UCSD, other stem cell clinics get millions

UCSD oncologist/researcher Catriona Jamieson is principal investigator for the university's $8 million stem cell grant.

To speed up the quest to bring stem cell therapies to patients, a state agency on Thursday granted $8 million each to three academic medical centers pursuing "translational" work -- UC San Diego, UC Los Angeles and City of Hope in Duarte.

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine voted 10-1 to fund the "alpha" stem cell clinics, which are intended to bring stem cell treatments to the public.

UC San Diego's proposal supports two stem cell-based clinical trials, both already underway. Catriona Jamieson, an oncologist at the university, is the principal investigator for the grant.

One, a treatment for Type 1 diabetes, was developed by San Diego's ViaCyte. The other, for spinal cord injuries, was developed by Geron of Menlo Park. Geron dropped the trial, but it was picked up by Neuralstem of Germantown, Md. In October, UCSD treated the first patient in the revived trial at the university's Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center.

The stem cell agency, commonly called CIRM, has focused heavily on basic research since its founding by California voters in 2004. But in recent years, the public has become more anxious to see the fruits of $3 billion in bond money given to the agency reach patients. The "alpha" clinics funded Thursday are part of that effort.

Early optimism that treatments would be quickly available was disappointed, mainly because issues of safety had to be resolved first. Therapies that actually place cells in the body posed new risks, because as living things, cells grow and can migrate. Embryonic stem cells can form tumors. Viacyte and Neuralstem grow replacement tissues from embryonic stem cells, so they needed to show that no unconverted cells would accidentally be introduced into the patient.

Skepticism has also grown over the ethics of CIRM officials, mainly regarding conflicts of interests. Many CIRM board members are chosen from institutions that get funded -- a feature written into the agency by Prop. 71. CIRM has adopted reforms to limit board members from voting in matters where they have conflicts. But CIRM's previous president, Alan Trounson, caused more controversy when he joined the board of CIRM-funded Stemcells Inc, just one week after departing the agency.

CIRM President Randy Mills, who replaced Trounson earlier this year, has tried to quell the controversy with new standards to prevent officials like Trounson from appearing to cash in on their agency role. And he has worked with the governing board to rethink how the agency's remaining funds can be best spent.

CIRM has invested heavily in San Diego stem cell programs, most notably contributing $43 million to a $127 million "collaboratory" building across from the Salk Institute in La Jolla. The Sanford Consortium, as it's called, brings together researchers from five institutions: UCSD, the Salk Institute, The Scripps Research Institute, the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology.

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UCSD, other stem cell clinics get millions

Spinal Cord Injury, Lenny Larsen | Stem Cell + Epidural Stimulation Treatment Testimonial – Video

Spinal Cord Injury, Lenny Larsen | Stem Cell + Epidural Stimulation Treatment Testimonial
Only the 2nd patient to receive the revolutionary epidural stimulation + stem cell treatment for spinal cord injury, Lenny was able to breathe on his own for the first time since his tragic...

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More than 900 Physicians Converge on Buenos Aires for Global Stem Cells Groups First International Symposium on Stem …

MIAMI (PRWEB) October 22, 2014

More than 900 physicians researchers and regenerative medicine experts from around the world attended the First International Symposium on Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina Oct. 2-4, 2014.

The event, hosted by Global Stem Cells Group in partnership with Julio Ferreira, M.D., President of the South American Academy Cosmetic Surgery, offered an opportunity for many of the worlds most respected authorities on stem cell and regenerative medicine to showcase advancements in research and therapies on a global level.

An interdisciplinary team of leading international stem cell experts provided a full day of high-level scientific lectures geared to medical professionals. Pioneers and luminaries in stem cell medicine who served as featured speakers at the event included:

Lord David Harrell, PhD., a scientific leader recognized nationally, internationally recognized expert in neuroscience and regenerative medicine and a member of the Global Stem Cells Group Advisory Board spoke on spoke on the cellular composition of bone marrow with a focus on stem and progenitor cell activities of bone marrow stem and progenitor cells.

Joseph Purita, M.D., Director of The Institute of Regenerative and Molecular Orthopedics in Boca Raton, Florida, member of the Global Stem Cells Group Advisory Board and a pioneer in the use of stem cells and platelet rich plasma for a variety of orthopedic conditions, spoke about the use of PRP and stem cell injections for treatment of musculoskeletal conditions. He detailed cutting-edge treatments he now offers to his clinic patients, including extensive use of platelet-rich plasma in conjunction with bone marrow stem cells (BMAC), adipose stem cells (SVF) and fat grafts.

