Important Notice: Given the close proximity to the conference start date, hotel availability is likely to become very limited over the coming weeks. We are still currently able to accept registrations; however, this may change, so we would encourage prompt registration and payment to secure your accommodation. Once registration has been completed, please allow us up to 3 working days to confirm your hotel reservation with you. If there are any issues in accommodating, we will reach out promptly to discuss alternative options. A reminder: your hotel reservation is not secured until payment has been received in full.

Over the past two decades, breakthroughs in gastrointestinal (GI) stem cell biology have transformed our ability to identify, trace, and manipulate intestinal stem cells (ISCs). The field is now entering an exciting new phase: uncovering how dysregulated ISC behavior contributes to disease, and how GI disorders in turn affect stem cell function.

The Fusion Intestinal Stem Cell Conference will bring together an international community of researchers and clinicians to share the latest advances. Discussions will highlight how the microenvironment of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and colon shapes stem cell dynamics in both health and disease, as well as how the niche varies across the GI tract. Attendees will also explore cutting-edge experimental models for investigating the relationship between ISCs, their niche, and disease initiation and progression.

Key Sessions 

•    Inflammation: causes and consequences
•    Microbiome and inter-tissue signaling
•    Metabolism and aging
•    In vitro modelling of the GI tract
•    GI diseases and stem cells
•    Cellular plasticity in the GI tract
•    Regulation of ISC behavior

Keynote Speaker

Ramesh Shivdasani (Harvard University)
DIGESTIVE TRACT NICHES: ARCHITECTURE AND LOGIC

Invited Speakers

Helen Abud (Monash University)
NICHE MODULATION OF EPITHELIAL REPAIR IN INTESTINAL DISEASE
Sarah Blutt (Baylor College of Medicine)
GUT CHECK:INTESTINAL STEM CELL RESPONSE TO COMMON ENTERIC INFECTIONS
Heinrich Jasper (Genentech)
IMMUNE - STEM CELL INTERACTIONS IN THE AGING INTESTINE
Kim Jensen (University of Copenhagen)
GUIDING INTESTINAL STEM CELL FATE DURING TISSUE REGENERATION
Pekka Katajisto (University of Helsinki)
STRATEGIES TO RENEW THE INTESTINAL NICHE
Tae-hee Kim (SickKids) 
BIOMECHANICAL AND EPIGENETIC REGULATION OF GASTRIC INJURY, REPAIR AND DISEASE.
Maria Mihaylova (Ohio State University)
METABOLIC ADAPTATIONS THAT SHAPE INTESTINAL REGENERATION AND CANCER INITIATION
Jason Mills (PennState College of Medicine)
BACK TO THE FUTURE: CELLULAR MECHANISMS OF STEM CELL RECRUITMENT
Kate Miroshnikova (Max Planck Institute, Muenster)
CANCER CELL-INTRINSIC AND -EXTRINSIC MECHANISMS OF THERAPY RESISTANCE IN COLORECTAL CANCER
Francesco Neri (University of Turin)
LOSS OF REGENERATION AND EPIGENETIC DRIFT OF THE INTESTINAL STEM CELLS DURING AGING
Alessandro Ori (Genentech)
PROTEIN HOMEOSTASIS DURING INTESTINE AGING AND REGENERATION
Brisa Palikuqi (Yale) 
DYNAMIC ENDOTHELIAL REMODELING MODULATES EPITHELIAL REGENERATION 
Maria Rodriguez Colman (UMC Utrecht)
METABOLISM IN THE REGULATION OF INTESTINAL CELL FATES
Fred de Sauvage (Genentech)
DIFFERENTIATION POTENTIAL OF COLORECTAL CANCER CELLS
Sandra Scharaw (Max Planck Institute, Dresden)
ORGANELLE ORGANISATION IN THE REGULATION OF STEM CELL–NICHE COMMUNICATION
Michael Sigal (Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine)
RECIPROCAL INTERPLAY OF STEM CELLS AND THEIR MESENCHYMAL NICHE IN GASTROINTESTINAL CARCINOGENESIS
Kaelyn Sumigray (Yale School of Medicine)
COLLECTIVE AND MECHANICAL CONTROL OF INTESTINAL PATTERNING
Jason Spence (University of Michigan)
INTERROGATING STEM CELL-NICHE INTERACTIONS IN NATIVE AND BUILT INTESTINES USING SPATIAL TRANSCRIPTOMICS
James Wells (Cincinnati Children's Hospital)
USING NICHE CELLS TO ENGINEER MORE COMPLEX AND FUNCTIONAL GI ORGANOIDS FROM HUMAN PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS
Kelley Yan (Columbia University)
GENETIC AND FUNCTIONAL DISSECTION OF CRYPT CELL HETEROGENEITY IN THE INTESTINAL EPITHELIUM
Omer Yilmaz (MIT)
DIETARY CONTROL OF INTESTINAL STEM CELLS IN PHYSIOLOGY AND DISEASE

