Featured Stem Cell Symposium Speaker

Sally Temple, PhD, is the Co-Founder and Scientific Director of the Neural Stem Cell Institute located in Rensselaer NY, USA. Dr. Temple’s group is focused on studies of neural stem cells, and using this knowledge to develop therapies for central nervous system disorders.

Dr. Temple trained at Cambridge University and University College London with Dr. Martin Raff FRS, working on optic nerve development. In 1989, Dr. Temple discovered that the embryonic mammalian brain contained a rare, multipotent stem cell that could be grown in tissue culture, producing both neurons and glia. Since then, her group has continued to make pioneering contributions to the field of neural stem cell research, identifying cell-intrinsic and extracellular niche factors that participate in their self-renewal and differentiation into diverse cell types. Using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), her research group is building novel models to study disease mechanisms of age-related neurodegeneration, with the aim of identifying new targets to slow or stop the disease process. Working with Dr. Jeff Stern, she is developing a cell therapy for age-related macular degeneration using a novel stem cell they discovered in the adult human retinal pigment epithelial layer. Dr. Temple leads the human iPSC effort of the Tau Consortium, an international collaborative group focused on understanding and developing therapies for dementias that is funded through the Rainwater Foundation. In recognition of her work, Dr. Temple has received the Royal Society Stothert Research Fellowship, the Javits NIH merit award, the MacArthur award and the Ellison investigator award. Dr. Temple serves on the board and is the immediate past president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research.

Entrepreneur Steve Case will serve the role of keynote speaker this year.

Case is Chairman and CEO of Revolution LLC, the Washington, D.C.-based investment firm he co-founded in 2005. He is one of America’s best known and most accomplished entrepreneurs, and the author of the New York Times bestselling book, The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future. In 1985, Case co-founded America Online (AOL). Under his leadership, the company became the world’s largest and most valuable Internet company, driving the worldwide adoption of a medium that has transformed business and society.

Additionally, Case was co-chair of the National Advisory Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship and a member of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, which was integral to the passing of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act—which encouraged funding of small businesses in the United States by easing many of the country’s securities regulations. As Founder and Chairman of the Case Foundation, Steve has invested in hundreds of organizations, initiatives and partnerships with a focus on leveraging the Internet and entrepreneurial approaches to strengthen the social sector.