Royan Congress to feature hundreds of research papers, focus on scientific resilience
Iran’s 27th Royan International Congress will go ahead next week despite the country’s ongoing war, with more than 1,200 participants registered, 447 research projects and paper abstracts admitted, and six specialist workshops scheduled.
“Over the past 27 years, despite various ups and downs, we have tried to hold the Royan Congress and there has been no disruption in its organisation,” executive secretary Rouhollah Fathi told a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday.
Fathi said 589 research projects had been submitted this year, of which 447 were accepted after detailed review. The accepted work will be presented alongside talks by leading Iranian and international researchers.
The event, hosted by the Royan Institute and the University of Science and Culture, comprises the 27th Congress on Reproductive Biomedicine, the 22nd Congress on Stem Cells and the 21st Nursing and Midwifery Seminar.
Six workshops will also be held, four covering clinical and therapeutic subjects and two focused on basic sciences.
The stem-cell program will cover cell and developmental biology, stem-cell biology, tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, new cancer treatments and gene therapy.
Panels will also address entrepreneurship, commercialization and scientific resilience in difficult conditions.
A new reproductive-medicine section will focus on monitoring the health of mothers and children born through assisted reproductive methods.
“The goal is not only to enable infertile couples to have children, but also to ensure the health of mothers and children,” said Azam Dalman, scientific secretary of the reproductive-medicine section.
Reza Moghadasali, scientific secretary of the stem-cell section, said a panel on “scientific resilience in academic environments in difficult conditions” would be held for academics, students and young researchers.
Speakers from 13 countries will attend, including Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Russia, the United States and Australia. The main language will be Persian, while foreign guests will speak in English.
Six prominent Iranian scientific figures will be honored at the opening ceremony, including Professor Kazem Parivar, Professor Mojtaba Rezazadeh Balochi, Professor Hamid Mirzadeh, Dr. Saghahr Salehpour, Dr. Mohammad Kazemini and Dr. Marzieh Ebrahimi.
An exhibition featuring 30 knowledge-based companies and manufacturers of medical and pharmaceutical equipment will run alongside the congress.
The opening ceremony will be held on Tuesday, September 1, at the University of Science and Culture in Tehran, with scientific panels running from 8 am to 6 pm on Wednesday and Thursday.
Royan Institute was established in 1991 by Dr. Saeid Kazemi Ashtiani and a group of researchers at the Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR) in Iran. Starting as a small surgical center for treating infertile couples, it has grown into a leading scientific hub in the Middle East, specializing in reproductive medicine, stem cell biology, and biotechnology.
The institute is internationally recognized for producing Royana, the first cloned sheep in the region in 2006, treating over 10,000 infertile couples annually, and publishing numerous papers in top-tier journals, making it a prominent reference center in the region.