In March 2006, during the "Stem Cells" Keystone Symposia conference in Whistler, Canada, CiRA Director Emeritus and Professor Shinya Yamanaka (at the time a Professor at the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences, Kyoto University) surprised the scientific world with his groundbreaking report on induced pluripotent stem cells, which he coined as iPS cells.

Twenty years later, the Keystone Symposia conference was held under the theme "iPSCs: Progress, Opportunities, and Challenges" at the Kyoto International Conference Center on January 26-29, 2026, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the landmark discovery, which ultimately led to Yamanaka being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with the late Sir John Gurdon in 2012.

In his Keynote Address, Yamanaka reflected on the past, examined the present, and looked ahead to the future of iPS cell research. The three-day program, curated by the scientific organizers, Yamanaka, Professor Yanhong Shi (Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope), and Yasushi Kajii (Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.), focused on iPS cell-based disease modeling and drug discovery, as well as cell therapy development, clinical trials of iPS cell-derived products, 3D modeling using organoids or organs-on-a-chip, and AI and machine learning in iPS cell research and applications.

As leaders in the field shared their recent research findings in invited lectures on these topics, the conference also featured numerous oral and poster presentations by graduate and postdoctoral trainees as well as junior scientists from around the world.

In all, over 270 attendees working in diverse areas of the field, ranging from the basic science of cellular reprogramming to the medical applications of iPS cells, gathered to celebrate two decades of research achievements since Yamanaka's initial discovery.

On January 30, CiRA welcomed several invited speakers and attendees from the conference to continue the celebration at the CiRA Mini-Symposium: iPSCs Coming of Age, featuring presentations on the latest advances in genomics, bioinformatics, and organoids related to iPS cell research. The hybrid event hosted over 250 attendees on-site in the CiRA Auditorium and online via Zoom.

The celebration will continue with various scientific and public events, including the ISSCR iPSC 20th Anniversary Symposium, to take place at Kyoto University in October 2026.

Yamanaka reviews the past, present, and future of iPS cell research
in his opening Keynote Address.

The scientific organizers, Shi (fourth from left), Yamanaka (sixth from left),
and Kajii (fourth from right), acknowledge award recipients supported by
the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

Speakers and organizers of the CiRA Mini-Symposium: iPSCs Coming of Age
gathering pose for a celebratory photo.