Stewards of ISSCR’s Mission
While many of our committees produce visible outputs of their collective work that we highlight in our communications and at meetings, there are two in particular that are central to the Society that you may not know as much about. I confess I did not know the depth of their contributions until I joined the ISSCR Board of Directors. The work of the Finance Committee and the Strategic Oversight Committee underpin the framework for our Society, ensuring that we have the financial resources and the volunteer leadership talent to drive our mission forward. I look forward to sharing our conversations with the chairs of these two operations- and mission-focused committees with you this month as I continue to explore the commitment of our committee leaders and members. I’ll begin with Clive Svendsen, the Chair of the Finance Committee and Treasurer of the ISSCR Board of Directors.
Q: What does the ISSCR Finance Committee do?
CS: The Finance Committee constantly monitors the financial health of the ISSCR – from cash flow through to investments. A sound financial base for our nonprofit organization allows the ISSCR to deliver on its mission and priorities. This includes the ISSCR Annual Meeting and International Symposia hosted worldwide in Asia, Europe, and North and South America along with a wide range of educational endeavors and public and regulatory policy initiatives that address the escalating, global concern of unproven stem cell clinics, ethical priorities, and standards for research and clinical trials using stem cells. We also review the annual budget and tax audit and approve changes in spending priorities across all of the programs. The committee is really the heart of the ISSCR and needs to keep a healthy beat for everything to work and to ensure we have resources and operational staff act to on priorities identified by the membership and the Board of Directors!
Q: What are the most important initiatives or projects the committee is working on?
CS: One of our most important initiatives recently is lowering the cost of becoming a member and attending our international conferences to encourage a diverse audience, while at the same time keeping the organization on a firm financial footing. Another important initiative right now is to find funding for the best practices working groups to put out best practices within the growing field of pluripotent stem cell treatments. Remarkably there are over 1,200 patients who have been treated with cells derived from pluripotent stem cells, but few firm guidelines on the best way to expand and differentiate them. The new best practices will provide everyone entering the field, and those within it, crucial information to move trials forward faster and safer.
Q: Can you share more about the talent and background of members on the committee and how the composition of members contributes to the committee’s work and effectiveness?
CS: The Finance Committee is composed of a senior group of talented scientists who are experts in the field of stem cell biology and clinical translation. With a nice range of experiences from industry to basic science, they help guide how to fund new initiatives and appropriate funds to areas that are of interest to the Society such as scholarships for underrepresented scientists and those who do not have the means to attend the annual meeting, reducing the cost of membership, and reviewing the new CME course accreditation collaboration with Harvard Medical School to assess the financial impact on the organization. By working together, we provide the Society with essential feedback on financial implications of any planned new initiatives. We also approve any new initiatives that have financial implications that are then sent to the Board of Directors for final approval.
Q: What drives you to invest in/give so much of your time and talent to the ISSCR and the work of the committee? Describe the value you see in this volunteer work?
CS: Helping others enter the field of stem cell science through giving time to the ISSCR and organizing the finances is perhaps one of the most satisfying aspects of my work. Giving is always better than getting – and by helping the ISSCR meet its fiduciary, educational and outreach goals we will learn more about stem cells and how they can ultimately help us both better understand human development ultimately provide new and innovative stem cell therapies.
Finance Committee Members: Chair, Clive Svendsen, Cedars Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute, Jane S. Lebkowski, Regenerative Patch Technologies, Jennifer Brogdon, PhD from the Novartis Institute for BioMedical Research, Lee Rubin, PhD, Harvard Stem Cells & Regen Biology, Paul J. Tesar, PhD, Case Western Reserve University, and Ken Zaret, PhD, University of Pennsylvania.
Our conversation with Clive Svendsen revealed how crucial the work of the Finance Committee is to ISSCR. Without a solid financial base, the ISSCR cannot keep the staff, we cannot grow, and we will be unable to reach out to the community to provide education and opportunities. The Finance Committee and Chair also work in close partnership with ISSCR Chief Executive Officer Keith Alm to ensure the Society has the resources to sustain and take on new initiatives that may require investment in personnel, meetings, or incur other hard costs. As important as maintaining healthy finances is to our mission, ensuring we have strong committee membership that represents our global scientific community and comprises the needed expertise for the initiatives at hand is the key function of the Strategic Oversight Committee led by Fiona Doetsch. Next, I will reflect on our conversation about this committee and how it helps us remain aligned with our organizational strategic priorities.
Q: What are the chief priorities of the Strategic Oversight Committee?