Vasilis Paspaliaris, M.D., CEO of Adistem, Ltd., a member of the Global Stem Cells Group Advisory Board and a thought-leading and highly experienced clinical pharmacologist and medical scientist discussed the proven differences in efficacy between the mesenchyme stem cells (MSCs) of a young donor and those of an aging donor, primarily due to the younger donor cells ability to secrete more trophic factors.

According to Benito Novas, Global Stem Cells Group CEO, the world-class event was well received at a time when the field of regenerative medicine is on the verge of changing medical science forever.

We wanted the symposium to help clear up old misconceptions and change outdated attitudes by educating people on the wide range of illnesses and injuries stem cell therapies are already treating and curing, Novas says. We set out to establish a dialogue between researchers and practitioners in order to help move stem cell therapies from the lab to the physicians office and I believe we achieved our goals with this symposium.

Our objective is to open a dialogue among the worlds medical and scientific communities in order to advance stem cell technologies and translate them into point-of-care medical practices.

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Stem Cell Hair Therapy – Hair Regrowth Treatment using Adult Stem Cell from Luminesce – Video

Stem Cell Hair Therapy - Hair Regrowth Treatment using Adult Stem Cell from Luminesce
Do It Yourself - Stem Cell Hair Therapy : http://placesiana.com/stem-cell-hair-loss-therapy Imagine becoming a healthier, much younger, better looking you? Infused with a potent growth factor...

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Stem cell treatment of spinal cord injuries [Pharyngula]

I have to admit that my first response to these reports out of Britain that stem cells had been successfully used to repair a complete spinal cord transection was skepticism incredulity even. Theyre reporting that a man with a completely severed spinal cord at level T10-T11 is able to walk again! The Guardian gushes! The Daily Mail gets in the act (always a bad sign)! When I read that the patient had an 8mm gap in his spinal cord that had been filling up with scar tissue for the last two years, I was even more doubtful: under the best of conditions, it was unlikely that youd get substantial connectivity across that distance.

So I read the paper. Im less skeptical now, for a couple of reasons. They actually did this experiment on 3 people, and all showed degrees of improvement, although the newspapers are all focusing on just the one who had the greatest change. The gradual changes are all documented thoroughly and believably. And, sad to say, the improvements in the mans motor and sensory ability are more limited and more realistic than most of the accounts would have you think.

The story is actually in accord with what weve seen in stem cell repair of spinal cord injury in rats and mice.

Overall, they found that stem cell treatment results in an average improvement of about 25% over the post-injury performance in both sensory and motor outcomes, though the results can vary widely between animals. For sensory outcomes the degree of improvement tended to increase with the number of cells introduced scientists are often reassured by this sort of dose response, as it suggests a real underlying biologically plausible effect. So the good news is that stem cell therapy does indeed seem to confer a statistically significant improvement over the residual ability of the animals both to move and feel things beyond the spinal injury site.

Significant but far from complete improvement is exactly what wed expect, and that improvement is a very, very good thing. It is an accomplishment to translate animal studies into getting measurable clinical improvements in people.

The basic procedure is straightforward. There is a population of neural cells in humans that do actively and continuously regenerate: the cells of the olfactory bulb. So what they did is remove one of the patients own olfactory bulbs, dissociate it into a soup of isolated cells, and inject them into locations above and below the injury. They also bridged the gap with strips of nerve tissue harvested from the patients leg. The idea is that the proliferating cells and the nerves would provide a nerve growth-friendly environment and build substrate bridges that would stimulate the damaged cells and provide a path for regrowth.

Big bonus: this was an autologous transplant (from the patients own tissues), so there was no worry about immune system rejection. There were legitimate worries about inflammation, doing further damage to the spinal cord, and provoking greater degeneration, and part of the purpose of this work was to assess the safety of the procedure. There were no complications.

Also, Im sure you were worried about this, but the lost olfactory cells also regenerated and the patients completely recovered their sense of smell.

Now heres the clinical assessment. Three patients were operated on; T1 is the one who has made all the news with the most remarkable improvement. There were also three control patients who showed no improvement over the same period.

Neurological function improved in all three transplant recipients (T1, T2, T3) during the first year postsurgery. This included a decrease of muscle spasticity (T1, T2) as well as improvement of sensory (T1, T2, T3) and motor function (T1, T2, T3) below the level of spinal cord injury.

