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From The Editors: Wishing You Fresh Infusions and Fresh Starts in 2023!

  


Ashley Krull, Ph.D.

Associate Director, Cell Therapy Manufacturing and Engineering
James Cancer Hospital Cellular Therapy Laboratory
Assistant Professor, Hematology
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio, United States

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On behalf of myself and the editors of Telegraft, I wish everyone a very happy new year!

Looking back on 2022, our Society has a lot to celebrate:

We returned to in-person meetings with record attendance. The ISCT Annual Meeting in San Francisco engaged our international community in a novel conference program packed with actionable insights for translating cell and gene therapy products from experts across academia, industry, and clinical medicine. Once again, people sprinted across exhibit halls to hug colleagues and sparred with their research compatriots in person.


The Telegraft got a new online home and a much-needed facelift. Check it out if you have not yet!

ISCT led another successful Cell Therapy Liaison Meeting (CTLM) with the FDA and 16 other national and international organizations. This CTLM addressed everything from matrix-based potency assays to genome integrity within gene-modified cell therapies, topped off with crucial discussions around supply chains and risk mitigation.

ISCT partnered with AABB to produce a joint publication featured in Cytotherapy and Transfusion entitled: Cryopreserved hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells stability program-development, current status and recommendations: A brief report from the AABB-ISCT joint working group cellular therapy product stability project team.

ISCT spearheaded numerous workforce development initiatives. Notably, ISCT formed a new Workforce Development Committee to lead strategic development of programs that can address pressing workforce issues. Workforce courses and offerings presented by ISCT this year included: Workforce Development in Biomanufacturing, the Cell Therapy Training Course, Advanced Therapy Manufacturing, full scholarships for a master’s degree program in Manufacturing of ATMPs, the ESP Leadership Development Program, and the ESP Mentoring Program.

Our community message boards lit up with questions, debates, and discussions. It seems this society was hungry for collaborations and connections more than ever as we adapted to new ways of safely coming together and bringing therapies to more patients who need them.


And now we face a new year full of possibilities.

Personally, I ended 2022 with a huge transition that gave me a new state to call home, a new institution to navigate, and several groups of new colleagues to work with. Amidst such a change, I have given a lot of thought to how one best navigates fresh starts or major career changes. Though daunting, I choose to view this time as a gift. I get to be a “newbie” again. I get to ask as many questions as I want. I get to learn new ways of doing things. I get to meet new people who can teach me things I have wanted to learn. I get to keep improving and contributing to a field I love.

I hope you approach this New Year with a similar attitude. Even if you aren’t making big literal moves, take time to think about new goals you can set for 2023 that will inspire you to keep pushing this field and this society forward to bigger and better things.

Maybe this is the year you attend your first ISCT meeting.

Maybe this is the year you stand up (or write that cold email) and ask a question to that person you admire in the field.

Maybe this is the year you join an ISCT committee.

Maybe this is the year you transition from mentee to mentor within the ISCT Mentorship Program.

Maybe this is the year you go for that Series A funding.

Maybe this is the year your clinical trial gets the green light.

Whatever your goal is for 2023, make it knowing that you have the full support and encouragement of the ISCT community. I can’t wait to see what big things we accomplish together this year!


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