Tampa Florida Stem Cell Clinic – Don’t Operate – Regenerate

Dont Operate Regenerate

Chronic pain in your neck, shoulder, elbow, hips, lower back, knees, ankles, and other joints is frustrating to manage. If your joint pain treatment has been a series of minor temporary fixes and, more often, disappointing failures, you may feel like surgery is your only option. The truth is, you can heal joint pain without invasive procedures, using the bodys own regenerative stem cells and Tampas Regenerative Orthopedic Institute is one of the regions most experienced specialists.

Back surgeries and joint replacements have serious risks, limited rates of success, and long recovery periods. However, our stem-cell and blood platelet procedures are available in our Tampa joint therapy center without surgical risks like general anesthesia and slow, painful recovery times, while also being available at a fraction of the cost.

Conditions We Treat

Non-surgical therapies like stem cells and Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) harness the bodys healing potential through a natural process that combines growth factors and bioactive cells to repair joints and end knee pain, shoulder pain, back pain, cartilage damage, ligament damage, tendonitis, and injured discs without surgery.

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The state-of-the-art science behind stem-cell joint therapy is a key area of practice for Dr. Erick Grana, one of Tampas top Physiatrist and Pain Management Specialists. Board-certified in Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation, and Electrodiagnostic Medicine, Dr. Grana has been performing spinal injections and non-surgical joint therapies for more than 12 years.

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Tampa Florida Stem Cell Clinic - Don't Operate - Regenerate

Dorothy Jean Kercheval Garrigan – The Messenger (subscription)

Dorothy Jean Kercheval Garrigan, known to everyone as Dotty, passed away in her home during the early morning hours of Monday, July 10, 2017. Dotty was born April 26, 1951, and was preceded in death by her parents H.C. (Kirpy) Kercheval and Mary Beth Tomblinson Kercheval.

She is survived by her husband, Mike, of 47 years; children Mollie (Greg) Robinson, John Mark (Anne) Garrigan, David (Mary) Garrigan, Katie (Schuyler) Redpath; 14 grandchildren; her mother-in-law, JoAnn Garrigan Minton; siblings Howard Kercheval, Woody (Kea) Kercheval, Lib (Brad) Locke and Sam (Cindy) Kercheval; and one uncle, Jack Kercheval.

Dotty had a contagious spirit and a warm smile for everyone she encountered. Her favorite flower was the sunflower, and she brought sunshine into every situation she entered.

A service honoring her life will be at noon Thursday with a time of fellowship beginning at 10 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Madisonville.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to the following: Door of Hope Blessing Closet, First Presbyterian Church Water to the World Mission, or Baptist Health Hospice.

The family expresses its deepest gratitude to the physicians, nurses, and staffs of the Merle Mahr Cancer Center, Baptist Health Madisonville, and the Vanderbilt-Ingram Stem-Cell Clinic; all of whom encouraged and treated her with the greatest of care and respect.

Thanks to the many friends who have shown love in ways too numerous to mention to our family during the past three years.

Tomblinson Funeral Home Sebree Chapel is handling the arrangements. Condolences may be made at tomblinsonfuneralhome.com.

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Dorothy Jean Kercheval Garrigan - The Messenger (subscription)

Broomfield’s Regenexx in merger with Iowa company – Longmont Times-Call

Dr. John Schultz gives an injection of bone marrow derived stem cells into the knee of patient Steve Brink from Washington state at the Regenexx offices in Broomfield June 12. (Paul Aiken / Staff Photographer)

Broomfield's Regenexx, a stem cell treatment network, has completed its merger with Des Moines, Iowa-based Harbor View Medical.

The company corporate headquarters will move to Des Moines as a result, with the company's medical headquarters remaining in Broomfield, according to spokeswoman Caroline Patterson.

Patterson said there would be no layoffs in Broomfield as a result of the merger.

Regenexx co-founder, Dr. Christopher Centeno, a pioneer in using stem cells to treat orthopedic injuries, will maintain his role as chief medical officer and Jason Hellickson will become CEO.

Regenexx treatments include injection of a patient's own stem cells and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to encourage healing of tendons, joints and muscles.

"Most of what we currently call orthopedic surgery will, in the next 10-20 years, be in the dust bin of history," Centeno told the Daily Camera last month. "Thirty years from now, cutting people open and drilling holes will be considered barbaric."

