Yearly Archives: 2015


Stem Cell Clinic > 2015

Two UC San Diego Scientists Receive Stem Cell Technology Grants

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Newswise The governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has awarded two University of California, San Diego researchers almost $3 million in combined funding to pursue new technologies intended to accelerate advances moving stem cell therapies out of the lab and into the clinic.

The funding was part of almost $30 million in new Tools and Technologies awards announced at CIRMs monthly meeting in San Francisco.

Sometimes even the most promising therapy can be derailed by a tiny problem, said Jonathan Thomas, JD, PhD, chair of the CIRM Board. These awards are designed to help find ways to overcome those problems, to bridge the gaps in our knowledge and ensure that the best research is able to keep progressing and move out of the lab and into clinical trials in patients.

Shaochen Chen, PhD, professor in the Department of Nanoengineering in the Jacobs School of Engineering and a member of the Institute of Engineering in Medicine at UC San Diego, received a $1.3 million in CIRM funding for development of 3D bioprinting techniques using human embryonic stem cell-derived heart muscle cells to create new cardiac tissue.

Millions of Americans suffer from cardiovascular disease, specifically congestive heart failure in which a heart valve ceases to work properly. Current treatment often calls for a valve transplant, but donor availability does not meet need.

Chen and colleagues are exploring the possibility of engineering healthy cardiac tissues bioprinted from heart muscle cells, called cardiomyocytes, created from human embryonic stem cells. These tissues could then be implanted in a damaged heart, restoring function.

Shyni Varghese, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering and director of the Bio-Inspired Materials and Stem Cell Engineering Laboratory, received a $1.4 CIRM grant to improve in vivo function of transplanted stem cells.

Vargheses lab focuses upon the complex interactions of cells with their surrounding microenvironment, and how the conditions necessary to promote normal, healthy survival and growth occur.

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Two UC San Diego Scientists Receive Stem Cell Technology Grants

UCLA Researchers Receive Prestigious CIRM Tools and Technologies Award

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Newswise Two scientists from the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have received a California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) Tools and Technology Award that will forward revolutionary stem cell medicine. The UCLA researchers were among only 20 scientists nationwide to receive the Tools and Technologies Award, the most of any institution represented.

Recipients receiving awards for their respective projects included Dr. James Dunn, professor of bioengineering and surgery, for his research investigating skin-derived precursor stem cells for the treatment of enteric neuromuscular dysfunction, and Dr. Hanna Mikkola, associate professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology, for her work creating a suite of engineered human pluripotent stem cell lines to facilitate the generation of patient specific hematopoietic stem cells.

UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center Director Owen Witte said, We are very grateful for CIRMs support of these potentially groundbreaking projects intended to overcome significant bottlenecks in driving stem cell therapies to the clinic.

The CIRM Tools and Technologies initiative is designed specifically to support research that can address regenerative medicines unique translational challenges. The award seeks to facilitate the creation, design and testing of broadly applicable novel tools and technologies for addressing translational bottlenecks to stem cell therapies.

Dr. James Dunn: Unlocking the Secrets of Neuromuscular Dysfunction

Dr. Dunns cutting-edge work focuses on assessing the therapeutic potential of skin-derived stem cells to treat neuromuscular gastrointestinal diseases. CIRM reviewers noted that, if successfully completed, the project would likely have a major impact upon the field. His lab will develop a model of intestinal neuromuscular dysfunction that is amenable to stem cell transplantation.

Dunns novel approach to treat these patients will use stem cells reprogrammed from the patients own skin (induced pluripotent stem cells) to generate the neural system to correct the intestinal dysfunction. Dunn and his team hope the research will result in a clinical trial using patient specific induced pluripotent stem cells and provide a critical step toward an improved therapeutic approach and to treat intestinal neuromuscular dysfunction.

Dr. Dunns research was additionally supported by the National Institutes and Sun West Company.

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UCLA Researchers Receive Prestigious CIRM Tools and Technologies Award

Faversham woman Roisin Kelleher first in UK to receive life-saving stem cell treatment for cystic fibrosis

By Stem Cell Treatment

Favershams pioneering patient Roisin Kelleher has become the first person in the UK to receive life-saving treatment for cystic fibrosis.

