The EuroStemCell project’s been running for just over a year now, building Europe's stem cell hub:  a web platform for information, education and conversation about stem cell research and regenerative medicine in Europe.   We’ve still got lots more in the pipeline, but we’ve also already achieved a lot and thought it would be good to take stock as we head into Year 2.

This website is the main outlet for our activities.  We've restructured our menus and refreshed our homepage to accommodate lots of new strands of content, all aimed at making reliable, independent information and road-tested educational resources on stem cells and their impact on society available to all.  

Sharing the latest science

• We have published 9 non-technical fact sheets on different aspects of stem cell research and regenerative medicine - from embryonic stem cell ethics to GMP manufacturing, cancer stem cells and reprogramming. All fact sheets are reviewed by relevant specialists.  
• Our 7 new commentaries included in-depth coverage of an ongoing European Court of Justice case about patenting of embryonic stem cell based technologies. We reported scientists' concerns about this case, and its ethical, legal and biotechnology sector implications. We also collated the widespread media coverage of the case and collected more than 500 signatures from concerned individuals in support of the scientists' position. 
• In collaboration with The Node, we have produced a monthly version of Erin Campbell’s image blog, bringing the beauty and detail of recently-published stem cell images to a general (non-scientist) audience.
• We've begun updating you on what your taxes are paying for in European research by publishing updates from two large stem cell projects funded by the European Community.

Stem cell tools and resources

• We have launched our stem cell toolkit and the first six tools – a set of extensively tested, downloadable resources and activities. All come with full instructions and optional extra components, and are customizable to suit a variety of educational settings.
• Our new stem cell directory already catalogues 38 stem cell resources, including several in Italian and German and one resource in 22 European languages. The directory is fully searchable and users can vote on, comment on and submit stem cell videos, websites, lesson plans, presentations and other resources.
• We've acted as advisors for a group of Swedish students developing a stem cell iPad app, and licensed footage from our films to a Hungarian production company and to the Museum of Science & Industry in Tampa, Florida.

Direct public engagement

• Through Debating science issues, we facilitated stem cell science & ethics workshops at 18 secondary schools in the west of Ireland and 14 stem cell debates throughout the Republic and Northern Ireland
• A group of international teachers attended EMBL’s Monterotondo campus for ‘Stem Cells at the Forefront’ - 3 days of lectures, laboratory experience and hands-on practical experience. EuroStemCell’s toolkit and resources were presented and teachers used Introducing stem cells, Stem cell stories and All about stem cells to prepare for a poster presentation
• Four Italian universities combined film and lectures to introduce students to key concepts in stem cell science during Unistem’s coordinated activity in March this year. A huge 2,200 school students and 100 teachers from 55 high schools attended. EuroStemCell's All about stem cells educational resource formed the basis of a workshop as a key component of the activities in Milan.
• We're working with the Bergamo Scienza festival to run Stem cell dream on October 8 2011
• 7 scientists and science communicators have taken our Discover stem cells tool to 11 classes of 12-14 year olds. More school visits are lined up for the autumn and translation of the materials into Spanish is underway.
• We presented the EuroStemCell project at the ISSCR 9^th Annual Meeting’s Satellite Symposium ‘An informed Society - How to participate in public science education and why it matters’ in June 2011.

EuroStemCell in numbers

49 scientists, science communicators and other experts in their fields have written, reviewed and translated content for the website so far. 14 stem cell videos are now freely available on our YouTube channel. We’ve posted 148 tweets and have 514 followers on our Twitter account, @eurostemcell. We have also set up a fledgling Facebook page and added Facebook buttons to this site.  Go on, like us!

We've responded to 57 direct enquiries from patients, their families and caregivers, on clinical trials, unproven treatments, umbilical cord blood banking and prospects for therapy in a variety of diseases, and many more from event organizers, recruiters, media, students and job seekers.

What's next?

Right now, we're working (with many translators) on making this website fully multilingual. We're developing map-based resources to provide current, accessible and visual information on the European stem cell landscape, producing a new film on how the behaviour of cells is controlled in the body, and writing a whole suite of new fact sheets, commentaries and other text-based resources. We're also updating and extending our library of 30 FAQ on stem cells, regenerative medicine and disease, and over the next year we’ll be launching a newsletter as well as building our links with other stem cell projects and networks .

There's lots to do, and we'd love your help. Take a look at our participate page for some ideas about how you can help us build Europe's stem cell hub.  Let us know if you're already using any of the resources on our site, and what you think of them. Or get in touch with other feedback and ideas.