On May 6, 2018, the first symposium of "Sanjin Stem Cell Forum", organized by Shanxi Biotechnology Society, was successfully held at the International Conference Centre of Shanxi University, hosted by the Institute of Biomedical Sciences. The symposium gathered almost all experts and scholars, clinical specialists and business people in relevance of stem cell science and technology in Shanxi Province, with the theme on translation of stem cell science and technology from bench to bed in Shanxi Province. It was a landmark conference for stem cell industrization in Shanxi Province, which will have a significant impact on the transformation of bio-industry in Shanxi Province.

  The symposium had two sections: the morning section of seminars on stem cell science and technology, and the afternoon section of round-table discussions on translation of stem cell science and technology and coordination of action among participants.

  Prof. Fanqin Cheng, vice-president of Shanxi University, made a warm welcome speech, and Prof. Hong Xie, president of Shanxi Biotechnology Society, made the thematical speech for the symposium.

  Four invited speakers for the seminars, of which the topics covered from the basics of stem cells to the clinical applications in specific diseases (animal models), were Dr. Zeping Lu from Zhongyuan-Xiehe Shanxi Stem Cell Ltd. on Mesenchymal Stem Cells: The Way of Clinical Translation, Dr. Liyun Zhang from Shanxi Da Hospital on Potential Application of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Auto-immunologic Diseases, Dr. Lin Zuo from Shanxi Medical University on Potential Application of Cardiomyogenic Stem Cells in Heart Repair, and Dr. Jinpei Ye from Shanxi University on Pluripotent Stem Cells and Their Clinical Applications.

  In the afternoon, the academics, specialists, experts and representatives in relation to stem cells from major universities, hospitals, biotech companies, and local government departments of public health and science & technology in Shanxi Province had a round-table meeting on discussion of the advantages and disadvantages in stem cell translation in Shanxi Province and of the way to speed up and catch up the pace of national and international clinical translation of stem cells.

  To wrap up the symposium, Prof. Hong Xie, who is also the Head of Department of Science and Technology of Shanxi Provincial Government, expressed high appreciation on the day’s proceeding and proposed to set up a Shanxi provincial platform or consortium of stem cell research and applications.

  After the day’s symposium, participants visited the stem cell laboratory of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences of Shanxi University. Specifically, Prof. Hong Xie, accompanied by Profs Changxi Wu and Jinpei Ye, visited the institute’s state-of-the-art flowcytometry facility with a demonstration of cell sorting.