Roisin, of Whitstable Road, returned home from America after spending two weeks in the Dominican Republic undergoing stem-cell transplants.

The 20-year-old, who is a pupil at Queen Elizabeths Grammar School, was also diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension in July last year and her health suddenly and rapidly declined.

Roisin and her mum Anntoinette lying in bed, with brother Cian

Her breathlessness, fatigue and endless amounts of medication and trips to London hospitals had taken a full grip on her life and school and dreams of university became completely out of reach.

In a life-changing moment, doctors suggested that Roisin was placed on a waiting list for a double lung transplant, a suggestion that Roisin described as like signing my own death warrant.

Roisin Kelleher has cystic fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension. Picture: Tony Flashman

But her mother Anntoinette refused to give up hope and discovered Dr Grekos miraculous treatment in the Dominican Republic.

Adult stem cell treatment heals the damaged lung tissues by harvesting healthy cells from the patients bone marrow and that of a genetic relative who does not suffer from CF.

For Roisin, the donor was her mother.

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Faversham woman Roisin Kelleher first in UK to receive life-saving stem cell treatment for cystic fibrosis

Topeka Zoo Black Bear Undergoes Stem Cell Therapy

By Stem Cell Treatment

Peek the American black bear (Courtesy: Topeka Zoo)

Peek the bear is shown undergoing a CT scan at St. Francis Health Center in this photo from the Topeka Zoo.

St. Francis Health Center staff watch as a CT scan is performed on Peek the black bear. (Courtesy: Topeka Zoo)

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - An American black bear at the Topeka Zoo may be the first bear ever to undergo stem cell treatment for a spinal problem.

Zoo Director Brendan Wiley says Peek, who is 20-years old, started losing control of her hind legs two weeks ago. The condition worsened and zoo staff says pain medication was not having any impact on the situation.

One of the unique things about this scenario is that Peek hasnt acted like anything is hurting her. It is like the front half of her body can no longer communicate with the back half, said Animal Care Supervisor Shanna Simpson.

The zoo worked with St. Francis Health Center to perform a CT scan. Peek was tranquilized and transported to St. Francis' imaging facilities.

"Our first priority is human patient safety and access," says Brent Wilkins, director of Imaging Services at St. Francis Health. "We work with the Topeka Zoo to accommodate animals that need CT scans in off hours when one of our CT scanners is available. We made sure the bear was separated from any other patients and performed a high-level decontamination and cleaning of the area, called a terminal cleaning, after the bears visit."

The scan revealed an area of Peek's spine with spinal stenosis, a narrowing of her spinal column, causing pressure on the spinal cord.

In anticipation of future treatment, Dr. Larry Snyder and Dr. Travis Gratton, veterinarians from Topeka's University Small Animal Hospital were contacted. Before Peek was transported for the CT scan, the two harvested fat cells, which they converted to stem cells to inject back into her. The theory behind the treatment is that the stem cells can stimulate damaged area to repair and heal itself.

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Topeka Zoo Black Bear Undergoes Stem Cell Therapy

The Dallas PRP and Stem Cell Institute Announces Their Grand Opening

By Stem Cell Medicine

Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) February 02, 2015

The Dallas PRP and Stem Cell Center (PASC Institute) announces the establishment of a Clinical Institute where patients with musculoskeletal injuries and conditions can go for cutting edge treatments to accelerate recovery and promote healing without surgery. The Institute treats patients with platelet rich plasma (PRP) injections derived from their own blood and with stem cell injections derived from their own bone marrow.

"We want patients with various orthopedic conditions to benefit from the rapidly advancing field of regenerative medicine," said Don Buford, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and founder of the Institute. Patients with common diagnoses such as arthritis, tendon injuries, muscle injuries, cartilage injuries, back injuries, and inflammatory conditions may benefit from procedures that concentrate the body's healing powers at the site of injury. Most conditions are treated with only 1 to 3 office visits. All procedures are done under ultrasound guidance for pinpoint accuracy in treatment.