Despite advances in research, critics say the safety and effectiveness of these regenerative treatments is largely unregulated and remains poorly understood.

A study by Mayo Clinic, whose results were published last year, noted that patients in a blind study, who had arthritis in both knees, saw benefits from the treatment, but that it wasn't clear why. Just one knee had actually been injected with the stem cells.

The stem cell treatments have generated controversy among some medical professionals because they cost thousands of dollars and have not been widely studied. Last year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a series of scientific meetings examining how best to regulate and ensure the safety and efficacy of this approach.

The Mayo Clinic study, overseen by the FDA, concluded that the procedure it studied was safe to undergo, but it was not ready to recommend it for "routine arthritis care."

Still the use of stem cell treatments in everything from veterinary clinics to dermatology orthopedic practices is growing. Founded in 2005, Regenexx lists 48 clinics worldwide, including a new facility it opened in Mumbai this month.

Jerd Smith: 303-473-1332, smithj@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/jerd_smith

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Broomfield's Regenexx in merger with Iowa company - Longmont Times-Call

Head and Neck Cancer Therapeutics Market is Expected to Generate Huge Profits by 2024 – MilTech

Cancers of squamous cells present in the linings of larynx, throat, nose, salivary glands, lips, mouth are collectively called as head and neck cancers. According to World Health Organization (WHO), globally more than 550,000 new cases of head and neck cancer are diagnosed per year with around 300,000 deaths annually. Head and neck cancer is the sixth most common type of cancer and accounts for 56% of all cancers. Treatment of head and neck cancer presents a significant challenge to physicians as the choice of treatment varies from patient to patient and location of the tumor. Head and neck cancers ate often treated with surgery, but the complexity of facial structures and functions limits the surgical treatments. Surgery for head and neck cancer changes some of the functions such as chewing, swallowing, talking, etc.

Get access to full summary @: http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/head-an

Surgical therapy in combination with radiation therapy is the most preferred treatment regime by physicians. However, currently available treatment options for head and neck cancer do not result in improvement in survival rate, and head and neck cancer survival rate has decreased from 80% to 50%in last ten years. Recent developments in advanced chemotherapy and radiotherapy allow preserving some of the functions of the face. The introduction of targeted molecular therapy such as gene therapy, monoclonal antibodies, antibody drug conjugates, etc. has opened up huge potential for the growth of head and neck cancer therapeutics market.

Growing incidence of head and neck cancer and demand for cost-effective treatment options are the factors driving the growth of global head and neck cancer therapeutic market. According to Globocan 2012, globally, 521,983 new cases of the lip, oral cavity, and larynx cancer were diagnosed in 2012. Advancements in technology and development of new targeted molecules are believed to play the crucial role in the growth of global head and neck cancer therapeutics market over the forecast period.

The global market for anti-neoplastic agents is segmented on basis of treatment type, disease indication, end user and geography. Based on treatment type, global head and neck cancer therapeutics market has been segmented as follow: Chemotherapy, Radiation Therapy, External Radiation Therapy, Internal Radiation Therapy, Surgery, Targeted Therapy. Based on disease indication, global head and neck cancer therapeutics market has been segmented as follow: Laryngeal Cancer, Lip and Oral Cavity Cancer, Nasopharyngeal Cancer, Oropharyngeal Cancer, Salivary Gland Cancer, Others. Based on end user, global head and neck cancer therapeutics market has been segmented as follow: Hospitals, Specialty Clinics, Ambulatory Surgical Centers.

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Increasing smoking rate, tobacco consumption and incidence of HPV-caused cancers are the factors primarily responsible for growing prevalence of head and neck cancers such as oral cavity cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, etc. Based on treatment type, global head and neck cancer therapeutics market is classified as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery. Surgery is expected to lead the global market for head and neck cancer therapeutics over the forecast period as it is the choice of therapy by physicians.

Radiation therapy is used to prevent the recurrence of cancer and is expected to contribute second largest share in the global head and neck cancer therapeutics market. Chemotherapy is used as an adjunct to other therapies and thus hold little share in global head and neck cancer therapeutics market.

