Managing Director and Chief Executive, Mesoblast, the regenerative medicine company

Keynote topic:
Stem Cell Therapies… Clinical reality or dream? (November 29, 11.30am)

Professor Silviu Itescu is the Managing Director and Chief Executive of Mesoblast Limited (ASX: MSB; ADR: MBLTY).  He has established an outstanding international reputation in the fields of stem cell biology, autoimmune diseases, organ transplantation and heart failure. His experiences range from laboratory research to new drug development and clinical evaluation. Professor Itescu pioneered novel approaches to the use of adult stem cells for the treatment of heart disease and Mesoblast is now a global leader in this area.

Professor Itescu was an advisor on cell therapy to both the United States President’s Council on Bioethics and the US FDA Biological Response Modifiers Advisory Committee (BRMAC). Before founding Mesoblast, he was Director of Transplantation Immunology at New York’s Columbia University Medical Center and Professor of Medicine at Columbia University and the University of Melbourne. In 2011 Professor Itescu was named BioSpectrum Asia Person of the Year recognizing his leadership role in the global regenerative medicine industry.