The PASC Institute was founded by board certified orthopedic surgeons actively involved in clinical research of regenerative and biological therapies for musculoskeletal conditions. The therapies used at the Dallas PRP and Stem Cell Institute are designed to magnify the body's own healing potential and to avoid surgery. Our staff are uniquely qualified to discuss and counsel our patients on all surgical and nonsurgical options available for treatment. Since we are located in Dallas, Texas, we expect the Institute to be a destination choice for patients interested in treatment with PRP or stem cell therapy. With the rising costs of healthcare, we hope that establishing and validating regenerative treatment options for common orthopedic conditions will lead to better overall health care while saving millions of dollars in surgery that may no longer be necessary.

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The Dallas PRP and Stem Cell Institute Announces Their Grand Opening

Tampa stem cell clinic is long on promises, not evidence

By Stem Cell Treatment

TAMPA Dr. Burton Feinerman has spent more than a decade using stem cell therapies that are banned in the United States, sending desperate families to Peru seeking treatments for their babies' terminal conditions like Tay-Sachs disease.

The therapies are costly and unproven, and no insurer will cover them. But there is no law against a U.S. doctor recommending them, as long as they aren't performed here.

Now the 85-year-old pediatrician is focusing on a stem cell therapy he can perform in Tampa, for seniors with such incurable lung conditions as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.

Feinerman, medical director of the Tampa-based Lung Institute, says lung patients tend to get the most benefit from stem cell therapies. And he can treat them in the United States because he is re-infusing patients with their own stem cells, a legal process under certain circumstances.

But it's not approved as a lung disease therapy in this country. Neither the American Lung Association nor the International Society for Stem Cell Research have endorsed it. Medicare won't cover it.

So Feinerman's patients must pay cash between $7,500 and $12,000 for a three-day treatment, plus $4,500 for additional "boosters'' of cells extracted from their blood or abdominal fat.

The Lung Institute has produced a slick website and an advertising campaign, and it puts on seminars at which prospects can hear the testimonials of satisfied patients.

But there are no clinical data showing stem cell therapies benefit patients with lung disease, said Dr. Daniel Weiss, a professor at the University of Vermont College of Medicine and a leading lung disease researcher. Further, studies of mice suggest that if the therapies work, it likely would help only acute lung conditions like respiratory distress syndrome, not chronic conditions like COPD.

"I do not recommend any type of cell therapy (for lung disease) at this point," Weiss said.

Feinerman insists the doubters are wrong. "Just go to Google," he told a Times reporter who asked him for clinical research to back his claims. Lung Institute employees later provided citations for three journal articles, but none showed the treatments worked. In fact, Weiss wrote two of the articles.

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Tampa stem cell clinic is long on promises, not evidence

Regenestem Network and Gilberto Hernandez Falcon, M.D. Open Stem Cell Clinic in Yucatan

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MIAMI (PRWEB) January 30, 2015

Regenestem Network has announced the grand opening of a new stem cells clinic in the prestigious Hospital Clinica de Merida in Yucatan, Mexico. The new clinic will operate under the direction of Gilberto Hernandez Falcon, M.D., a member of the Global Stem Cells Advisory Board and CEO of Regenestem Mexico Sur in Villahermosa Tabasco.

The Yucatan facility is the newest in a growing number of Regenestem clinics providing comprehensive regenerative medicine services worldwide. Plans include equipping the new clinic with the latest technology from the Adilyfe line of stem cell treatment products, made available through Global Stem Cells Group affiliate Adimarket.

Expanding the Regenestem Network throughout Mexico is a great opportunity to bring cutting edge medical advancements to patients, while creating and sustaining new jobs for medical professionals in the Central America region, says Regenestem Founder and CEO Ricardo DeCubas. Were proud to be working with Dr. Hernandez Falcon in making stem cell medicine available to a growing number of patients in the region.

The new Regenestem Yucatan facility will offer the most advanced protocols and techniques available in stem cell medicine.

