San Juan, Puerto Rico – June 18-22, 2025

The Applied Neuroscience Research Laboratory (LIAN) had an outstanding participation in the 20th Congress of the International Society of Developmental Biology, held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

“Transition to Independence” Panel

Dr. Ariel Waisman, group leader at LIAN, was specially invited to participate in the “Transition to Independence” conversation panel, organized by LatinX for Developmental Biology. During this session, he shared his experience in establishing his new research group at FLENI, where we develop innovative cardiac regeneration strategies using human pluripotent stem cells.

This participation was made possible thanks to a grant from The Company of Biologists, managed through LatinX Dev Bio, in recognition of the laboratory’s contribution to advancing developmental biology in Latin America.

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Doctoral Research Presentation

Joaquín Smucler, doctoral fellow at LIAN, presented his poster titled “Standardized 2D WNT Modulation Consistently Generates Left Ventricular Cardiomyocytes from Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Upon Sufficient Maturation”. His work demonstrates that the WNT modulation protocol consistently generates left ventricular cardiomyocytes when coupled with appropriate maturation, reconciling conflicting previous reports regarding cardiomyocyte subtype identity.

Joaquín’s findings are particularly relevant for cardiac development modeling and regenerative medicine, demonstrating that apparent heterogeneity in previous studies largely reflects different maturation states rather than true lineage diversity.

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Institutional Support

Both Dr. Waisman and Joaquín were able to participate thanks to a travel grant from the Society for Developmental Biology and other from The Company of Biologists, which recognizes the excellence of our research and supports the training of young scientists in the field.

Impact and Outlook

This participation strengthens LIAN’s international presence in the field of cardiac regenerative medicine and opens new opportunities for collaboration with researchers worldwide. The scientific exchange enriches our research lines and contributes to advancing knowledge in stem cell-based therapies.