Stem Cell Models in Embryology (B2)
February 17-20, 2026
| Asilomar Hotel and Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, CA, United States
Jun Wu, Jianping Fu and Miki Ebisuya
Scholarship Deadline: Nov. 19, 2025 | Abstract Deadline: Jan. 28, 2026 | Early Registration Deadline: Dec. 19, 2025
Tuesday, February 17, 2026
| 4:00–6:00 PM |
Registration |
Fred Farr Forum |
| 6:00–7:00 PM |
Dinner (Included in Asilomar Room Rate) |
Crocker Dining Room |
| 7:00–7:10 PM |
Welcome Remarks |
Fred Farr Forum |
| 7:10–9:10 PM |
Human and Non-Human Primate Development using Embryos |
Fred Farr Forum |
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* Aydan Bulut-Karslioglu, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics
Session Chair |
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* Yasuhiro Takashima, Kyoto University CiRA
Session Chair |
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Hongmei Wang, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Remote Presentation: Advancing Trophoblast Organoid Models through a Comprehensive Investigation of Placental Development across Pregnancy |
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Matteo A. Molè, Stanford University
Modeling Human Embryo Implantation In Vitro |
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Margherita Y Turco, Friedrich Miescher Institute
Organoid Systems for Understanding Human Placental Development Within the Uterine Environment |
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Mijo Simunovic, Columbia University
Short Talk: Exploring the Evolutionary Divergence of Placenta Induction Across Mammals with Stem Cell Models |
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Ikbal Choudhury, California Institute of Technology
Short Talk: Ex-Utero Human Embryo Implantation in a Functional Vascular Niche |
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Wednesday, February 18, 2026
| 7:30–8:30 AM |
Breakfast (Included in Asilomar Room Rate) |
Crocker Dining Room |
| 8:30–11:30 AM |
Advancing Embryo Modeling |
Fred Farr Forum |
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* Mijo Simunovic, Columbia University
Sesion Chair |
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Jacob H Hanna, Weizmann Institute of Science
Ex Utero Embryogenesis: from Naive Pluripotent Cells to Bona Fide Synthetic Embryo Models |
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Berna Sozen, Yale University
Self-Patterning of Human Stem Cells into Post-Implantation Lineages |
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José Silva, Guangzhou National Laboratory
Creating High-Fidelity Mouse and Human Embryo Models with Reprogrammed ESCs |
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Jun Wu, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Developing Increasingly Complex Human Embryo-Like Structures using Stem Cells |
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* Rowan M Karvas, University of Colorado Anschutz
Short Talk: Invasive Cytotrophoblast Development as Represented by a Human Integrated Stem-Cell-Based Embryo Model |
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Seiya Oura, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Short Talk: Modeling Aspects of Human Early Post-implantation Development with Stem Cells |
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| 10:00–10:20 AM |
Coffee Break |
Kiln |
| 10:20–10:25 AM |
Award Recipient Acknowledgement |
Fred Farr Forum |
| 11:30–1:00 PM |
Poster Setup |
Kiln |
| 12:00–1:00 PM |
Lunch (Included in Asilomar Room Rate) |
Crocker Dining Room |
| 1:00–9:00 PM |
Poster Viewing |
Kiln |
| 1:30–3:30 PM |
Symposia Spotlight |
Fred Farr Forum |
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* Rio Sugimura, HKU
Session Chair |
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Laura Amaya, Caltech
Embryonic Quality Control After Implantation with Lineage-Specific Elimination of Aneuploid Cells |
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Amanda J Collier, University of California, Los Angeles
Pluripotent State-Specific Mechanisms Orchestrate Human Blastoid Development |
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Vinay Ayyappan, University of Pennsylvania
Clonal Division of Labor in Gastruloid Self-Organization |
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Emily Megill, Temple University
Investigating YAP1-Dependent Vitamin A Metabolic Dysregulation During Early Cardiac Development Using Self-Organizing Human Cardiac Organoids |
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Hao Wu, UT Southwestern Medical Center
Transient YAP Hyperactivation Enables The Generation of Assembled Human and Chimeric Blastoids |
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Siddharth S. Dey, University of California, Santa Barbara
Long-term Germline Culture Identifies Factors Responsible for the Genome-wide Erasure of DNA Methylation in Human Primordial Germ Cells |
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Zukai Liu, University of Washington
Dual-Patterned Pluripotent Stem Cells Self-organize into a Human Embryo Model with Extended Anterior-Posterior Patterning |
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Wenqi Hu, California Institute of Technology
Quantitative Benchmarking of Stem Cell-Derived Embryo Models Reveals Trophectoderm Arrest and Lineage Asynchrony |
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| 3:30–4:00 PM |
Coffee Available |
Kiln |
| 4:00–6:00 PM |
Bioengineering Embryo Modeling |
Fred Farr Forum |
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* Michelle Chan, Princeton University
Session Chair |
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* Harry McNamara, Yale University
Session Chair |
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Jianping Fu, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Bioengineering Human Embryo and Organ Models |
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Samira Musah, Duke University
Uncovering Patient-Specific Disease Mysteries with Stem Cells and Organ Chips |
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Sharad Ramanathan, Harvard
Building Robust in vitro Systems to Study Early Human Development |
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Idse Heemskerk, University of Michigan
