General overview of the Sixth International Symposium on Stem Cell Therapy and Cardiovascular Innovations.

Being one of the main stem cell therapy meetings of the year, the Sixth International Symposium on Stem Cell Therapy and Cardiovascular Innovations was held on April 23rd–24th, 2009, at the Auditorium of the High Council of Scientific Research of Spain (CSIC) in Madrid. Gathering the most prestigious basic researchers and clinical experts in the field of cardiovascular regenerative medicine, the aim of the meeting was to discuss the available evidence and the recent contributions from preclinical investigators, cardiologists, and cardiac surgeons in a participative translational fashion. The role of young “clinician scientists” was reinforced with a special poster session and three awards. The main conclusions of the symposium were (1) that standardization, larger clinical trials, and true translational research are needed, and (2) that new—allogeneic—stem cell products, biotechnological devices, and cell-based bioartificial organs are potentially exciting options for the future.