The Pluripotent Stem Cell Conference 2021 (PSConf 2021) was held April 21-26, 2021, held at the Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine in Beijing, China. In response to COVID-19, restrictions PSConf was arranged with online formats to provide livestreaming and recording for a total of 136 delegates from 23 countries registered at the conference website (http://www.2021psconf.com/). The theme of the conference was to identify the current gaps in knowledge and technology and priorities for future research in human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-based manufacturing. With this theme, the confer­ence aimed to provide an opportunity to facilitate communications and promote developmenlt of this exciting field.

The bridging session, organized on 21 April 2021, brought together the leadership of the Chinese Society for Stem Cell Research (CSSCR), National Stem Cell Resource Centers Innovation Alliance, the human Pluripotent Stem Cell Registry (hPSCreg), the lntemational Stem Cell Banking Initiative (ISCBI) and the International Stem Cell Initiative (ISCI). All participants reaffirmed their commitment to synergize global efforts for the development of stem cell-derived products.

On April 22nd, a training session including international speakers was organized, with a total of 12 speakers from eight countries including Korea, Singapore, China, Japan, Germany, UK, and France, providing training courses on cell differentiation and repro­gramming, clinical application, standards development, Al-based data mining, stem cell ethics, etc. Around 70 trainees from different regions of China actively participated both onsite and virtually. 

More than 40 panelists from over 15 countries participated in workshops on human pluripotent hPSC manufacturing, featuring topics on scale-up and differentiation, and product formulation and release. This meeting recognized key research priorities for hPSC manufacturing.