SXSW 2025
The Sanford Stem Cell Institute proudly participated in the annual SXSW Conference through pop science education sessions and networking opportunities. Learn more about this year's activities here.
Engage with our discussions through the videos below. We invite connections for industry partnerships and philanthropic opportunities:
- Industry Partnerships: Patrick Chang at patrickchang@health.ucsd.edu
- Philanthropic & Advancement Opportunities: Nick Knote-Macias at nkmacias@ucsd.edu
2025 Education Sessions
Reconstructing the Human Brain in the Lab
Friday, March 7, 2025
What makes us uniquely human? Our sophisticated brains set us apart from all other species, but we know little about how they actually develop and work. Growing brain organoids in the lab is one way to learn more about how our brains form and how synapses are developed. Dr. Alysson Muotri from UC San Diego’s Sanford Stem Cell Institute explores how scientists generate brain organoids from stem cells and use them to study diseases, consciousness, and even brain evolution, and how brain-organoid research aboard the International Space Station is teaching us about aging and possibly one day living on other planets.
Want to Achieve Health Equity? Democratize Health Data
Sunday, March 9
Four experts in the field of healthcare, disease research, and health-policy management discuss how democratizing health data could improve treatment of various diseases by consolidating information. Allowing patients to own their own health records could allow them to be champions of their own personalized treatment. But what is the cost of deprivatizing such records? Panelists look at the issues of data siloing, the role of AI in health data, and the risks and benefits when privacy safeguards are removed. Panelists: Bruce Y. Lee, Professor, Health Policy Management, University of NY, Catriona Jamieson, UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute, Brian Gull, NeoGenomics, and Alysson Muotri, UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute.
Guardians of Youth: Stem Cells & Human Longevity
Sunday, March 9
Are stem cells a veritable fountain of youth? Do they hold the key not only to radiant appearance, but to increased life- & health-span? University of California San Diego stem cell biologist Rob Signer, Ph.D., will outline an intriguing new research paradigm — one in which the focus shifts away from targeting singular disorders like cancer & Alzheimer's, toward addressing a common cause. "The No. 1 risk factor for these conditions is aging," Signer says. "If we can understand & target mechanisms of aging, we should be able to prevent multiple diseases & improve personal & population health."
NASA and the Next Frontier in the Battle Against Cancer
Tuesday, March 11 | 11:30 am-12:30 pm CST
Research on the International Space Station has already led to drug and therapy breakthroughs for cancer patients on Earth, with more advancements ahead. NASA is working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and researchers across the federal government to help cut the nation’s cancer death rate by at least 50% in the next 25 years. Join NASA; Sanford Stem Cell Institute Director Catriona Jamieson, M.D., Ph.D.; and industry leaders to discuss the transformative potential of space for cancer research, as well as how you can get involved. More details.
Meet Our Presenters
- Dr. Catriona Jamieson is a leading physician-scientist who discovered missplicing, RNA hyper-editing, and splice isoform switching as mechanisms governing human cancer stem cell maintenance in selective niches. Dr. Jamieson has extensive experience in development of stem cell models and therapies, including small molecule drugs, as well as commercialization of these technologies. At the Sanford Stem Cell Institute, Dr. Jamieson and her team are examining the links between aging and systemic inflammation-related microenvironmental and macroenvironmental stressors that promote pre-cancer initiation and malignant transformation of human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. As part of the NASA Integrated Space Stem Cell Orbital Research (ISSCOR) program, Dr. Jamieson has led the engineering of human hematopoietic stem cell and tumor organoid nanobioreactors and development of multi-omic and functional analytical methods to determine stem cell fitness before, during and after space flight. Dr. Jamieson received the 2017 MPN Hero’s Award, the Moores Cancer Center Rell Sunn Award in 2020, and the Top Doctor for the 10th consecutive year by Castle Connolly in 2021. She has served as a keynote speaker on stem cells and pre-cancer and was awarded the UC San Diego Academic Senate Distinguished Research Award in 2023 and will be awarded the Luminary Award, Precision Medicine World Conference, in 2024. Her visionary leadership resulted in the single largest gift in the history of UC San Diego, for $150 million from T. Denny Sanford, resulting in the creation of the Sanford Stem Cell Institute.
Director, Sanford Integrated Space Stem Cell Orbital Research Center, Sanford Stem Cell Institute, UC San Diego
- Dr. Muotri is a professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Cellular and Molecular Medicine at UCSD. His research focuses on solving one of life’s greatest mysteries: What is it that makes us uniquely human? Muotri studies the brain from an evolutionary and developmental perspective, creating brain organoids from the stem cells of patients affected by a variety of diseases. Sometimes, he sends the organoids to space, in an effort to gauge the effects of rapid aging due to the stress of microgravity. Muotri’s work has implications for the generation of human disease models by determining the molecular and cellular mechanisms driving complex neurological disorders like autism and Alzheimer’s disease. His work is also creating opportunities for identifying and testing novel therapeutic approaches, and reducing the amount of time required for moving drugs into clinical trials.
- Dr. Robert A.J. Singer is a stem cell biologist whose trailblazing work on protein synthesis and homeostasis in hematopoietic stem cells opened the door to uncharted areas of cellular investigation. One of the foremost thought leaders in stem cell science, Dr. Signer is deputy director of the Sanford Stem Cell Discovery Center and an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Regenerative Medicine. He has published multiple high-profile papers in top-tier scientific journals, including Nature, Cell, eLife, Cell Stem Cell, Nature Cell Biology, Blood, and Genes and Development. He was named a Distinguished International Young Investigator in Stem Cell Research and was the 2024 recipient of the prestigious Janet Rowley Award from the International Society of Experimental Hematology.