The 12th Takeda Science Foundation Symposium on PharmaSciences

Program

as of December 3, 2025

Day 1 (January 23, 2026)

Opening Remarks &Keynote

9:00Opening Remarks

Takanori Takebe

Takanori Takebe Cincinnati Children’s/ Institute of Science Tokyo/ The University of Osaka USA/Japan

9:10Keynote

Archaic Genomics

Svante Pääbo

Svante Pääbo Max Planck Institute Germany

【S1: Development 1】Chairperson: Sergiu Pasca

9:35S1-1

Mechanism and in vitro reconstitution of human germ-cell development

Mitinori Saitou

Mitinori Saitou

10:00S1-2

Using organoids to understand and target the human brain

Madeline A. Lancaster

Madeline A. Lancaster University of Cambridge UK

10:25S1-3

Periodic tissue structure formation in the respiratory system and its reconstruction using organoid culture system

Mitsuru Morimoto

Mitsuru Morimoto RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research Japan

Coffee Break (20 min.) 10:50-11:10

【S1: Development 2】Chairperson: Juan Carlos Belmonte

11:10S1-4

Towards reconstituting human and primate embryonic development in vitro

Cantas Alev

Cantas Alev Kyoto University Japan

11:35S1-5

Organoids to model maternal-fetal interactions in human pregnancy

Margherita Yayoi Turco

Margherita Yayoi Turco Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research Switzerland

12:00S1-6

Decoding the Logic of Self-Organization in Embryos and Their Stem Cell Models

xxxxx

Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz California Institute of Technology USA

Speakers‘ Photo Session (10 min.) 12:25-12:35
Lunch & Poster Session: <Lunch > 12:35-13:35 (60 min.)
<Poster Session> 13:35-14:30 / Odd Number(55 min.), 14:30-15:25 / Even Number (55 min)
Break (5 min.) 15:25-15:30

【S2: Disease 1】Chairperson: James M Wells

15:30S2-1

Organoids for cystic fibrosis precision medicine

Jeffrey Beekman

Jeffrey Beekman UMC Utrecht Netherlands

15:55S2-2

Culturing Human Epithelial Organoids in 3D and 2D

Hans Clevers

Hans Clevers Hubrecht Institute Netherlands

16:20S2-3

Lung organoids: windows to mechanism and therapy of lung disease and cancer

Carla Kim

Carla Kim Boston Children’s Hospital USA

Coffee Break (20 min.) 16:45-17:05

【S2: Disease 2】Chairperson: Margherita Yayoi Turco

17:05S2-4

Understanding of human disease biology using organoids

Toshiro Sato

Toshiro Sato Keio University Japan

17:30S2-5

Moving from an understanding of kidney development to new therapies

Melissa Little

Melissa Little Murdoch Children's Research Institute Australia

Welcome Reception (90 min.) 18:10-19:40

Day 2 (January 24, 2026)

【S3: Diversity 1】Chairperson: Juergen Knoblich

9:00S3-1

Human brain organoids record the passage of time over multiple years in culture

Paola Arlotta

Paola Arlotta Harvard University USA

9:25S3-2

Engineering tissue complexity into human PSC-derived gastrointestinal organoids

James M. Wells

James M. Wells Cincinnati Children’s USA

9:50S3-3

How breast tissue architecture and the menstrual cycle control tumor initiation and chemotherapy sensitivity

Jacco van Rheenen

Jacco van Rheenen Netherlands Cancer Institute

Coffee Break (20 min.) 10:15-10:35

【S3: Diversity 2】Chairperson: Paola Arlotta

10:35S3-4

Cardioids unravel human heart development and disease

Sasha Mendjan

Sasha Mendjan Institute of Molecular Biotechnology Austria

11:00S3-5

Human Pluripotent Stem Cells, Organoids, Disease Modeling and Drug Screening

Shuibing Chen

Shuibing Chen Weill Cornell Medicine USA

11:25S3-6

Organoid-guided Precsion Hepatology

Takanori Takebe

Takanori Takebe Cincinnati Children’s/ Institute of Science Tokyo/ The University of Osaka USA/Japan

Lunch & Poster Session: <Lunch > 11:50-12:45 (55 min.)
<Poster Session -Free Discussion-> 12:45-13:40 (55 min.)

【S4: Discovery 1】Chairperson: Hans Clevers

13:40S4-1

Design principles of tissue organization

Prisca Liberali

Prisca Liberali Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research Switzerland

14:05S4-2

Engineering next-generation tumor organoids

Matthias P. Lütolf

Matthias P. Lütolf Institute of Human Biology/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne Switzerland

Coffee Break (20 min.) 14:30-14:50

【S4: Discovery 2 & Closing Keynote】Chairperson:Melissa Little

14:50S4-3

Spatiotemporal dynamics of sperm production in the mouse testis

Benjamin Simons

Benjamin Simons University of Cambridge UK

15:15Closing Keynote

A Decade of Molecular Cell Atlases

Steve Quake

Steve Quake Chan Zuckerberg Initiative USA

Award Ceremony & Closing Remarks (20 min.) 15:40-16:00