University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic Collaborative Retreat on Organoids and Engineered Tissue Models

On April 18, 2023 the University of Minnesota Stem Cell Institute and Institute for Engineering in Medicine partnered with the Mayo Clinic Cells 2 Cures Initiative to sponsor a one-day retreat-style symposium on accelerating human multicellular model systems (including engineered tissues and organoids) towards basic discoveries, patient diagnostics, and therapeutics.  The retreat, entitled "Human Model Systems as Tools for Discovery and Translation", was co-organized by Beau Webber from the SCI and Brooke Druliner from the Mayo Clinic.  Presentations were made by SCI faculty Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari and Susan Keirstead, as well as multiple researchers from the Mayo Clinic.  A keynote address entitled "Transformative Potential of Organoids" was delivered by organoid pioneer and expert Hans Clevers, Head of Pharma Research and Early Development at Roche.  The retreat ended with a moderated discussion about the most pressing needs in the organoid research space and how the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic are uniquely positioned to move the field forward together.  The goal was to identify strengths at each institution and leverage these through collaborations that will increase the translational impact at the University of Minnesota, Mayo Clinic, and beyond.