Li Ka Shing Foundation renews support for Yale Stem Cell Center

The Yale Stem Cell Center (YSCC), under the direction of biologist Haifan Lin, has announced a new generous grant of $1.86 million from the Li Ka Shing Foundation (LKSF), founded by Hong Kong businessman Li Ka-shing, to support education and healthcare initiatives. The contribution builds on a 2011 grant of $1.56 million to secure state-of-the-art equipment for stem cell research at Yale and includes new funding that will strengthen collaborations between Yale and Chinas Shantou University.

One of the fastest growing areas of biomedical science, stem cell research demands the very latest instrumentation and training. Since 2006, Lin has developed the Yale Stem Cell Center as both an incubator for scientific discovery and a training ground for new investigators.

The Yale Stem Cell Center offers a platform where both scientists and clinicians can ask important questions about stem cells and human health, Lin said. Continuing support from the Li Ka Shing Foundation will allow us to accelerate the pace and broaden the scope of our work.

Li said, Training side-by-side with leading scientists in stem cell research will be a transformative experience for the students and faculty at Shantou University Medical College, and I want to express my heart-felt appreciation to Professor Haifan Lin and the YSCC for this amazing opportunity.

Advances in stem cell science can offer basic insights into human development and the promise of new treatments for physical trauma, degenerative conditions, and genetic diseases. Because this research requires specialized instrumentation and expertise beyond what can be afforded by individual investigators, Lin has organized the Yale Stem Cell Center around four core laboratories that serve more than 80 Yale faculty members, along with researchers from other regional institutions.

In the Yale Stem Cell Center, Haifan Lin has developed an approach to collaborative research that truly serves as a model for universities and institutes around the country, said Robert J. Alpern, dean and the Ensign Professor at Yale School of Medicine. By sharing resources, laboratory techniques, and insights into how stem cells function, Haifan and his colleagues opened the door to discoveries that otherwise may not have been possible, for both basic science and clinical applications.

The new round of funding from LKSF will enable Yale investigators to purchase additional equipment to facilitate their research. This instrumentation will also support collaborations with scientists and clinicians in U.S. institutions such as the University of Connecticut Stem Cell Institute, the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. Such exchanges can deepen our basic understanding of stem cell biology and help to translate todays technological breakthroughs into tomorrows personalized treatments and cures.

The grant also continues and expands the Yale Stem Cell Centers partnership with Shantou University, a key comprehensive university established through a public-private partnership between the Ministry of Education of Guangdong Province and the Li Ka Shing Foundation.

Yale is enormously grateful to Li Ka Shing Foundation for its continued support of basic science, translational research, and scholarly exchange, said Carolyn Slayman, Sterling Professor of Genetics, professor of cellular and molecular physiology, and deputy dean for academic & scientific affairs. This grant will help expedite the development of therapeutic treatments for some of the worlds most debilitating diseases.

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Li Ka Shing Foundation renews support for Yale Stem Cell Center

Cephas Bowles, CEO/President of Jazz Station WBGO, Dies at 62

Cephas Bowles, the president and CEO of Newark, N.J., jazz radio station WBGO, died Feb. 21 at Hackensack University Medical Center, following complications from a stem cell transplant. Bowles, who had been diagnosed with leukemia two years ago and had previously undergone a bone marrow transplant, was 62.

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Joe Lovano (right) greets Lionel Hampton along with Cephas Bowles of WBGO at the Jazz Leadership Society Dinner held at Swing 46, New York City 1999

By Norm Harris

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Bowles, who was affiliated with the station for 21 years, grew up in Newark and returned to his hometown after earning a degree in broadcasting from Syracuse University and working for CBS radio in New York and two NPR stations in Arizona. His first position at WBGO was as station manager. As CEO/president, he was largely responsible for establishing the stations streaming presence on the web, the first jazz station to become available via that medium. Bowles also served on the board of directors of National Public Radio and was active in the Newark community in other areas.

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MD Anderson Names Hwu as Head of Cancer Medicine

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Newswise Patrick Hwu, M.D., chair of Melanoma Medical Oncology and Sarcoma Medical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, has been named division head of Cancer Medicine effective March 4.

