BMC Medicine is seeking submissions of original research offering novel translational and clinical insights into stem cell therapies, to be presented as part of an ongoing stem cell series. With this thematic series, which will have its own dedicated webpage, we aim to highlight some of the most important and topical issues – including recent advances, controversies and challenges in stem cell research, and of course their clinical implications.

To kick-start the series, three specially commissioned articles for BMC Medicine highlight some of the most important and topical issues in clinical stem cell research. In a ‘call to arms’ for translational researchers, Hans Snoeck describes the as yet unrealized potential of differentiating human pluripotent stem cells into thymic epithelial cells. Marios Politis discusses how an optimized functional imaging protocol could assist new clinical trials using fetal cell transplantation in Parkinson’s disease. And Alan Trounson gives a broad overview of all clinical trials currently underway attempting to take stem cell therapies to patients.

In addition, three of BioMed Central’s flagship journals have come together to present a promotional print issue of comment and review articles on stem cell biology and medicine, available at the BioMed Central stand at the ISSCR meeting in Toronto in June. If you are attending the meeting, we encourage you to drop by the stand to pick up a copy of the issue, which contains contributions from BMC Medicine, BMC Biology and Genome Medicine.

If you would like your research to be considered at BMC Medicine, please send a presubmission enquiry to bmcmedicineeditorial@biomedcentral.com.

For more information about submitting your manuscript to BMC Medicine, please see the Instructions for Authors on our website www.biomedcentral.com/bmcmed.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Rosy Hosking PhD

Executive Editor, BMC Medicine