SCA Regional Virtual Town Hall - October 8, 2025 - International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy

ABOUT THE TOWN HALL

The International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy (ISCT) is the leading global platform dedicated to advancing cell and gene therapies through collaboration between academia, industry, and regulatory bodies. By fostering meaningful connections and driving clinical translation, ISCT empowers innovation and the responsible commercialization of advanced therapies worldwide.

The upcoming ISCT SCA Industry Town Hall is a strategic initiative aimed at bridging the gap between industry stakeholders in South & Central America and the vast resources of ISCT. This focused session will explore shared challenges and emerging opportunities to accelerate development in the field.

Industry participants will hear directly from Vincenzo Di Cerbo, a member of the ISCT Industry Committee, who will outline the benefits of ISCT Industry Membership—including global networking, regulatory engagement, and collaboration platforms designed to drive progress.

Adding a regional spotlight, Dr. Maroun Khoury, Director of the IMPACT Center in Chile, will share insights from one of Latin America’s most active hubs in developing and translating cell and gene therapies. His perspective will highlight the critical role of local innovation and the importance of global integration through partnerships like those facilitated by ISCT.

This Town Hall offers a powerful space for connection, visibility, and strategic growth. It reaffirms ISCT’s commitment to supporting companies across the region as they navigate clinical, commercial, and regulatory pathways—and opens the door to a more connected, impactful future for CGT in Latin America and beyond.

KEY LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Foster collaboration between Academia, Industry, and Regulatory stakeholders in the SCA region
Address challenges related to clinical translation and commercialization to accelerate developments in the field
Bridge the gaps between the cell and gene therapy industry and ISCT's resources
Increase visibility of cell and gene therapy companies in the region
Grow the membership of ISCT members in SCA
Promote awareness and standardization of ethical practices in the field

TOWN HALL CHAIR

Andrés Caicedo, PhD
ISCT SCA Regional VP
Principal Investigator, Director of the Biomedicine Instituto, iBioMed
Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ)
Ecuador

Andrés Caicedo earned his Ph.D. with Honors in Biomedicine in 2013, supported by a scholarship from the French Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, and Research. He holds specializations in Regenerative Medicine from the Biomedicine Research Institute and Biotherapies (IRMB) and in Management, both from the University of Montpellier. Since 2016, he has been an Associate Professor and Principal Investigator at the School of Medicine at San Francisco University of Quito (USFQ), where he leads the "Biomedical Discovery" team. His research group focuses on developing innovative therapies for repairing tissue damaged by aging, environmental stress, or injury. In 2017, Andrés was named one of the Innovators Under 35 in Latin America by the MIT Technology Review for his groundbreaking work on "Artificial Mitochondria Transplantation for Medical Purposes, MitoCeption." That same year, he won the "Ecuador Changes the World" Innovation Call from the Alliance for Entrepreneurship and Innovation of Ecuador (AEI) for his project on predicting susceptibility to diabetes and metabolic syndrome using circulating mitochondrial DNA.

From 2018 to 2023, Andrés led the R&D department at “Sistemas Médicos USFQ” and founded the Dragon BioMed Initiative at USFQ, focusing on mitochondria as a "Living Drug." In 2019, he served as Chairman of the Scientific Commission at the National Institute of Transplantation of Tissue, Organs, and Cells (INDOT). He currently serves as the Vice-President Elect for South and Central America of the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT). In 2023, Andrés was honored with the ISCT Trailblazer Award for Emerging Markets, and in 2024, he received the Best Innovation of the Year and Best Inventor Awards from the Ecuadorian Corporation for the Development of Research and Academia (CEDIA). Throughout his career, Andrés has been awarded multiple grants to advance intellectual property rights for innovations in regenerative medicine and cancer, primarily funded by CEDIA. He remains committed to fostering collaboration between the private sector, academia, and government to position Ecuador and the region as leaders in safe and effective stem cell-based therapies.

SPEAKERS

Vincenzo Di Cerbo, MSc, PhD

ISCT Europe Regional Secretary
Lead Technical Scientist, Biological/Genetic Modification Safety Officer
Catapult Cell and Gene Therapy
United Kingdom

Dr. Vincenzo Di Cerbo, Lead Scientist, has 15 years of R&D experience across basic science and cell and the gene therapy industry, with broad expertise in viral vectors production, stem cells therapies, and immuno-oncology. He has successfully applied his knowledge of analytical development, omics data, cell engineering, and bioprocessing to multiple industrial collaborative projects. Vincenzo Di Cerbo joined Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult in 2017 and he is currently leading a programme focussing on the application of data-driven cell engineering approaches to improve yield and quality in cell and gene therapy bioprocessing. A key area of focus of his work is the development of engineered packaging cell lines and associated biological models to enhance AAV productivity.

After earning a degree in Medical Biotechnologies, Vincenzo completed a PhD at the Max-Plank Institute of Immunology and Epigenetics in Freiburg, Germany, followed by a postdoc at Oxford University in the United Kingdom, which focussed on chromatin and transcriptional gene regulation.

Since 2023, Vincenzo has been involved with ISCT through the ESP Leadership Development program and has joined the ISCT Industry Committee. As a member of the Organizing Committee for the 2024 ISCT Europe Regional meeting, he has actively contributed to shaping its scientific program.

Maroun Khoury, PhD

Professor
Universidad de los Andes
Executive Director
IMPACT - Center of Interventional Medicine for Precision and Advanced Cellular Therapy
Chile

Maroun obtained a Ph.D. in health and biology from the University of Montpellier, France, focusing on gene therapy in joint diseases, where a constellation of gene therapy strategies were used included RNA interference, viral- and liposome-based vectors. The successful outcome of these approaches resulted in multiple high impact publications, conveying the opportunity for a postdoctoral position at the MIT, Koch Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts. At MIT, he focused his effort on establishing a humanized mouse model; a mouse with a human blood system. This was followed by a position at the MIT-Singapore alliance for research and technology (SMART), in Singapore, where he worked on hematopoietic and fetal stem cells. Following this enriching experience, he established his own research laboratory of nanoRegenerative medicine, in Santiago de Chile, where he currently directs a young team of highly motivated researchers. The laboratory is located at the Universidad de Los Andes and affiliated to a biotechnology venture, Cells for Cells, where he currently hold a dual position as an A/Professor and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at Cells for Cells and Regenero (co-founder), the Chilean consortium for Regenerative medicine.

Lydia Redmond, B.Soc.Sc
Industry Program Management Coordinator
ISCT
Canada

Lydia Redmond is a dedicated professional in the field of advanced therapies, currently serving as Industry Program Management Coordinator at the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy (ISCT) in Vancouver, Canada. In this role, she leads the development and implementation of ISCT’s global Industry Membership Program, fostering meaningful engagement across biopharma developers, CDMOs, service and product providers, and academic thought leaders. Her work plays a central role in advancing ISCT’s mission to accelerate the safe and effective translation of cell and gene therapies (CGT) to patients worldwide. Lydia holds a Bachelor of Social Science in Sociology and Social Policy from University College Dublin.