Secretary of stem cells sciences and technologies development headquarter stated on holding “the third national festival and international congress of stem cells and regenerative medicine”: we invite investors to move their assets toward the area of stem cells and regenerative medicine since we can pave the way for growth of this science with their help and support, making a revenue-creating country.

According to the public relations and information center of the Vice-Presidency for science and technology affairs, the stem cells sciences and technologies development headquarter will hold the third round of the "national festival and international congress on stem cells and regenerative medicine". To this end, Amir Ali Hamidieh, secretary of stem cells sciences and technologies development headquarter, answered our questions about the features and importance of this scientific event.

How do you analyze the feedbacks of technologists and investors about the two previous rounds of the national festival and international congress of stem cells?

Generally, we have received positive feedbacks from various audience groups of the festival. We witnessed that professors, students, technologists, as well as business and capital owners were satisfied with the implementation of the festival and its scientific content and specialized programs. In addition, most of the audiences asked about the date of the third round of the festival immediately at the end of the second round. This year, this even will be held with several months of delay. With regard to high welcoming of the event by audiences and due to increased number of participants, provision of facilities for the audience is our major concern. It is notable that there is an increased number of individuals who requested for attending this round of the festival.

Given the increased demand of audiences of this field, who will be prioritized in terms of registration?

Obviously whoever registers first for the event. Nonetheless, the Iranian students will be prioritized without a doubt. Given the space constraints of the event, insisting on attending the event by a greater number of people will definitely affect the quality of our work.

Is there any plan for expanding the space for this program?

According to the national document of stem cells sciences and technologies development headquarter approved by the cultural revolution higher council, the responsibility of the stem cells sciences and technologies development headquarter is extensive promotion of stem cells knowledge across the country. This has been realized over three courses of the relevant festivals held with the significant support of this headquarter. Without a doubt, the halls of the national conference center are among the unique and great centers for holding this national event. Nevertheless, I invite the private sector, donors, and enthusiasts of the field to invest in holding the current and future events, so that we could present a perfect festival and be able to provide the necessary space for the event. In addition, this participation of the private sector could reduce the financial burden on the shoulder of the stem cells sciences and technologies development headquarter.

What is the benefit of investing in this event, and in general, this area of knowledge, for investors?

Usually, investors seek new sciences and technologies that have a clear and growing economic trend based on their desire for more profits. Therefore, they will definitely invest in this area if the benefits of this knowledge are clear. According to the current anticipations, the level of investment volume in this area of knowledge will increase to more than 700% until 2030 and will grow to more than 2200 percent until 2050, reaching a value of above 500 billion dollars. Meanwhile, until a few years ago, many people and investors had no information about the capacities of stem cells and regenerative medicine. In addition, those who were aware of the concept did not believe in its profitability. Nevertheless, numerous investors are eager to invest in this field today, which is sign of positive potential of this area. This event is in fact an interconnected chain of knowledge and skill development, technology presentation and commercialization and marketing. In other words, the congress along with specialized-scientific workshops and innovation associations, a startup event along with technomart and exhibition of knowledge-based companies, student section along with the gathering of student associations and the national prize have been designed to complete these circles of chain. Therefore, we believe that a bright future will be achieved in this area in the next four years. In a way, such events lay the groundwork for activities of this field. I remember that people complained about the concomitant presence of adults and students in the festival. Nevertheless, they came to this realization at the end of the event that spending time with the young generation has a significant effect on them. However, we must believe that it is in fact our generation that teaches self-confidence to the next generation. Without a doubt, when a school student attends an event alongside other university students and adult researchers, they will have a brighter path for planning. In the previous round of the festival, students concluded that in the experimental science area, the end of science is not just practicing medicine or becoming a dentist. They understood that working as a researcher or even a therapist would bring an income and create spiritual support. On the other hand, gathering of investors, companies, faculty members, scientists and researchers in a festival will be associated with many benefits. This is in conflict with the approach of common congresses, where researchers, students and professors come together for some lectures and the event ends with no tangible conclusions. In a way, the cycle of science is not completed. However, in the previous round of the festival, several researchers and professors were able to present their ideas to investors in a technomart. This led to the attraction of a great number of investors for production of commercialized products. Therefore, this type of planning brings together all activists of the field to increase their synergy and make capital owners realize that their investment on professors and small knowledge-based companies is a current need of the community. Nevertheless, teaching this type of thinking to the public in a way that the framework of science and technology is strengthened in the country and everyone could take steps coordinately, and investors and knowledge-based companies could become successful as Iranian researchers and technologies takes time. We need to emphasize that one of the main goals of this festival is gathering academics, research centers, companies, investors, the science-seeking young generation, non-resident Iranians and overseas partners to interact with each other.

With the exception of visiting professors, was there any request from activists from outside the country to attend this event?

Yes. Last year, some people attended the festival from outside the country. This year, we have had some audiences from Iraq, India, Qatar, Australia and Malaysia to register for the event. I need to point out that the department of thought and innovation of the festival plays an important role in attracting non-resident Iranians in the past two years. With the cooperation of the international headquarter (which is now recognized as the center for international interactions in science and technology), we have followed up the relevant tasks 24/7, which resulted in the presence of a great number of non-resident Iranians in the festival. Those Iranian scientists that returned to the country paved the way for the participation of Iranian universities, science institutes and foreign universities in research and publication of joint articles and exchange of technology and students. The non-resident Iranians are in fact our ambassadors overseas, who have been able to improve Iranian researchers and students in passing their higher education and have acted as catalysts and leaders. The association of ideas and innovation has been significantly successful in this field in the past two years, providing a foundation for presence of more than 60 Iranian researchers in the area of stem cells and regenerative medicines in the country and meeting with researchers and authorities of academic centers of Iran. This year, we have tried to invite new non-resident Iranians to the festival, similar to the past two rounds.

How have international guests of the event welcomed the school student section?

It was very interesting for them when they realized there was a student section as well. At first, they were shocked and asked about the duration of the event. I thought they would only tolerate the event for only 10-15 minutes. However, we dragged them to the main hall after 4-5 hours. I think everything went on opposite of what they imagined and they would not believe that our students would be this successful. When we asked them about their favorite section, they referred to the school student section.

Do you believe that the success of this section was due to its pre-event programs?

Yes. The participants were selected from a few hundred students three months before the festival. Due to the limited space, we opted for selecting the best students. These programs were significantly effective. I see the students of the previous round of the festival in the research projects of today, some of them working in research centers of second-grade high school students. This is a win/win situation for both research centers and students since the centers have new human resources and students have an opportunity to grow.

It is notable that the third national festival and international congress of stem cells and regenerative medicine will be held November 23^rd-30^th, 2018 by the stem cells sciences and technologies development headquarter.