SENSES CULTURAL

September 2021

Dear Friends,

It was an absolute honor to join you to celebrate another great achievement, and to support the UC Davis MIND Institute in holding the Inaugural Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Conference on September 24.

As the UCD MIND mentioned on its website, this inaugural conference was an early discussion about the development of safe and effective treatments for children suffering from genetic diseases. New advances in this field are actively studied by the expert speakers at the conference, who are all working on cutting-edge research that has the goal of providing future treatments. In your words: “The conference strongly focused on evidence-based science. In bringing these novel cell and gene therapy trials from bench to bedside and into clinical practice, many scientists, physicians, healthcare, regulatory, manufacturing, and other staff members must work together in large teams. Our goal is to enhance collaborative research in the fields of Cell and Gene Therapy for Neurodevelopmental Disabilities.”

I was truly honored to review the distinguished list of participants and contributors at this conference, albeit virtually, including:

MATTHEW PORTEUS, M.D., PH.D. Sutardja Chuk Professor of Definitive and Curative Medicine, Stanford University

DAVID SEGAL, PH.D. Professor, University of California, Davis

DAVID HAMPSON, PH.D. Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toronto

KRISTEN BRENNAND, PH.D. Professor of Psychiatry, Yale University

ALYSSON MUOTRI, PH.D. Professor, Director of the Stem Cell Program, University of California, San Diego

ALESSANDRO PRIGIONE, M.D., PH.D. Professor, University Clinic Düsseldorf (UKD), Heinrich Heine University (HHU)
Title: Drug Discovery of Mitochondrial Diseases with Patient-Specific Brain Organoids

And there were many others among the long list of distinguished professors at the conference whom I had the honor to meet. Our promise to stay a strong advocate for the inclusion of persons and their families with disabilities through our not for profit organization Senses Cultural is as strong as ever, and I look forward to offering our services in the United States and around the world.

Our Mission in cooperation with the UCD MIND Institute, it’s Medical Director Professor Randi Hagerman, and our potential collaboration with the Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldord and joint activities with its faculty member Dr. Alessandro Prigioni will lead to strong partnerships moving forward. Senses Cultural also collaborated with Dr. Mohammad Nami, who is a member of the Medical/Cognitive Neuroscience team at Shiraz Medical School in Iran and who has been working to enhance the knowledge and treatment of autism as well as the other aspects of neurodevelopmental disabilities.

We are thankful to many of our professional associates who have supported our organization, including Leonard Abbeduto, Ph.D., Director, UC Davis MIND Institute, the institute’s fantastic faculty, and the UCD Stem Cell Department. My heartfelt thanks goes to Professor Randi Hagerman for all she has done to take our hands, to support our goals, and to take us to the next level. Through this collaboration We have done many great works such as supporting this very important inaugural conference aiming to impact the science on autism and its spectrums.As a result of this opportunity we have initiated a unique research project on stem cell and gene therapy. We are also in the process of applying to join the United Nations network of NGO partners.

I am also thankful for the support from Dr. Alessandro Prigione, the principal Investigator of “Stem Cell Metabolism” Group, working as a head of Department of General Pediatrics, Neonatology, and Pediatric Cardiology at Heinrich Heine University. He is an expert in various forms of intellectual disability, and has expertise in investigating neurodevelopmental and mitochondrial disorders using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). We are honored to announce that Dr. Perigone recently joined the Senses Cultural Board of Directors. We are also working toward building a collaboration with HHU to hold future conferences and create projects in support of our mission.

As always, we look forward to your generous support to bring a difference for the better to our world. “Lend a hand to others. Be strong for them. And it will make you stronger”