4th MK FMHS international conference explores cutting-edge cell therapy advancements

UTAR M. Kandiah Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (MK FMHS), in collaboration with UTAR Hospital, organised the 4th MK FMHS International Conference on “Harnessing the power of cell therapy: Advances from bench to bedside” from 18 to 19 September 2023. The event attracted a global audience of experts, researchers, and stakeholders who convened to delve into the latest developments in the field of cell therapy.

Held at The Everly Putrajaya, the international conference brought together over 250 delegates from diverse backgrounds, including basic science and translational researchers, post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, clinical investigators, physicians, patient advocates, regulators, and corporate partners.

The conference served as a platform to explore the transformative potential of cell therapy, with a primary focus on highlighting remarkable research developments, from fundamental discoveries to their practical applications, particularly in addressing non-communicable diseases and oncology. Additionally, the conference placed significant emphasis on ethical considerations and the necessity of a regulatory framework. This underlines the shared responsibility within the scientific community to realise the promises of cell therapy in an ethical, safe, and responsible manner, benefiting both individuals and society at large.

Prof Dato’ Ewe welcoming the participants

At the opening ceremony, UTAR President Ir Prof Dato’ Dr Ewe Hong Tat said, “This conference is not just about the exchange of knowledge; it’s about building connections that go beyond borders and disciplines. It’s about creating a forum where groundbreaking ideas can take root, collaborations can flourish, and friendships can be rekindled. This conference serves as a unique platform for discussion and networking, offering each of us an opportunity to establish new collaborations and reconnect with friends and colleagues who share our passion for advancing cell therapy.”

In conjunction with the conference, a memorandum of understanding exchange ceremony was held between UTAR and Cryocord Sdn Bhd. Exchanging the signed MoU were UTAR President Ir Prof Dato’ Dr Ewe Hong Tat (left) and Cryocord Sdn Bhd Managing Director Mr James Then Khong Lek.

Prof Dr Kehkooi Kee during his presentation

Aside from that, the Dr Wu Lien-Teh Memorial Lecture was also held at the conference which was made possible with the support from Dr Wu Lien-Teh Education Society. Prof Dr Kehkooi Kee from Tsinghua University, China delivered his presentation titled “The in-vitro circle of life using embryonic stem cells to build human reproductive organoids” during the Dr Wu Lien-Teh Memorial Lecture session, which was chaired by UTAR FMHS academic Prof Dr Yap Sook Fan. In his sharing session, he spoke about the need for more studies and research on stem cells, milestones of stem cell research, cell therapy and other related topics.

Dr Wu Lien-Teh Education Society President Mr Koh King Kee (right) presenting the Dr Wu Lien-Teh book to Prof Dr Kehkooi Kee (middle), witnessed by Prof Dato’ Ewe (left)

The conference, which featured a total of 10 symposiums, provided a unique platform for knowledge exchange, collaboration, and the establishment of lasting connections. The conference consisted of nine tracks, namely “New-generation vaccines”, “Cancer immunotherapy”, “MSCs as a therapeutic tool”, “Evolving roles of the transfusion services”, “Advances in CAR-T therapy”, “CAR-T therapy in the clinical setting”, “Cell therapy and nursing care”, “Cell therapies for ageing joints” and “Engineered cells for disease modelling”.

Prof John Rasko and Dr Houra during the plenary sessions

Two plenary sessions were held on the second day of the conference. The first plenary session, chaired by MK FMHS Dean Emeritus Prof Dr Cheong Soon Keng, featured University of Sydney, Australia Prof Dr John E. J. Rasko AO. His presentation was titled “Cell therapeutics: New treatment paradigms for blood disorders”. The second plenary session, chaired by Assoc Prof Dr Ong, featured Dr Houra Loghmani from Oncolytics Biotech, Canada who spoke about “Pelareorep as an enabling technology for both chemotherapies and immune-oncology therapies.”

From left: Prof Khatijah, Dr Leow and Dr Lim during their presentation

The symposium on new-generation vaccines was chaired by Assoc Prof Dr Chua Jia Xin. The speakers were Prof Dr Khatijah Mohamad Yusoff (Universiti Putra Malaysia) with her presentation titled “Newcastle disease virus as a therapeutic vaccine candidate against cancer”, Dr Leow Chiuan Herng (Universiti Sains Malaysia) with his presentation titled “Phage display technology – A promising platform for cancer therapeutic antibodies discovery” and Dr Lim Kue Peng (Cancer Research Malaysia) with her presentation titled “Vaccines for head and neck cancers”.