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Stem cell treatment of spinal cord injuries [Pharyngula]

StemGenex New Clinical Study Aims to Provide Relief to Osteoarthritis Patients through Latest Stem Cell Therapy

La Jolla, CA (PRWEB) October 21, 2014

StemGenex, the leading resource for adult adipose stem cell therapy in the US aimed at improving the lives of patients dealing with degenerative diseases today announced their newest clinical study in partnership with Stem Cell Research Centre for Osteoarthritis. StemGenex and Stem Cell Research Centre (SCRC) believe that a commitment to the safety and efficacy of stem cell therapy are paramount when providing care to patients with life threatening diseases.

There are currently 21 million people in the U.S. alone, who suffer from Osteoarthritis. The most common symptoms are joint pain and stiffness which most commonly affect the neck, lower back, knees, shoulders and hips. These symptoms gradually worsen over time ultimately leading to the need for a total joint replacement procedure. StemGenex believe their new clinical study may provide patients improved mobility, significantly reduced pain and ultimately a better quality of life without needing joint replacement surgery.

This clinical study makes stem cell therapy for osteoarthritis accessible to the millions of individuals currently struggling with this painful disease. The protocol used in these stem cell treatments is unique to StemGenex and SCRC, having the possibility of being more effective than other stem cell treatments currently available. These treatments will utilize a multiple administration method which also includes injections precisely targeting the joint space. StemGenex believes these treatments may be able to keep patients from needing joint replacement surgery in the future, due to regeneration of cartilage in the joint.

This clinical study will be conducted under the leadership of the principal investigator,Dr. Jeremiah McDole, Ph.D. Dr. McDole states, We are excited to begin enrolling for this new study. We have high expectations for what we will learn and what advancements can ultimately be implemented. Of course, our focus is always set toward the near future and what can be done to help improve the lives of those individuals with Osteoarthritis.

This study is registered through The National Institutes of Health which can be found at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov and is being conducted under IRB approval of Stem Cell Research Centre (SCRC). There are many patients who are exploring stem cell therapy for osteoarthritis and it is important they have access to top-tier stem cell therapy. By providing patients access to stem cell studies registered through The National Institutes of Health, patients now have the ability to choose treatment that focuses on both safety and efficacy.

Rita Alexander, founder and president of StemGenex stated With so many people suffering from Osteoarthritis its absolutely wonderful to provide a treatment that has not only shown efficacy but also to be minimally invasive. Over the last several years we have observed significant improvement in the symptoms of Osteoarthritis patients through stem cell treatment. Through these registered clinical studies, we will now be able to publish our findings over the next few years.

This clinical study follows on the heels of StemGenex latest clinical studies for both Parkinsons disease and Multiple Sclerosis. Stem cell treatment studies are currently being offered by StemGenex partnering with Stem Cell Research Centre (SCRC) to patients diagnosed with Osteoarthritis as well as degenerative neurological diseases. StemGenex takes a unique approach of compassion and empowerment while providing access to the latest stem cell therapies for degenerative conditions including Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimers disease, stroke recovery and others.

To find out more about stem cell therapy, contact StemGenex either by phone at (800) 609-7795 or email Contact@stemgenex.com

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StemGenex New Clinical Study Aims to Provide Relief to Osteoarthritis Patients through Latest Stem Cell Therapy

Stem Cell Treatment | Diabetes Mellitus | www.stemrx.in – Video

Stem Cell Treatment | Diabetes Mellitus | http://www.stemrx.in
Diabetes mellitus (DM), also known as simply diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which there are high blood sugar levels over a prolonged period. T...

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UCSD Announces Human Testing Of Stem Cell Treatment Is Underway

UC San Diego Health System announced Monday that human testing of injected neural stem cell therapies are underway at its Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center.

Researchers are conducting three different trials one on a 26-year-old woman paralyzed after a traffic crash, and others on diabetes and leukemia patients.

"What we are seeing after years of work is the rubber hitting the road," said Lawrence Goldstein, director of the UC San Diego Stem Cell program and Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center.

"These are three very ambitious and innovative trials," he said. "Each followed a different development path each addresses a very different disease or condition. It speaks to the maturation of stem cell science that we've gotten to the point of testing these very real medical applications in people."

The first tests are being made with low doses in order to ensure the safety of the patients, Goldstein said.

Working with Maryland-based Neuralstem Inc., neural stem cells were injected into the site of the paralyzed woman's spinal cord injury on Sept. 30, and she is recovering at home without complications or adverse effects, said Dr. Joseph Ciacci, a neurosurgeon at UC San Diego Health System. Her name was not released.