Hwus selection came after a competitive national search to fill the position currently being served by Richard Champlin, M.D., on an ad interim basis. Champlin will continue to serve as chair of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapy.

Dr. Hwu is an internationally respected physician-scientist who has 25 years of experience in the fields of tumor immunology, targeted therapies and translational studies, said Ethan Dmitrovsky, M.D., provost and executive vice president. Hes a seasoned leader and has successfully chaired two departments and served as co-director of MD Andersons Center for Cancer Immunology Research and its immunotherapy platform. He has also held endowed positions, including the Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Distinguished University Chair in Cancer Research. Were delighted that he will be leading this vital division, and are thankful for Dr. Champlins skillful leadership during our search for a new division head.

Hwu earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and served as a house officer in internal medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. He completed a fellowship in oncology at the National Cancer Institute, where he continued to work for 10 years as a principal investigator leading tumor immunology studies. He joined MD Anderson in 2003 as the first chair of Melanoma Medical Oncology.

Dr. Hwu is an accomplished clinician, researcher and administrator who is well positioned to take the Division of Cancer Medicine already recognized as a global leader to the next level, said Raymond S. Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice chancellor for health affairs, The University of Texas System.

An expert in tumor immunology, Hwu has translated multiple concepts from the laboratory to the clinic and helped to launch the field of gene modified T cells, publishing research on the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) directed against cancer. Clinical trials using CAR-transduced T cells now are being studied in many types of cancers, and MD Anderson has established an adoptive T cell therapy program, treating more than 80 melanoma patients with T cells to date.

In addition, Hwu has produced novel, ongoing clinical trials based on his teams findings, including a study of combination T cell and dendritic cell therapy and a study of T cells modified with chemokine receptor genes to enhance their migration to the tumor. His most recent preclinical studies have focused on combinations of immune checkpoint blockade and T cell therapy, as well as rational combinations of targeted therapies and immunotherapies. Both of these concepts are being translated to the clinic.

Dr. Hwu and I worked closely together at the NCI for 13 years. He is one of those rare visionaries when it comes to expanding the frontiers of cancer medicine, said Steven A. Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., head of the Tumor Immunology Section and chief of the Surgery Branch at the National Cancer Institutes Center for Cancer Research. He is a brilliant scientist and leader. I congratulate him on this important position and look forward to working with him in his new leadership role at MD Anderson.

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Global warming contrarian researcher investigated for not revealing funding sources

3 hours ago by Bob Yirka

For several years, aerospace engineer Willie Wei-Hock Soon, with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) has been a well known figure in the debate regarding the cause of global warming. While most scientists have maintained that the elevated temperatures are due to increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from man-made processes, such as coal and gasoline burning, Soon has insisted that it is instead caused by normal fluctuations of the sun. Taking such a contrarian view has led to praise from those that support his views, and harsh criticism from those who do not.

Soon is in the spotlight again, this time facing accusations that he has not disclosed funding he has received when publishing research papers. His accusers suggest that he has received most of his funding from energy companies which would constitute a conflict of interest. Most respected journals require the authors of research papers to state in their paper that they report no conflict of interest.

Documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, by workers with Greenpeace which were subsequently given to investigators at the Climate Investigations Center (CIC) indicate that Soon received approximately $1.2 million in funding over the past fourteen years from companies such as Exxon Mobile, the American Petroleum Institute and most heavily, Southern Company, one of the largest electricity producers (which relies mostly on coal) in the country. Further research by investigators at CIC revealed that Soon did not disclose his ties to such funding organizations on nine research papers published in several different journals, in which he offers contrarian views on the cause of global warming. Also among the documents was a contract between CfA and Southern Company in which representatives with CfA promised to provide notification before publicly disclosing Southern Company as a funding source.

Also, because the CfA is partially funded by the U.S. government, representatives with Greenpeace have written letters to several congressional representatives asking that an investigation be undertaken to ascertain whether public funds were misused.