Confirmed Short Talks

Samuel Asfaha (Western University)
GENETIC ALTERATIONS INDUCE ANTIVIRAL RESPONSES THAT MODULATE INTESTINAL STEM CELL FUNCTION
Emilie Barruet (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center)
SYNTHETIC FEEDER CELLS DIRECT GASTROINTESTINAL TISSUE PATTERNING THROUGH MORPHOGEN GRADIENTS
Dario Boffelli (Cedars Sinai Medical Center)
MICROBIOME-DERIVED METABOLITES CONTROL COLON REGIONAL IDENTITY, DAMAGE REPAIR AND INJURY SUSCEPTIBILITY
Eunyong Choi (Vanderbilt Health)
SMAD4 IS A KEY MOLECULAR DETERMINANT LEADING TO THE HIERARCHICAL EVOLUTION OF PRE-CANCER CELLS TOWARD INVASIVE ADENOCARCINOMA
Dustin Flanagan (Monash University)
LINEAGE INFIDELITY VIA DMAGE-ASSOCIATED REGENERATION FUELS GASTRIC CANCER PROGRESSION AND RELAPSE
Jordi Guiu (IDIBELL - Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute)
MACROPHAGE-EPITHELIAL CROSSTALK REGULATES INTESTINAL HOMEOSTASIS AND DRIVES AGING
Tyler Huycke (University of Michigan)
HOW CELLS FORCE THE GUT INTO SHAPE
Kelli Johnson (Michigan Medicine)
MAPPING MESENCHYMAL DIVERSITY IN THE HUMAN SMALL INTESTINE AND ORGANOIDS
Michael Kattah (Mayo Clinic)
MULTI-OMICS AND INTESTINAL ORGANOIDS IDENTIFY A CRYPTIC IKBKG (NEMO) VARIANT AND CANDIDATE TARGETED THERAPY IN PEDIATRIC MONOGENIC IBD
Haris Mirza (Yale University)
IMMUNE CONTROL OF ONCOGENE SELECTION IN THE COLON
Amy O'Connell (Nemours Children's Hospital)
WNT2B FROM FIBROBLASTS REGULATES EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX IN THE INTESTINAL STEM CELL CRYPT NICHE
Benjamin Ohlstein (Children's Research Institute)
DEVELOPING A ROBBUST INJURY MODEL TO INVIESTIGATE THE ROLE OF LARVAL GUT TISSUE REPAIR
Jessica Perochon (Glasgow University)
INTESTINAL TISSUE MECHANICS REGULATE ANGIOGENESIS VIA VASCULAR PIEZO
Michal Shoshkes Carmel (The Hebrew University)
TRANSCRIPTOME PROFILES OF TEOLCYTES ALONG THE INTESTINAL CRYPT-VILLUS AXIS
Michael Verzi (Rutgers)
TRANSCRIPTIONAL AND EPIGENETIC MECHANISMS GOVERNING INTESTINAL EPITHELIAL REGENERATION

Target Audience

This conference is designed for scientists and physicians working in stem cell biology, gastroenterology, immunology, and metabolic research. Attendees will gain new perspectives on how intestinal stem cells contribute to health, disease, and therapeutic opportunities.

Topics of discussion will include:
•    Innovative methods to assess stem cell growth and differentiation along the GI tract
•    The translational limits of mouse models for human disease
•    Effects of inflammation, infection, and aging on ISC behavior
•    Dietary and metabolic influences on regional stem cell regulation
•    Communication between the GI tract and other organs
•    The microbiome’s role in shaping stem cell activity and disease outcomes

Educational Need

There does not appear to be any other conference that focuses entirely on intestinal stem cell biology in the context of multiple disease states and in a variety of organisms. The objective of this meeting is to bring together scientists and physicians from the fields of stem cell biology, gastrointestinal disease, metabolic disorders, inter-tissue signaling and/or immunology who are interested in integrating concepts across these areas to improve understanding of mechanisms underlying SC behaviour along the GI tract, contributions of SC dysregulation to disease, and the development of novel tools for disease treatment. 

Please note, although the below programme is the latest version, it is still subject to change.