Dr Chua and Dr Herbert Schwarz (right) during their presentation

The second symposium on cancer immunotherapy, chaired by Universiti Sains Malaysia Dr Leow Chiuan Yee, featured speakers, namely, Assoc Prof Dr Chua Jia Xin (UTAR) with her presentation titled “Isolation of stem memory T cells (TSCMs): Implications for CAR-T therapy”, Assoc Prof Dr Herbert Schwarz (National University Hospital of Singapore) with his presentation titled “DC vaccines for solid tumours” and Dr Vita Golubovskaya (Promab Biotechnologies) who delivered her presentation titled “Engineering second, third, and next generation CAR-T cells” online.

A Biomed Global Lunch Symposium titled “Our commitment to cell and gene therapy” was conducted by Dr Suruchi Arora from Bio Techne online.

From left: Prof Chin, Prof Law and Dr Badrul during their presentation

The third symposium on MSCs as a therapeutic tool chaired by Prof Dr Goh Bak Leong from Hospital Sultan Idris Shah featured three speakers, namely, Prof Dr Chin Sze Piaw (Cytopeutics Sdn Bhd) with his presentation titled “MSCs in GVHD management”, Assoc Prof Dr Law Zhe Kang (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) with his presentation titled “BM-MSCs in stroke management” and Assoc Prof Dr Badrul Hisham Yahaya (Universiti Sains Malaysia) with his presentation titled “Breathing new life: Exploring extracellular vesicles as therapeutic agents in respiratory diseases”.

 

Clockwise from top left: Dr Zalina, Dr Becky Griffiths and Dr Ngaire Elwood, Prof Ho and Dr Leow during their presentation

The symposium on “Evolving roles of the transfusion services” chaired by Prof Dr S. N. Veera from UTAR featured three speakers, namely, Dr Zalina Mahmood (National Blood Centre) with her presentation titled “New applications of cord blood”, Dr Becky Griffiths (Australian Red Cross Lifeblood) with her presentation titled “Generation of red cells from iPSC and erythroid cell lines” and Assoc Prof Dr Ngaire Elwood (Murdoch Childrens’ Research Institute) with her presentation titled “iPSC banking from cord blood sources”. The fifth symposium “Advances in CAR-T therapy” was chaired by Assoc Prof Dr Leong Pooi Pooi from UTAR. It featured speakers, namely Dr Leow Chiuan Yee (Universiti Sains Malaysia) with his presentation titled “Exploring the impact of T-cell exhaustion on CAR-T cell therapy” and Prof Dr Ho Gwo Fuang (Universiti Malaya) with his presentation titled “Cytokine-induced killer cells and dendritic cell vaccines have emerged as promising cancer immunotherapy”.

Clockwise from top left: Dr Michaela Seng, Dr Tan, Dr Chang, Ms Seery Zaliza Azura and Ms Amanda Choong during their presentation

Meanwhile, the “CAR-T therapy in the clinical setting” symposium chaired by Prof Dr Can Gin Gin from Universiti Malaya featured speakers, namely Dr Michaela Seng (KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital Singapore) with her presentation titled “Managing CAR-T complications”, Dr Tan Sen Mui (Ampang Hospital) with her presentation titled “CAR-T therapy in Malaysian public hospitals” and Dr Chang Kian Meng (Sunway Medical Centre) with his presentation titled “Overview of CAR-T therapy in haematological malignancies”. The seventh symposium on “Cell therapy and nursing care” chaired by Prof Dr Hamidah binti Hassan from UTAR featured two speakers, namely Amanda Choong Jyeyi (Sunway Medical Centre) with her presentation titled “Cell therapy: Roles and functions of nurses in navigating the patient through the treatment process” and Seery Zaliza Azura binti Zaider (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) with her presentation titled “Stem cell transplantation treatment: Specific population with financial implication”.

The Cryocord Symposium titled “Cord blood – is it a biomedical waste or gold mine?” was presented by Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences academics Assoc Prof Dr Lee Bee Sun (right photo) and Dr Fann Rui Jeat (left photo), and moderated by Emeritus Prof Dr Cheong Soon Keng

From left: Dr Law, Dr Chong and Dr Tan during their presentation

The symposium on “Cell therapies for ageing joints” chaired by Prof Dr Tunku Kamarul Zaman from Universiti Sains Malaysia featured Dr Law Jia Xian (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) with his presentation titled “MSC and cartilage tissue-derived extracellular vesicles to treat osteoarthritis” and Dr Chong Pan Pan (Universiti Malaya) with his presentation titled “The use of platelet-derived extracellular vesicles for musculoskeletal tissue regeneration from basic research to clinical outcome”. The last symposium “Engineered cells for disease modelling” chaired by Prof Dr Alan Ong Han Kiat from UTAR featured Prof Dr Chiou Shih-Hwa (National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University) with his online presentation titled “Application of genomic editing technology in retinal diseases” and Universiti Sains Malaysia Assoc Prof Dr Tan Jun Jie with his presentation titled “Modelling heart disease from animal to in vitro models”.