In light of the recent allegations, the CfA has launched an investigation of its own regarding disclosure issues regarding Soon. And finally, because the investigation is still ongoing, it is not yet clear what action journal editors will take regarding already published articles by Soon, or what will occur going forward.

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When federal funding regulations created limitations on human embryonic stem cell research, several states created their own funding programs. A new study analyzed stem cell funding programs in four states that provided their ...

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Global warming contrarian researcher investigated for not revealing funding sources

New Study Sheds Light on Cancer Stem Cell Regulation

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Newswise La Jolla, Calif., February 5, 2015 Researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) have discovered a precise stem cell signaling process that can lead to intestinal tumors if disrupted. The findings add to our understanding of how stem cells give rise to tumors and identify specific stem cell molecules that may be targeted to prevent the onset, progression, and recurrence of intestinal cancers. The results of the study appear online in Cell Reports today.

Accumulating evidence suggests that cancer stem cells are responsible for cancer initiation, progression, metastasis, recurrence, and drug resistance, said Jorge Moscat, Ph.D., program director of the Cell Death and Survival Networks Program at Sanford-Burnham. Our new research provides a better understanding of the signaling cascades that regulate stem cells and is essential for the design of new and more-efficacious therapies for cancer.

We have shown that protein kinase C-zeta (PKC-zeta) normally inhibits stem cell activity through downregulation of two signaling pathways: beta-catenin and Yap, said Maria Diaz-Meco, Ph.D., senior co-author of the paper and professor in the Program. Previously, our lab showed that PKC-zeta acts as a tumor suppressor that maintains homeostasis of intestinal stem cells. The current study reveals the mechanism by which this occurs.

The intestine is covered by a single layer of epithelial cells that are renewed every 3 to 5 days. The pool of cells that replace these epithelial cellsintestinal stem cellsneeds to be regulated to maintain homeostasis.

Disturbing the homeostasis of the stem cell pool can go two waysit can either reduce intestinal epithelial cell regeneration or increase the proliferation of stem cells, said Diaz-Meco. Cancer is produced by the accumulation of mutations in critical genes that control central mechanisms of cell growth. Stem cells are a permanent population in the intestine and a reservoir for those mutations. Therefore, if stem cell activity is increased, as in the case of intestines deficient in PKC-zeta, then the likelihood of developing tumors is much higher, and when the tumor is initiated it becomes more aggressive.

Using a genetically engineered mouse model for intestinal cancer, the research team found that this process is kept under control by direct phosphorylation by PKC-zeta of two essential tumor promoters: beta-catenin and Yap.

Importantly, we confirmed the tumorigenic profiles of PKC-zeta, beta-catenin, and Yap in human colon adenocarcinoma samples. The correlation of human results with our in-vivo mouse studies strongly suggests that Yap and beta-catenin are potential targets of PKC-zeta function and potential targets for new anti-cancer therapies.

"Our results offer new possibilities for the prevention and treatment of intestinal cancers by blocking the pathways that lead to tumors, said Moscat. "They also highlight a new strategy to promote intestinal regeneration after acute or chronic damage, such as that triggered by chemotherapy and radiation.

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New Study Sheds Light on Cancer Stem Cell Regulation

Top Swedish center boosts science-hub vision of SAR

Hilary Wong

Tuesday, February 03, 2015

The preeminent Karolinska Institutet will set up its first Asian research center in Hong Kong, which gets a boost in its quest to become a world-class science hub.

Local businessman Lau Ming-wai donated US$50 million (HK$390 million) to set up the Ming Wai Lau Centre for Regenerative Medicine.

The Swedish-Hong Kong center will focus on spinal injuries, a cure for Parkinson's disease, myocardial infarction and stem-cell liver transplant.

Anders Hamsten, vice chancellor of the Stockholm- based institute, said these are extremely critical diseases and groundbreaking research areas.

Karolinska's Nobel Assembly chooses the Nobel laureates in medicine or physiology each year.

The center will recruit 30 scientists through a global recruitment drive, with some of them coming from the institute.

The center's site will be decided in one to two months, with the Science Park one of the sites being considered.

