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BRIEF BACKGROUND TO THE NETWORK
The London Regenerative Medicine Network (LRMN) is a “not for profit organization” set up to promote the better
understanding of stem cell science and regenerative medicine for the benefit of patients, the National Health Service and
society in general. It is principally funded by a 3 year grant awarded by the London Development Agency.
The LRMN was established in early 2005 by two internationally acknowledged leaders in the field of stem cells and
regenerative medicine
Dr. Stephen Minger
King’s College London and Prof. Chris Mason
UCL who merged their existing “South London” and “North London” networking activities into one.
The resulting pan London network is today the largest and most successful regenerative medicine network in the UK, if not globally,
with a membership of over 4,500 and rapidly growing! With London the hub of the UK rail network and international air routes,
we are happy to welcome participants from a wide area and speakers from the international community.
HISTORY The first meeting of the London Regenerative Medicine Network was held at King’s College London on June 1st 2005. The meeting was kindly hosted by Dr. Tony Jones and the London Biotechnology Network. This initial meeting attracted well over 250 attendees. Keynote presentations were given by Dr. Glyn Stacey (UK Stem Cell Bank) and Prof. Paul Sharpe (KCL and Odontis). Since the launch, regular monthly meetings that are open to everyone and free to attend have been a key LRMN feature with a wide range of speakers including:
AIMS The aim of the LRMN is to help accelerate the progression of the world-class stem cell and tissue engineering research being undertaken both in the UK and internationally, and facilitate its translation into everyday routine clinical practice. Furthermore, the LRMN is aimed at helping create the positive environment required to attract and retain regenerative medicine stake-holders in the UK and in the London area in particular, and not just watch them get tempted away to the rest of the World! The UK has and London in particular, has a fast growing base of outstanding stem cell scientists, clinicians and business men whose goals are to dramatically reshape the world of medicine, thus improving the lives of millions of patients. But this paradigm shift requires excellent communication and understanding between all the stakeholders - Regenerative medicine with its multidisciplinary requirements is without any doubt a "contact sport"! The LRMN is a grass-roots, technology focused organisation, open to all interested in the translation of stem cell research and regenerative medicine including the general public, patients, patient groups, politicians, scientists, clinicians, engineers, businessmen, funding agencies, regulators and the media. Indeed absolutely everyone is most welcome! The goal of the LRMN is to facilitate a regular forum where all these interested parties can meet, exchange information, swap ideas and form valuable collaborations, thus allowing everyone to benefit from the vast pool of talent in the UK. The overall aim is to promote both technology push and market pull. The Network has established an extremely fast growing membership including strong representation from all the stakeholder groups and thus promoting the multi-disciplinary dialogue that is essential for the delivery of safe effective therapies and the building a successful and sustainable regenerative medicine industry in the UK. Furthermore, the pool of stem cell technology experts to create the essential tools for big pharma e.g. drug discovery and developmental platforms, is also rapidly gaining momentum with for example, high throughput screening and automation companies becoming involved with the Network. Since its very beginnings, the LRMN has prided itself on its strong linkages to the commercial community including regen companies and big pharma who are increasingly becoming more involved with the field as it slowly matures into an industry. MONTHLY NETWORK MEETINGS At present, the Network fosters exchange primarily through regular monthly evening symposiums. Each month the Network showcases three high profile speakers of international caliber with interests and backgrounds from basic science, translational research, clinical sciences, biotechnology, the pharmaceutical industry or regulatory affairs. The meetings are free of charge to attend and open to everyone, however in order to attend we request that people register either in response to our email invite or register via the website. Our meeting have always been over subscribed (250-400+ people depending upon the lecture theatre). Upon arrival, attendees are issued name badges with their affiliation to aid networking. The meeting commence with networking over coffee, followed by presentations with questions and answers plus exciting breaking news e.g. Dr. John Connolly of the UK Stem Cell Initiative discussed the “UKSCI Report” and its recommendations. The formal part of the evening is followed by a couple of hours of networking over a glass of wine or two. To date we have held monthly network meetings since June 2005, during which time we have hosted presentations by 60+ international experts and attracted well over 6,000 delegates. Meetings presently run at 250-400+ attendees, numbers are only limited by lecture theatre capacity. Attendees come from all the stakeholder groups who are interest in making stem cell technologies and regenerative medicine successful including members of the public. The media have also been in good attendance at a great many of the events including the BBC, all the leading UK newspapers as well as journalists from the more specialist press for example Andy Coghlan from “New Scientist”. This gives the speakers an opportunity to show-case their outstanding work to the world as well for journalist to meet and discuss issue with the wider community. The Network also helped launch the award winning journal “Regenerative Medicine” a bimonthly full colour scientific journal published by Future Medicine Ltd. Prof. Chris Mason is the Senior Editor have taken over from Dr. Stephen Minger who was responsible for the launch phase. “Regenerative Medicine” journal is international acknowledged to be leading journal in the sector and like the network is aimed at all the stakeholders. The Editorial Director, Elisa Manzotti is also closely involved with the LRMN and its activities. In June 2006, Dr. Stephen Minger and Prof. Chris Mason were recognised by the London Biotechnology Network for their work setting up and running the LRMN and for their roles as ambassadors in the field, raising the profile of London’s excellence in stem cell technology and regenerative medicine.
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