FD: The Strategic Oversight Committee oversees all committees in the Society. The span of topics is very broad: ethics, education, clinical translation, manufacturing and regulatory affairs, scientific programming, public policy, finances, membership and international outreach, early career members and more. The work of the SOC is to reflect on the remits and the composition of all committees and to ensure that they each have the representation and expertise to fulfill their needs. A few years ago, we wanted to re-structure the committees to ensure that they were better aligned with the current strategic priorities and mission of the ISSCR. We committed to ensuring that we reflect the internationality of our membership, and that the composition supports the goals of the committees. We are also working to expand the committees to include early career researchers and countries that have not had representation in the past so that we hear diverse perspectives and better capture the needs of the field.
Q: How does the committee intersect with your role as Clerk?
FD: As Clerk, I am Chair of the SOC. During the year, I maintain a general overview of the different activities and initiatives of each committee. A key part of this is the conversations that Keith Alm, ISSCR’s CEO, and I have with the chairs and vice chairs of all ISSCR committees. These valuable discussions provide important insights and input that is then brought back to the SOC for further discussion. The horizon scanning by the committees helps identify emerging topics and issues that need to be addressed.
Q: How are you looking at the process of remodeling the committees that occurred as strategic rethinking?
FD: The re-alignment of the committees has unlocked the creativity and productivity of each committee – it has been remarkable to see their focused and impactful outputs. Part of the committee remodeling is still ongoing. In the future, there are many possible synergies between the different committees, and creating ways for further cross-committee interaction will be powerful. I would also like to create additional opportunities for members to be more engaged in the Society and to create a stronger sense of community.
Q: What was the most opening eye moment for you?
FD: The breadth of initiatives that the ISSCR is engaged in, the global impact they have, and the amazing commitment and engagement of the member volunteers! So many individuals give their time and efforts to support ISSCR activities.
Q: You mentioned bringing in people from new areas we have not so far. Can you expand on that?
FD: I believe that this is the one of the most important directions to keep pursuing. We have started to move toward this, but we still have work to do. Perspectives and challenges are different depending where you are based, and we miss those contributions that in turn can help us evolve the way we think about processes and practices in the field, which right now they may be tailored around a few and those we already know. The stem cell field is also evolving very rapidly, and these new directions should be reflected in the expertise of the committees.
Q: You have invested a tremendous time, energy and talent in this work, what inspires you to give so much?
FD: For me, the ISSCR embodies an international community and what we can achieve together when we work toward common goals, even in very challenging times in the world. It is a unique organization, engaged on many fronts and making a real difference in the stem cell field. Building community has always been part of me. I am moved to think about how to engage the membership, how to facilitate contributions from around the globe, how to create a turnover rate that ensures capacity to contribute but does not crystallize the structure around the same few. We need new and fresh voices continuously. I believe that we can do so much more together than we can alone.
Q: How are you constructing the SOC committee and have you seen a change over time and how has it contributed to what you have seen the work being done?
FD: The SOC is composed of people who have been engaged in ISSCR leadership positions in the past and therefore have an excellent overview of the breadth of the Society’s activities. They bring a rich array of experience, expertise, and connections to other communities in different areas. The committee discussions are open, thoughtful and constructive, and provide important feedback about new ideas and proposals. Moving forward, the inflection is that we have an opportunity to bring new voices to the SOC to have both a balance of institutional memory and fresh perspectives, as well as representation from all areas in the society’s purview, with people who care about the entire community/ecosystem.
Strategic Oversight Committee Members: Chair, Fiona Doetsch, Biozentrum, University of Basel, Amander T. Clark, University of California, Los Angeles, Hongkui Deng, Peking University, China, Arnold R. Kriegstein, University of California, San Francisco, Jane S. Lebkowski, Regenerative Patch Technologies, Christine L. Mummery, Leiden University Medical Center, Kathy Niakan, University of Cambridge, Takanori Takebe, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center & Osaka University and Institute of Science Tokyo, Sally Temple, Neural Stem Cell Institute, Joanna Wysocka, Stanford University, Ex Officio, Hideyuki Okano, Keio University of School of Medicine.
Both of these committees help the ISSCR govern integral parts of our Society – from our financial resources to our strategic objectives to ensuring internationality and the sharing of many voices that help to strengthen the ISSCR. The work that both have done to provide this insight and direction to assist the Board of Directors and CEO is pivotal as we see the field accelerate and the needs of our global community change and expand.
Acknowledgements: I am grateful to Kym Kilbourne for her continuous contributions and partnership in co-creating these monthly messages.