It is expected to be up and running in six months,

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Researchers advance the science behind treating patients with corneal blindness

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 27, 2015) - Researchers in the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute have devised a novel way to generate transplantable corneal stem cells that may eventually benefit patients suffering from life-altering forms of blindness.

Scientists used human corneal cells to generate pluripotent stem cells that have a capacity to become virtually any body cell. Then, putting these cells on natural scaffolds, researcher's facilitated differentiation of these stem cells back to corneal cells.

"Our research shows that cells derived from corneal stem cells are attractive candidates for generating corneal cells in the laboratory," said Alexander Ljubimov, PhD, director of the Eye Program at the Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute and principal investigator on this research study.

This research, published in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine, marks an important first step toward creating a bank of corneal stem cells that may potentially benefit patients who suffer from many forms of corneal blindness. The group is now working to optimize the process with National Institutes of Health funding.

Corneal deficiencies may have genetic or inflammatory roots or be caused by injuries, like burns to the skin in occupational accidents. They result in damage or death of stem cells that renew the outermost part of the cornea. If left untreated, they often cause compromised vision or blindness.

Over 150,000 Americans and more than 3 million individuals worldwide are affected by corneal blindness.

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Study collaborators include Clive Svendsen, PhD, director of the Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute and professor of biomedical sciences and medicine; Dhruv Sareen, PhD, director of the Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Core and assistant professor of biomedical sciences; Mehrnoosh Saghizadeh, PhD, assistant professor of biomedical sciences; Yaron Rabinowitz, MD, director of the Division of Ophthalmology Research; and Vincent A. Funari, PhD, director of the Genomics Core and assistant professor of pediatrics.

Citation: Sareen D, Saghizadeh M, Ornelas L, et al. Differentiation of human limbal-derived induced pluripotent stem cells into limbal-like epithelium. Stem Cells Transl Med. 2014; 3(9):1002-12.

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Researchers advance the science behind treating patients with corneal blindness

Integrins are essential in stem cell binding to defective cartilage for joint regeneration

IMAGE:BioResearch Open Access is a bimonthly peer-reviewed open access journal led by Editor-in-Chief Robert Lanza, MD, Chief Scientific Officer, Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. and Editor Jane Taylor, PhD.... view more

Credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

New Rochelle, NY, January 26, 2015--The promise for using mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to repair cartilage damage caused by osteoarthritis depends on the MSC being able to attach efficiently to the defective cartilage. A novel laboratory model in which artificially created cartilage lesions and labeled MSC were used to test factors that might improve MSC binding and the effectiveness of future MSC-based therapies is described in BioResearch Open Access, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the BioResearch Open Access website.

In the article "1 Integrins Mediate Attachment of Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Cartilage Lesions," D. Zwolanek, PhD, and coauthors, University of Veterinary Medicine (Vienna, Austria), University of Cologne Medical Faculty (Germany), University Medical Center Rotterdam (The Netherlands) present the results of experiments using a combination of ex vivo and in vivo model systems of defective cartilage. They studied the effects of serum, plasma hyaluronic acid, and various cell adhesion-related proteins such as integrins on the attachment of MSC to the extracellular matrix of the cartilage.

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About the Journal

BioResearch Open Access is a bimonthly peer-reviewed open access journal led by Editor-in-Chief Robert Lanza, MD, Chief Scientific Officer, Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. and Editor Jane Taylor, PhD. The Journal provides a new rapid-publication forum for a broad range of scientific topics including molecular and cellular biology, tissue engineering and biomaterials, bioengineering, regenerative medicine, stem cells, gene therapy, systems biology, genetics, biochemistry, virology, microbiology, and neuroscience. All articles are published within 4 weeks of acceptance and are fully open access and posted on PubMed Central. All journal content is available on the BioResearch Open Access website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many areas of science and biomedical research, including DNA and Cell Biology, Tissue Engineering, Stem Cells and Development, Human Gene Therapy, HGT Methods, and HGT Clinical Development, and AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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Integrins are essential in stem cell binding to defective cartilage for joint regeneration

Regenexx Advanced Stem Cell Support Formula | Health Link …

1. Who is the Regenexx Advanced Stem Cell Support Formula for?

This supplement was designed for people who have joint pain and are looking for a natural, nutritional supplement to help support their joint health.