The conference was followed by the presentation of oral papers. MK FMHS Doctor of Philosophy (Medical Science) candidate D. V Nalini presented the first paper titled “Establishment of hiPSCS Derived 3D Lung Organoids as Disease Modelling for Respiratory Diseases”, Dr Natasha Najwa from Cytopeutics Sdn Bhd presented on “Multiple Dosing of Cytopeutics® Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells is Safe in BALB/c Mice Toxicity Evaluation” and MK FMHS Master of Medical Science student Lee Soke Sun presented on “Analysis of Secretome Profile in Umbilical Cord-derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Cocultured with Senescent Normal Human Dermal Fibroblast”.

Prof John Rasko (left) and Dr Ngaire Elwood (right)

Prof Dr John E. J. Rasko AO expressed his excitement for the conference, “This conference offers an opportunity for everyone to come together after the difficulty of the Covid-19 pandemic and understand some of the future technologies that are available to help patients using cells therapeutic tools. The possibility of regenerative medicine and personalised medicine is an inspiration to everyone that brings great hope and promise to all patients worldwide, especially in Malaysia and other countries.”

Assoc Prof Dr Ngaire Elwood from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute shared, “I will be sharing about how we can use cord blood as an excellent source to make induced pluripotent stem cells for potential clinical therapies. We’ve developed the protocols to make GMP grade IPSc. We are undergoing a process to make a fully GMP clinical induced pluripotent stem cell line. We hope to be able to provide these clinical research groups and commercial entities who would like to drive their own in-cells of interest for potential pre-clinical studies and clinical use for all types of cells, such as neuro cells, cart and k cells and pancreatic cells.”

 

Kamala

When asked, MK FMHS Department of Physiotherapy lecturer Kamala Krishnan said, “The conference provided a platform to find collaborators and network with people. This is such a wonderful event. In future conferences, I am expecting more collaborations, more researchers and more outcomes on stem cells. It will be very useful.”

Dr Taty (right) and UKM Centre for Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine R&D Liaison Officer Dr Fazlina binti Nordin

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Faculty of Medicine Department of Anatomy senior lecturer Dr Taty Anna binti Kamarudin said, “This conference is beneficial for many. I got to know more about the advances of cell therapy, as well as information about its recent application. We are doing a research on stem cells as well, so I would like to know about their clinical application and also their advances in our country and overseas. I am interested to know what they are going to share regarding stem cell and cell therapy. In the future, I would like to participate again to gain more knowledge, more opportunities for collaboration, and more grant opportunities opened by the international research community and the country. The sharing should be continued after this.”

Organising committee members

MK FMHS Dean Emeritus Prof Cheong said, “I hope the participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of how cell therapy is revolutionising the treatment of various noncommunicable diseases and oncology, and have the opportunity to explore the latest technologies that are driving progress in cell therapy, and at the same time take the opportunity to learn from each other, and collectively advance the field towards improved patient outcomes and medical breakthroughs.”

Organising Chairperson Assoc Prof Dr Ong Hooi Tin and Co-Chairperson Clinical Assoc Prof Dr Lee Bee Sun mentioned, “We hope that this conference will provide an excellent opportunity for researchers, clinicians, and industry professionals to come together to network, exchange ideas and discuss the latest research findings in cell therapy. We also hope that the conference will stimulate new collaborations and partnerships that will further enhance the development and translation of cell therapy into clinical practice.”

The sponsors of the international conference were The International Society of Blood Transfusion, Biomed Global, Cryocord Sdn Bhd, Auxi Therapeutics Sdn Bhd, Straits Scientific (M) Sdn Bhd, Malaysian Genomics Resource Centre Bhd, Cytopeutics Sdn Bhd, Bio-Diagnostics Sdn Bhd, Johnson & Johnson Sdn Bhd, Next Gene Scientific Sdn Bhd, Canvio Sdn Bhd, MymAb Biologics and Biotek Abadi Sdn Bhd.

For more information about the conference, please visit https://fmhs-conference.utar.edu.my/