Adapted from a press release published by the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR)
A global network of stem cell cores that includes ISCRM’s Tom and Sue Ellison Stem Cell Core has received a 2026 Public Service Award from the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR).
The consortium, known as Stem Cell COREdinates, is an international network of human pluripotent stem cell core facilities dedicated to sharing expertise, protocols, reagents, and technological advances to define best practices.
Along with its affiliated network, CorEUstem, Stem Cell COREdinates represent the world’s leading stem cell core facility consortia, uniting 79 core facilities across continents to advance collaboration, rigor, inclusivity, and innovation in pluripotent stem cell research.
According to the ISSCR, “the Public Service Award recognizes outstanding contributions that strengthen the scientific community and advance the responsible translation of stem cell research for public benefit. Through their unprecedented coordination and commitment to shared standards, Stem Cell COREdinates and CorEUstem have reshaped the global infrastructure supporting stem cell science.”
The honorees will be recognized at the ISSCR 2026 Annual Meeting taking place 8-11 July 2026 in Montréal, Canada.
Dr. Julie Mathieu is an associate professor of comparative medicine and the Director of the Ellison Stem Cell Core. She joined Stem Cell COREdinates in 2018 and contributed to the group’s award application by gathering data on her core’s impact and soliciting letters of support from ISCRM labs that have used the core’s expertise in their research.
“This is a tremendous honor for the ISCRM Stem Cell Core and for all the facilities that are part of the network,” says Dr. Mathieu. “The ability to share protocols, exchange advice, and problem-solve together has been extremely valuable for us and has helped the field increase reproducibility and rigor in pluripotent stem cell culturing. We’re grateful for this recognition of the contributions stem cell cores make to the broader scientific community.”
Together, the networks have registered 3,936 patient-specific and control hiPSC lines in hPSCreg.eu and generated 4,058 gene-edited hPSC lines. By widely sharing validated differentiation protocols, they have enabled disease modeling, drug discovery, and GMP-compliant applications around the world and are already contributing to therapeutic progress while enabling scientists to tackle research questions that were previously out of reach.
Equally important is the collaborative model behind these achievements. Through international working groups, benchmarking studies, and active knowledge-sharing networks, laboratories across the globe rapidly exchange expertise and establish rigorous, widely accepted standards.
More than 350 hands-on training sessions each year reach over 740 scientists worldwide, expanding access to advanced stem cell techniques. By openly sharing protocols, mentoring emerging facilities, and maintaining strong quality and ethical standards, these networks demonstrate how collaboration can accelerate discovery while promoting equity, responsibility, and global scientific progress.