The Advanced Regenexx Stem Cell Support Formula is formulated as an innovative formula of nutritional supplements that helps maintain and support normal joint health and functioning. In Regenexx laboratory studies, the supplements used in this formula helped to maintain the health of the cell environment and provide support for the joints natural cartilage growth (chondrogenesis) process.

The Regenexx Advanced Stem Cell Support Formula is designed to work as a nutritional supplement by being taken orally as a one ounce daily drink. It will not work as intended when rubbed on the body.

There are products in the Regenexx Advanced Stem Cell Support Formula that are derived from corn, shellfish and black pepper.

Please see the Joint Supplement page (Supplement Detailed Information and Ingredients section) on the Regenexx website to view the list of ingredients.

Please discuss this with your physician. Duplicating ingredients may be wasteful. If you choose you can use our one a day innovative formula of nutritional supplements that help maintain and support normal joint health and functioning.

The Regenexx Advanced Stem Cell Support Formula has not been tested for safety with medication. Please discuss this with your physician.

Turmeric extracts (curcumin) have the potential to trigger biliary colic (gallbladder disease, gallbladder pain) in predisposed individuals with gallstones. Please discuss this with your physician.

BioPerine is a black pepper extract. It is used to help enhance the absorption of curcumin.

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Regenexx Advanced Stem Cell Support Formula | Health Link ...

Growing bone in space: Study to test therapy for bone loss on the International Space Station

UCLA has received grant funding from the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) to lead a research mission that will send rodents to the International Space Station (ISS). The mission will allow astronauts on the space station and scientists on Earth to test a potential new therapy for accelerating bone growth in humans.

The research will be led by Dr. Chia Soo, a UCLA professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery and orthopaedic surgery, who is member of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research. Soo is also research director for UCLA Operation Mend, which provides medical care for wounded warriors. The study will test the ability of a bone-forming molecule called NELL-1 to direct stem cells to induce bone formation and prevent bone degeneration.

Other members of the UCLA research team are Dr. Kang Ting, a professor in dentistry who discovered NELL-1 and is leading efforts to translate NELL-1 therapy to humans, Dr. Ben Wu, a professor of bioengineering who modified the NELL-1 molecule to make useful for treating osteoporosis, and Dr. Jin Hee Kwak, an assistant professor of dentistry who will manage daily operations.

Based on results of previous studies supported by the NIH, the UCLA-ISS team will begin ground operations in early 2015. They hope that the study will provide new insights into the prevention of bone loss or osteoporosis as well as the regeneration of massive bone defects that can occur in wounded military personnel. Osteoporosis is a significant public health problem commonly associated with "skeletal disuse" conditions such as immobilization, stroke, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury and jaw resorption after tooth loss.

"NELL-1 holds tremendous hope, not only for preventing bone loss but one day even restoring healthy bone," Ting said. "For patients who are bed-bound and suffering from bone loss, it could be life-changing."

The UCLA team will oversee the ground operations of the mission in tandem with a flight operation coordinated by CASIS and NASA.

"A group of 40 rodents will be sent to the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratory onboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule, where they will live for two months in a microgravity environment during the first ever test of NELL-1 in space," said Dr. Julie Robinson, NASA's chief scientist for the International Space Station program at the Johnson Space Center.

"CASIS is proud to work alongside UCLA in an effort to promote the station as a viable platform for bone loss inquiry," said Warren Bates, director of portfolio management for CASIS. "Through investigations like this, we hope to make profound discoveries and enable the development of therapies to counteract bone loss ailments common in humans."

Prolonged space flights induce extreme changes in bone and organ systems that cannot be replicated on Earth.

"Besides testing the limits of NELL-1's robust bone-producing effects, this mission will provide new insights about bone biology and could uncover important clues for curing diseases such as osteoporosis," Wu said.

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Growing bone in space: Study to test therapy for bone loss on the International Space Station