERAPY
Chairs:
Dr. B. Ashokkumar, Madurai Kamaraj University, India
Dr. Vijayalekshmi B, CMC Vellore, India
| 11:25 – 11:50 AM | Gut–Lung Crosstalk: Harnessing Immunomodulation for Asthma Therapy
Kiran Kumar MN
JSS Academy of Higher Education & Research, Mysuru, India |
| 11:50 AM – 12:15 PM | From HIV Biology to lentiviral vectors: Insights into the mechanisms of antiviral actions
Ajit Chande
IISER Bhopal, India |
| 12:15 – 12:40 PM | Targeting the Uroseptic Infection with Mesenchymal Stromal Cells and Peptides
Aruna Rakha Arora
PGIMER, Chandigarh, India |
Hall B
MICROBIAL INFECTIONS: CHALLENGES & WAY FORWARD
Chairs:
Dr. Siddhardha Busi, Pondicherry University, India
Dr. Supraja Srivastava, CMC Vellore, India
| 11:25 – 11:50 AM | Newer molecular approach in infectious disease diagnosis
Balaji Veeraraghavan
Christian Medical College Vellore, India |
| 11:50 AM – 12:15 PM | Neglected Tropical Diseases: Improving Diagnostics for Helminth Elimination
Sitara Swarna Rao Ajjampur
Christian Medical College Vellore, India |
| 12:15 – 12:40 PM | Uncovering the burden of Riboflavin transporter deficiency: metabolic insights and emerging strategies for gene therapy
B. Ashokkumar
Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, India |
12:40 – 1:10 PM
🍽️ LUNCH BREAK Scudder Lawn
Parallel Sessions — 1:10 PM
Hall A
GENE EDITING
Chairs:
Dr. Jonathan Yen, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, USA
Dr. R. Vinayagamoorthi, IGMCRI, Pondicherry, India
| 1:10 – 1:35 PM | Development of Precision Genome and Transcriptome Engineering Technologies
Tan Meng How
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore |
| 1:35 – 2:00 PM | Use of precision editing, PROTACs to investigate mechanism of neurodevelopmental disorders
Pradeepa Madapura
Queen Mary University of London, UK |
| 2:00 – 2:25 PM | DYRK1A, a Down Syndrome-linked gene, regulates mTOR signaling
Manish Jaiswal
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Hyderabad, India |
Hall B
TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES
Chairs:
Dr. Arabinda Chaudhuri, IISER Kolkata, India
Dr. Ullas Kothur-Seetharam, CDFD, Hyderabad, India
| 1:10 – 1:35 PM | Large-molecule discovery platform supporting fundamental and translational research
Minhaj Sirajuddin
BRIC-inStem, Bengaluru, India |
| 1:35 – 2:00 PM | Cadherin-dependent junction formation in driving metabolic reprogramming of cell clusters
Sunil Laxman
BRIC-inStem, Bengaluru, India |
| 2:00 – 2:25 PM | tRNA-Derived Small RNAs: Molecular Tuners of Stem Cell State
Dasaradhi Palakodeti
BRIC-inStem, Bengaluru, India |
Parallel Sessions — 2:25 PM
Hall A
YOUNG PROMISES IN RESEARCH
Chairs:
Dr. Kumar Pranav Narayan, BITS Pilani Hyderabad, India
Dr. Sunil Laxman, BRIC-inStem, Bangalore, India
| 2:25 – 2:40 PM | Adaptive Quasi-Quiescence Induced Glioblastoma Survival on Emulsion Copolymer Matrix Surface
Subhasish Sahoo
CSIR-IICT, Hyderabad, India |
| 2:40 – 2:55 PM | Titers Up, Prices Down: Lentiviral Gene Therapy for Globinopathies at a Discount
Karthik C
CSCR, CMC Vellore, India |
| 2:55 – 3:10 PM | Targeted base editing enables safe and efficient knockout of ELANE for severe congenital neutropenia
Lokesh Panigrahi
CSCR, CMC Vellore, India |
| 3:10 – 3:25 PM | Engineering Non-Viral Gene Delivery Vectors: Balancing Transfection Efficiency and Cytotoxicity
Venkatesh Ravula
BRIC-inStem, Bangalore, India |
| 3:25 – 3:40 PM | Engineering biomimetic bone marrow niche with gene modified MSCs for ex vivo HSC culture
Sevanthy Suresh
CSCR, CMC Vellore, India |
Hall B
METABOLIC DISORDERS AND NOVEL THERAPEUTIC STRATEGIES
Chairs:
Dr. Muthuraman N, CMC Vellore, India
Dr. Diya Binoy Joseph, BRIC-inStem, Bengaluru, India
| 2:25 – 2:50 PM | Diabetes In the Young in South Asia: the Pathogenesis, Differentials and the Road to Type 5 Diabetes
Nihal Thomas
CMC & CSCR, Vellore, India |
| 2:50 – 3:15 PM | Metabolic Orchestration of Cellular Reprogramming: Towards Harnessing Epigenetic and Mitochondrial Networks for Next-Generation Cell and Gene Therapies
Ullas Kothur-Seetharam
CDFD, Hyderabad, India |
| 3:15 – 3:40 PM | Boosting anti-cancer vaccine by "FORTY" fying immunity to achieve tumor free survival
Jayanta Bhattacharyya
IIT Delhi, New Delhi, India |
3:40 – 4:00 PM
☕ TEA BREAK AND COMPANY EXHIBITION
Parallel Sessions — 4:00 PM
Hall A
NEW FRONTIER OF CELL THERAPY
Chairs:
Dr. Shaji R Velayudhan, CSCR CMC Vellore, India
Dr. Vasanth Thamodaran, TIGS, Bengaluru, India
| 4:00 – 4:25 PM | CAR T-cell immunotherapy of NKG2D-expressing solid tumours
John Maher
King's College London, UK |
| 4:25 – 4:50 PM | Gene therapy for sickle cell disease – current state and future directions
Akshay Sharma
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, USA |
| 4:50 – 5:15 PM | A Lentiviral-Based Gene Modified HSC Approach for HIV-1 Cure: Protection and Risks
Timothy Henrich
University of California San Francisco, USA |
Hall B
ADVANCES IN PRECISION THERAPEUTICS
Chairs:
Dr. Tan Meng How, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Dr. Pradeepa Madapura, Queen Mary University of London, UK
| 4:00 – 4:25 PM | Glucocorticoid receptor: a potent target for drug sensitization and immuno-modulation in cancer
Rajkumar Banerjee
CSIR-IICT, Hyderabad, India |
| 4:25 – 4:50 PM | Gene edited hematopoietic stem cells for the gene therapy for beta-hemoglobinopathies
Saravanabhavan Thangavel
CSCR, CMC Vellore, India |
| 4:50 – 5:15 PM | AAV9-WWOX gene therapy, a promising treatment for children with WOREE syndrome
Srinivasarao Repudi
BRIC-inStem, Bengaluru, India |
5:15 – 6:00 PM
RESULT ANNOUNCEMENT AND CLOSING REMARKS Hall A
7:00 PM onwards
🎉 DINNER CSCR Roof Top