Based on disease indication, global head and neck cancer therapeutics market has been segmented into laryngeal cancer, lip and oral cavity cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer, oropharyngeal cancer, salivary gland cancer and others. Lip and oral cavity cancer indication type segment is expected to contribute the highest share in the global market for head and neck cancer therapeutics market owing to the high global prevalence of cancer. GLOBOCAN 2012 reports the highest prevalence of 3.1% in 2012 affecting 467,157 people affected by lip and oral cancer globally.

Based on the end user, the global head and neck cancer therapeutics market has been segmented into hospitals, specialty clinics, and ambulatory surgical centers. Hospital end user segment is anticipated to contribute the maximum share among end users.

Based on the regional presence, global head and neck cancer therapeutics market is segmented into five key regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. North America will continue to dominate the global head and neck cancer therapeutics market for due to high prevalence HPV-induced cancers and high smoking rate. Europe is expected to hold second largest market share in global head and neck cancer therapeutics market.

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Some of the major players operating in the global head and neck cancer therapeutics market are AbbVie Inc., Acceleron Pharma, Inc., AB Science SA, AstraZeneca Plc., Astellas Pharma Inc., Bayer AG, Boston Biomedical, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and others.

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Head and Neck Cancer Therapeutics Market is Expected to Generate Huge Profits by 2024 - MilTech

Stem Cells Guided by Electric Fields May Offer New Therapies for … – Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (press release)

Scientists at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine's Institute for Regenerative Cures report that electric fields can be used to guide neural stem cells transplanted into the brain toward a specific location. Their study (Electrical Guidance of Human Stem Cells in the Rat Brain), which appears in Stem Cell Reports, opens the door for potentially guiding stem cells to repair brain damage.

we report a strategy that mobilizes and guides migration of stem cells in the brain invivo. We developed a safe stimulation paradigm to deliver directional currents in the brain, write the investigators. Tracking cells expressing GFP [green fluorescent protein] demonstrated electrical mobilization and guidance of migration of human neural stem cells, even against co-existing intrinsic cues in the rostral migration stream.

Min Zhao, M.D., Ph.D., carries out research on how electric fields can guide wound healing. Damaged tissues generate weak electric fields, and Zhao's research has shown how these electric fields can attract cells into wounds to heal them.

"One unmet need in regenerative medicine is how to effectively and safely mobilize and guide stem cells to migrate to lesion sites for repair," Dr. Zhao said. "Inefficient migration of those cells to lesions is a significant roadblock to developing effective clinical applications."

Natural neural stem cells are found deep in the brain, in the subventricular zone and hippocampus. To repair damage to the cortex, they have to migrate some distance, especially in the large human brain. Transplanted stem cells might also have to migrate some way to find an area of damage.

Dr. Zhao, and his colleague, Junfeng Feng, M.D., a neurosurgeon at Ren Ji Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Shanghai Institute of Head Trauma, developed a model of stem cell transplants in rats. They placed human neural stem cells in the rostral migration stream, which is a pathway in the rat brain that carries cells toward the olfactory bulb. Cells move along this pathway, partly carried by the flow of cerebrospinal fluid and partly guided by chemical signals.

By applying an electric field within the rat's brain, the scientists found that they could get the transplanted stem cells to swim upstream against the fluid flow and natural cues and head for other locations within the brain.

The transplanted stem cells were still in their new locations weeks or months after treatment.

"Electrical mobilization and guidance of stem cells in the brain therefore provides a potential approach to facilitate stem cell therapies for brain diseases, stroke, and injuries," noted Dr. Zhao.

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Stem Cells Guided by Electric Fields May Offer New Therapies for ... - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (press release)

Regenexx Announces Successful Merger with Harbor View Medical – OrthoSpineNews

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BROOMFIELD, Colo.(BUSINESS WIRE)Regenexx, a Colorado-based stem-cell-treatment network and pioneer in the invention of interventional orthopedics, today announced that it successfully merged withHarbor View Medical, a leader in orthopedic stem cell therapy and part of the Regenexx network, which became effective in May 2017. As part of the transition, Jason Hellickson has assumed the CEO role. This merger positions Regenexx to further expand its National Network to better serve patients and our corporate partners.