Short Talk: Decoding Combinatorial Cell Signaling in a Stem Cell Model for Human Gastrulation |
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Nicole Horsley, Stanford University
Short Talk: Building the Missing Niche: How the Endometrium Influences Human Embryo Organization In Vitro |
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| 6:00–7:00 PM |
Dinner (Included in Asilomar Room Rate) |
Crocker Dining Room |
| 7:00–9:00 PM |
Poster Session 1 |
Kiln |
Thursday, February 19, 2026
| 7:30–8:30 AM |
Breakfast (Included in Asilomar Room Rate) |
Crocker Dining Room |
| 8:30–11:30 AM |
Studying Developmental Mechanisms using Embryo Models |
Fred Farr Forum |
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* Margherita Y Turco, Friedrich Miescher Institute
Session Chair |
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Magdalena D. Zernicka-Goetz, California Institute of Technology
Deciphering Early Mammalian Development Using Stem Cell-Based Models |
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Yasuhiro Takashima, Kyoto University CiRA
Naive Human PSCs Model Pre- to Post-Implantation Development |
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Aydan Bulut-Karslioglu, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics
Adjusting the Timing of Mammalian Development |
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Olivier Pourquie, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Life Without HOX |
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Liangwen Zhong, Yale School of Medicine
Short Talk: Mammalian Specific Histone Variant H2A.J Regulates Trophoblast Ribosome Biogenesis in Early Human Development |
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Shreyasi Mukherjee, Massachusetts General Hospital
Short Talk: Chromatin Remodeling By Polycomb Repressive Complexes Regulates The Spatiotemporal Emergence Of Mammalian Body Plan In Mouse Gastruloids |
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| 9:30–9:50 AM |
Coffee Break |
Kiln |
| 11:30–1:00 PM |
Poster Setup |
Kiln |
| 12:00–1:00 PM |
Lunch (Included in Asilomar Room Rate) |
Crocker Dining Room |
| 1:00–2:00 PM |
Career Roundtable |
Fred Farr Forum |
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Margherita Y Turco, Friedrich Miescher Institute
Group Leader |
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Lu Song, Becoming
Principal Scientist |
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Sheila Chari, Cell Press
Editor-in-Chief |
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| 1:00–9:00 PM |
Poster Viewing |
Kiln |
| 2:00–3:30 PM |
Panel: Navigating the Ethics of Human Stem Cell–Based Embryo Models |
Fred Farr Forum |
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* Ben Hurlbut, Arizona State University
Panel Moderator |
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Jacob H Hanna, Weizmann Institute of Science
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James Briscoe, The Francis Crick Institute
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Yasuhiro Takashima, Kyoto University CiRA
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Magdalena D. Zernicka-Goetz, California Institute of Technology
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José Silva, Guangzhou National Laboratory
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Kazuto Kato, Osaka University
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| 3:30–4:00 PM |
Coffee Available |
Fred Farr Forum |
| 4:00–6:00 PM |
Synthetic Biology for Embryo Modeling |
Fred Farr Forum |
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* Samira Musah, Duke University
Session Chair |
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* Idse Heemskerk, University of Michigan
Session Chair |
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Miki Ebisuya, TU Dresden
Optogenetic Manipulation and Cross-Species Comparison of Stem Cell Models |
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Harry McNamara, Yale University
Recording and Controlling Development Signals in Stem Cell Models |
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Michelle Chan, Princeton University
Molecular Recording To Characterize Progenitor Cell Behaviors In Gastruloids |
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Ali Shariati, University of California, Santa Cruz
Short Talk: CRISPR-Programming Human Embryogenesis |
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Catherine Triandafillou, University of Pennsylvania
Short Talk: Illuminating Cell- and Tissue-Level Error Correction Strategies in Early Development Through Spatial Profiling of Gene Expression |
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| 6:00–7:00 PM |
Sponsored Dinner |
Seascape |
| 7:00–9:00 PM |
Poster Session 2 |
Kiln |
Friday, February 20, 2026
| 7:30–8:30 AM |
Breakfast (Included in Asilomar Room Rate) |
Crocker Dining Room |
| 8:30–11:30 AM |
Progressive Embryo Modeling towards Organogenesis and Translation |
Fred Farr Forum |
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* Matteo A. Molè, Stanford University
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Mingxia Gu, UCLA
Remote Presentation: Engineering Vascularized Organoids to Decode Human Organogenesis |
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James Briscoe, The Francis Crick Institute
Building a Spinal Cord: The Embryonic Development of the Vertebrate Neural Tube |
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* Nobuhiko Hamazaki, University of Washington - Hamazaki Lab
Modeling and Uncovering the Human Post-Implantation Embryonic Development |
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Joshua M. Brickman, University of Copenhagen
Measure for Measure: Epigenetic Balancing in Stem Cell Based Embryo Models. |
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Rio Sugimura, HKU
Short Talk: Blood Originates In Hypoblasts During Embryonic Development |
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Conchi Estaras, Temple University
Short Talk: YAP Regulates Body Axis Formation In A Human Model Of Gastrulation |
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| 9:30–9:50 AM |
Coffee Break |
Kiln |
| 11:30–11:45 AM |
Meeting Wrap-Up: Outcomes and Future Directions (Organizers) |
Fred Farr Forum |
| 12:00–1:00 PM |
Lunch (Included in Asilomar Room Rate) |
Crocker Dining Room |
