Yngvild Bjørlykke

Diabetesforbundets forskningskonferanse is the annual research conference of the Norwegian Diabetes Association, which this year was held at Clarion Hotel & Congress Oslo Airport on 28-29th of April.

Our research group was represented by:

Luiza Ghila talked about regenerative strategies currently under development to be used for diabetes treatment, with a focus on stem cell technology.
Yngvild Bjørlykke showed how to use patient own cells to create new insulin-producing cells.

The other 2 presentations from the Diabetes Stem Cell which I would like to mention were given by Hanne Scholz (mesechymal stem cells in the treatment of type 1 diabetes) and Jørn V. Sagen (brown fat cells in obesity and type 2 diabetes).

Although the meeting was mainly in Norwegian, the atmosphere was lively, with story readings and research data presentations, combined with good food and exercise-induced endorphines.

Diabetesforbundet is very active on social media: instagram, twitter, facebook, and I especially enjoyed the conference app.

The annual meeting of BSCC took place in Solstrand, Os, between August 31 and September 1.

Bergen Stem Cell Consortium (BSCC) is a research initiative focused on stem cell research in Western Norway, supported by Helse Bergen health trust. The BSCC is formed by six research groups that work in the field of stem cell research and share the goal of generating basic scientific knowledge about the use of stem cells and introducing personalized stem cell-based treatment.

Our research group was represented by:

Luiza Ghila talked about factors involved in pancreatic beta-cell regeneration
Heidrun Vethe presented a quantitative proteomics analysis of differentiating human induced pluripotent stem cells
Yngvild Bjørlykke showed how to use selected reaction monitoring to assess pathway activity during differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells

The meeting started with a key note presentation by Michele Cottler-Fox about the cord blood banking and the difficulties of working with embryonic stem cells in US; followed by the presentation of the Stem Cell Center in Oslo by Joel Glover. Susanna Miettinen showed how to use the autologous adipose stem cells to reconstruct cranio-maxillofacial hard-tissue defects, while Rosaria Giordano talked about the experience of the cell factory in ATMP manufacturing and clinical use. The key note presentation series was finished by Pedro Herrera discussion on in vivo transdifferentiation of pancreatic islet cells.