Regenexx Corporate will be headquartered in Des Moines, IA, while Regenexxs Affiliate Program and Research and Development will be lead out of the companys Broomfield, CO location. Dr. Christopher Centeno, founder of orthopedic stem cell treatments and leader of interventional orthopedics in the United States and pioneer of the Regenexx patented procedures, will continue his role as Chief Medical Officer and remain in clinic operations in Broomfield, and continues the advancements of regenerative medicine through the largest research and data collection effort in orthopedic regenerative medicine.

As the most advanced non-surgical orthopedic care available in the United States, Im excited to continue our mission to producing the best possible patient outcomes through interventional orthopedics, said Jason Hellickson, CEO, Regenexx. In addition to individual personalized care, we will continue to provide both employers and their employees with cost savings results and successful interventions to orthopedic surgery.

Since joining the Regenexx Network in late 2014, Hellickson has reengineered clinic operations which increased capacity by more than 300 percent while offering a streamlined approach beneficial to both patients and clinic staff. He is the innovator and leader of theRegenexx Corporate Programthat enables large employers access to the Regenexx procedures. Since adding Regenexx procedures to their self-funded health and workers compensation plans, corporate partners have saved as much as 83 percent in their orthopedic surgical expenses, totaling in the many millions of dollars. In his new role, Hellickson will continue to architect the Regenexx national clinical operations to create more streamlined approaches to patient care and expand Regenexx clinics nationwide.

We look forward to continuing the build-out of Regenexx clinics, streamlining affiliate networks of more than 50 clinics nationwide, and adding additional clinics in major metropolitan areas including Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Charlotte under Jasons helm, said Christopher Centeno, MD. Were excited about the experience and enthusiasm that Jason brings to Regenexx.

Regenexx is the world leader in interventional orthopedics using orthobiologics and has been issued many patents for its evidence-based stem cell and blood platelet treatments used for back pain, joint pain, arthritis and acute orthopedic injuries. The benefits of interventional orthopedics are so revolutionary that seventy percent of orthopedic issues currently treated with surgery could instead be handled using regenerative methods. Mesenchymal stem cells are multipotent, adult stem cells that are therapeutic agents in the repair and regeneration of muscle, tissue, cartilage and bone. Regenexx procedures use a patients own bone marrow-derived stem cells, or blood platelets, through a blood draw, to customize needle-based, precisely-guided procedures to treat common orthopedic conditions. Its procedures have been proven to have the same or better outcomes compared to their surgical alternative.

For more information on the Regenexx Corporate Program call: 888-547-6667. For general information on Regenexx, please visitwww.Regenexxcorporate.com. For a map of current Regenexx clinics and providers clickhere.

About Regenexx and the Regenexx Physician Network The Regenexx Procedures are the nations most advanced non-surgical stem cell and blood platelet treatments for common joint injuries and degenerative joint conditions, such as osteoarthritis and avascular necrosis. These stem cell procedures utilize a patients own stem cells or blood platelets to help heal damaged tissues, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, spinal disc, or bone.

For more information on Regenexx, please visit:http://www.regenexx.com

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Regenexx Announces Successful Merger with Harbor View Medical - OrthoSpineNews

High-tech solutions top the list in the fight against eye disease – Engadget

Cataracts are the single leading cause of blindness worldwide, afflicting roughly 42 percent of the global population, including more than 22 million Americans. The disease, which causes cloudy patches to form on the eye's normally clear lens, can require surgery if left untreated. That's why Google's DeepMind AI division has teamed with the UK's National Health Service (NHS) and Moorfields Eye Hospital to train a neural network that will help doctors diagnose early stage cataracts.

The neural network is being trained on a million anonymized optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans (think of a sonogram, but using light instead of sound waves) in the hopes it will eventually be able to supplement human doctors' analyses, increasing both the efficiency and accuracy of individual diagnoses.

"OCT has totally revolutionized the field of ophthalmology. It's an imaging system for translucent structures that utilizes coherent light," Dr. Julie Schallhorn, an assistant professor of ophthalmology at UC San Francisco, said. "It was first described in 1998 and it gives near-cell resolution of the cornea, retina and optic nerve.

"The optic nerve is only about 200 microns thick, but you can see every cell in it. It's given us a much-improved understanding of the pathogenesis of diseases and also their response to treatments." The new iteration of OCT also measures the phase-shift of refracted light, allowing doctors to resolve images down to the capillary level and observe the internal structures in unprecedented detail.