The researchers hope that the transplanted cells will develop into neurons that bridge the gap created by the injury, replace severed or lost nerve connections and restore at least some motor and sensory function. According to UCSD, testing in laboratory rats with spinal cord injuries were promising.

A two-year trial on about 40 Type 1 diabetes patients will involve implanting cells under the skin that were derived from embryonic stem cells, with the hope they will safely mature into pancreatic beta and other cells able to produce a continuous supply of needed insulin and other substances, according to the researchers. The first procedure is expected to take place sometime this month, according to UCSD.

Type 1 diabetes, which usually onsets during childhood and has no cure, causes the pancreas to produce little or no insulin. Patients have to inject insulin daily and rigorously manage their diet and lifestyle.

The third trial will involve a potential drug to fight chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the most common form of blood cancer in adults. Patients in the test will receive the drug via an intravenous infusion every 14 days at the UCSD Moores Cancer Center.

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UCSD Announces Human Testing Of Stem Cell Treatment Is Underway

Promise Put to the Test

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Newswise A 26-year-old woman paralyzed after a motor vehicle accident a year ago has successfully undergone a first-in-human experimental procedure to test whether neural stem cells injected at the site of a spinal cord injury is safe and could be an effective treatment.

The procedure, conducted on Sept. 30 under the auspices of the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center at UC San Diego Health System and in collaboration with Neuralstem, Inc., a Maryland-based biotechnology firm, is the first of four in the Phase I clinical trial. Post safety testing, its hoped that the transplanted neural stem cells will develop into new neurons that bridge the gap created by the injury, replace severed or lost nerve connections and restore at least some motor and sensory function.

The patient, whose identity remains confidential for privacy reasons, has been discharged and is recovering without complication or adverse effects at home, said Joseph Ciacci, MD, principal investigator and neurosurgeon at UC San Diego Health System.

The spinal cord injury trial is one of three recent ground-breaking stem cell efforts at UC San Diego, supported by the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center, to make the significant leap from laboratory to first-in-human clinical trials.

Last month, researchers at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center and the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center launched a novel Phase I trial to assess the safety of a monoclonal antibody treatment that targets cancer stem cells in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, the most common form of blood cancer.

And later this month, the first patient is scheduled to receive an unprecedented stem cell-based therapy designed to treat type 1diabetes in another Phase I clinical trial at UC San Diego.

What we are seeing after years of work is the rubber hitting the road, said Lawrence Goldstein, PhD, director of the UC San Diego Stem Cell program and Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center at UC San Diego Health System. These are three very ambitious and innovative trials. Each followed a different development path; each addresses a very different disease or condition. It speaks to the maturation of stem cell science that weve gotten to the point of testing these very real medical applications in people.

To be sure, Goldstein said, the number of patients involved in these first trials is small. The initial focus is upon treatment with low doses to assess safety, but also with hope of patient benefit. As these trials progress and additional trials are launched Goldstein predicts greater numbers of patients will be enrolled at UC San Diego and the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center and elsewhere.

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Promise Put to the Test

My stem cells could help save the life of man Ive never met

A HEALTHCARE worker at Royal Bournemouth Hospital has donated stem cells in a bid to save the life of an unknown man.

Claire Waugh, pictured, who has always been a regular blood donor, decided to join the Anthony Nolan stem cell register after her father was diagnosed with prostate cancer three years ago.

The healthcare assistant co-ordinator was later identified as a possible match for a man needing life-saving treatment.

Following rigorous testing Claire was visited by nurses from the blood cancer charity, who gave her three injections every day for three days to stimulate her bone marrow to produce stem cells.

On the fourth day she travelled to Kings College Hospital in London to receive a final set of injections and undergo a stem cell collection in a simple five-hour outpatient procedure, which is similar to giving blood.

Claire said: I couldnt move or bend my arm due to the fairly heavy duty needle, but I was looked after really well so in the end the time went very quickly.

After donating, Claires stem cells were rushed to the recipient within the required 72 hours. A volunteer from Anthony Nolan told me that if he doesnt survive, there is nothing else on this earth that would have cured him, so this was this persons last chance, added Claire.

When my dad was poorly it made me think that if he needed this kind of help, I would be praying every night that someone would help him.

By doing this, it meant that I could give that chance to someone else and their family.

Royal Bournemouth Hospital granted special leave to Claire for the donation with the charity covering all of her and her husbands travel expenses.

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My stem cells could help save the life of man Ive never met