10 Society Events, Opportunities, & Initiatives for 2023

Rayne Rouce, MD - February 16, 2023

ASGCT Board Member Rayne Rouce, MD, shares 10 things she's excited for in 2023.

There are plenty of reasons to get excited about gene and cell therapy, and, in particular, everything going on at ASGCT. I wanted to share a top 10 list of reasons to celebrate and things to look forward to at the Society in 2023. As an ASGCT board and committee member, it’s hard to list only 10 things I’m excited about, but I'll give it a go. Here are my top picks of upcoming events, opportunities, and successes.

  1. There are more than 3,700 gene and cell therapies in development for a broad range of indications, many of which are spearheaded by ASGCT members!!

  2. ASGCT’s past and future successes in policy and advocacy! The Policy and Advocacy team is leading the way in influencing changes that will ensure ALL patients have access to gene and cell therapies. The team has released 12 policy positions and three publications, participated in congressional briefings, and launched an exciting inaugural Congressional Policy Fellowship that's accepting applications through March 15.

  3. New awards for ASGCT members, which will be announced at the upcoming Annual Meeting! No spoilers from me so you’ll have to stay tuned! (Want to nominate someone for an existing Annual Meeting award? Learn more and submit here.)

  4. The 26th Annual Meeting in sunny LA. Need I say more?!

  5. The opportunity to once again meet at the ASGCT Policy Summit. With the success of this important event, maybe there's opportunity for us to gather more frequently?

  6. Continued support and growth for ASGCT's Biotech Training Labs: Teacher Training and Classroom Experience, which ASGCT piloted last summer. The program aims to provide health and science literacy to students and create pathways to careers in science, and, more specifically, gene and cell therapy! We’re looking forward to training three-times more teachers in 2023 than in 2022, who can potentially impact more than 6,000 students from underrepresented groups.

  7. Late breaking abstracts for the 2023 Annual Meeting; submissions are open through March 17 at 5 p.m. (CT)!

  8. Annual Meeting  keynote speeches from Jennifer Doudna, David Liu, Crystal Mackall, and Stan Riddell!

  9. ASGCT members collectively INSISTING policy and practice keep up with our science!

  10. Making gene and cell therapy accessible to all!

Dr. Rouce is an ASGCT Board member; member of the Communications and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion committees, and an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine.