Stem Cell Reports has celebrated more than 10 years of publishing impactful science and influential commentaries that shape the stem cell field. For this month’s message we hear from the new editor-in-chief Janet Rossant as she takes on the leadership of our Society publication. We also will learn more about the evolving work of the Scientific Programs Committee through the Chair Eran Meshorer and Vice Chair, Wei Xie.

This month we had the privilege to connect with the chair and vice chair of the Membership and International Outreach Committee (MIOC), Ole Pless and Athanasia D. Panopoulos and the chair and vice chair of the Early Career Advisory Committee Evan Graham and Alessandro Bertero. At the core of our Society are our members, our commitment to create an enriching environment for the next generation of scientists and to embrace the internationality of our community.

I am continuing the theme of using my monthly messages to highlight the contributions of ISSCR committees and the members who dedicate their time and talent to advancing the field and the mission of the Society. This month, I’ve had the privilege to talk with Melissa Carpenter and Tennielle Ludwig, the chair and vice chair of the Manufacturing, Clinical Trials, and Regulatory Committee (MCTR), and to learn more about the work of the Public Policy Committee, led by Sean Morrison. The contributions they are making address critical priorities of the ISSCR and reinforce why membership in the Society is so vital – it supports initiatives that ease pathways for research and clinical advances so they may thrive.

We often equate scientific excellence with products (i.e. papers that report scientific discoveries), which are often attributed to a single individual. We struggle to define scientific excellence as encompassing equally important contributions such as the processes by which these papers were generated or the scientists, within and outside a lab, with whom co-creation of those papers has occurred.