I am proud to continue to provide stem cell therapies to a wide range of patients here in Mexico and the Central America region, Hernandez Falcon says. Working with the Regenestem Network and Global Stem Cells Group has allowed us to help more and more patients access promising treatments for a range of medical problems.

The Global Stem Cells Group and Regenestem are committed to the highest of standards in service and technology, expert and compassionate care, and a philosophy of exceeding the expectations of their international patients.

For more information, visit the Regenestem Network website, email info(at)regenstem(dot)com, or call 305-224-1858.

About Regenestem:

Regenestem Network, a division of the Global Stem Cells Group, Inc., is an international medical practice association committed to researching and producing comprehensive stem cell treatments for patients worldwide. Having assembled a highly qualified staff of medical specialistsprofessionals trained in the latest cutting-edge techniques in cellular medicineRegenestem continues to be a leader in delivering the latest protocols in the adult stem cell arena. Global Stem Cells Group and Regenestem Network are expanding the companys clinical presence worldwide by partnering with experienced and qualified regenerative medicine physicians to open new clinics licensed and developed under the Regenestem banner. In 2014, Global Stem Cells Group expanded the Regenestem Networks global presence to 20 countries.

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Regenestem Network and Gilberto Hernandez Falcon, M.D. Open Stem Cell Clinic in Yucatan

Genuine MS clinical trial approved for Manitobans

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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

By: Mary Agnes Welch

Posted: 3:00 AM | Comments: | Last Modified: 7:36 AM | Updates

HANDOUT / THE CANADIAN PRESS Enlarge Image

Dr. Mark Freedman of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Two Canadian research centres are gearing up for a clinical trial to determine whether a type of stem cell can help alleviate the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

In the aftermath of controversy over a costly overseas stem-cell treatment touted by a Winnipeg businessman, 20 Manitobans with multiple sclerosis can now take part in a genuine clinical trial, launched Thursday.

The $4.2-million study, the first of its kind in Canada, is being funded by the MS Society at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre.

It comes after revelations about a local medical researcher, Doug Broeska, whose company Regenetek charged about 70 MS and ALS patients as much as $45,000 for stem-cell treatment at a hospital in India. Earlier this month, controversy erupted over Broeska's credentials, the ethics approvals his research received, promises he made about the treatment's effects and the lack of followup care provided to patients. Broeska, who has been successfully sued several times in relation to past business ventures, claimed to have a PhD from the University of Manitoba, which is untrue. He later claimed to have a PhD from Brightland University, which has been linked to a degree-mill operator and charges $3,600 for a PhD certificate available in three to five weeks.

-- Yves Savoie, president and CEO of the MS Society

Though reluctant to comment directly on the Regenetek controversy, MS Society president and CEO Yves Savoie noted the new clinical trial does not ask patients to pay for treatment. He said the trial was chosen following an open competition and vetting by a rigorous ethical approval process.

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Genuine MS clinical trial approved for Manitobans

Stem Cell Therapy, Stem Cell Treatments, Stem Cell Clinics …

By Stem Cell Clinic

With the onset of Alzheimers disease, information transfer at the synapses (the connection between the nerve cells and extensions) starts to break down, and the number of synapses decreases significantly.

Autoimmune diseases are conditions in which the patients immune system generates cellular and antibody responses to substances and tissues normally present in the body.

In each condition there is chronic obstruction of the flow of air through the airways and out of the lungs, and the obstruction generally is permanent and may be progressive over time.

Diabetes is the condition in which the body does not properly process food for use as energy. When you have diabetes, your body either doesn't make enough insulin or can't use its own insulin as well as it should.

Multiple sclerosis (or MS) is a degenerative disease involving the deterioration of nerve cells. MS attacks the central nervous system (CNS), which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves.

Osteoarthritis, or degenerative joint disease, is the most common type of arthritis. It is caused by the degradation of a joints cartilage.

Parkinson's disease is a chronic progressive neurological disease that affects nerve cells (neurons) in an area of the brain known as the substantia nigra.

Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disease that attacks the bodys own tissues, specifically the synovium, a thin membrane lining the joints. As a result, joint fluid builds up, causing pain in the joints and inflammation thats systemic.

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