"We're great at correcting refractive errors in the eyes so we can give you good vision far away pretty reliably, or up close pretty reliably," Schallhorn continued. "But the act of shifting focus from distance to near requires different optical powers inside the eye. The way the eye handles this when you're young is through a process called 'accommodation.'" There's a muscle that contracts and changes the shape of the lens to help you focus on close objects. When you get older, even before you typically develop cataracts, the lens will stiffen and reduce the eye's ability to change its shape.

"The lenses that we have been putting in during cataract surgery are not able to mimic that [shapeshifting] ability, so people have to wind up wearing reading glasses," Schallhorn said. There's a lot of work in the field to find solutions for this issue and help restore the eye's accommodation.

There are two front-runners for that: Accommodating lenses, which use the same ciliary muscle to shift focus, and multifocal lenses, which work just like your parents' multifocal reading glasses except that they sit directly on the eye itself. The multifocals have been on the market for about a decade, though their design and construction has been refined over that time.

To ensure the lenses that doctors are implanting are just as accurate as the diseased ones they're removing, surgeons are beginning to use optiwave refractive analysis. Traditionally, doctors relied on measurements taken before the surgery to know how to shape the replacement lenses and combined those with nomograms to estimate how powerful the new lens should be.

The key word there is "estimate." "They especially have problems in patients who have already had refractive surgery like LASIK," Schallhorn explained. The ORA system, however, performs a wavefront measurement of the cornea after the cataract has been removed to help surgeons more accurately pick the right replacement lens for the job.

Corneal inlays are also being used. These devices resemble miniature contact lenses but sit in a pocket on the cornea that's been etched out with a LASIK laser to mimic the process of accommodation and provide a greater depth of focus. They essentially serve the same function as camera apertures. The Kamra lens from AcuFocus and the Raindrop Near Vision Inlay from Revision Optics are the only inlays approved by the FDA for use in the US.

Glaucoma afflicts more than 70 million people annually. This disease causes fluid pressure within the eye to gradually increase, eventually damaging the optic nerve that carries electrical signals from the eye to the brain. Normally, detecting the early stages of glaucoma requires a comprehensive eye exam by a trained medical professional -- folks who are often in short supply in rural and underserved communities. However, the Cambridge Consultants' Viewi headset allows anyone to diagnose the disease -- so long as they have a smartphone and 10 minutes to spare.

The Viewi works much like the Daydream View, wherein the phone provides the processing power for a VR headset shell -- except, of course, that instead of watching 360 degree YouTube videos, the screen displays the flashing light patterns used to test for glaucoma. The results are reportedly good enough to share with you eye doctor and take only about five minutes per eye. Best of all, the procedure costs only about $25, which makes it ideal for use in developing nations.

And while there is no known cure for glaucoma, a team of researchers from Stanford University may soon have one. Last July, the team managed to partially restore the vision of mice suffering from a glaucoma-like condition.

Normally, when light hits your eye, specialized cells in the retina convert that light into electrical signals. These signals are then transmitted via retinal ganglion cells, whose long appendages run along the optic nerve and spread out to various parts of the brain's visual-processing bits. But if the optic nerve or the ganglion cells have been damaged through injury or illness, they stay damaged. They won't just grow back like your olfactory sensory nerve.

However, the Stanford team found that subjecting mice to a few weeks of high-contrast visual stimulation after giving them drugs to reactivate the mTOR pathway, which has been shown to instigate new growth in ganglion cells, resulted in "substantial numbers" of new axons. The results are promising, though the team will need to further boost the rate and scope of axon growth before the technique can be applied to humans.

Researchers from Japan have recently taken this idea of cajoling the retina into healing itself and applied it to age-related macular degeneration cases. AMD primarily affects people aged 60 and over (hence the name). It slowly kills cells in the macula, the part of the eye that processes sharp detail, and causes the central focal point of their field of vision to deteriorate, leaving only the peripheral.

The research team from Kyoto University and the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology first took a skin sample from a human donor, then converted it into induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells. These IPS cells are effectively blank slates and can be coerced into redeveloping into any kind of cell you need. By injecting these cells into the back of the patient's eye, they should regrow into retinal cells.

In March of this year, the team implanted a batch of these cells into a Japanese sexagenarian who suffers from AMD in the hope that the stem cells would take hold and halt, if not begin to reverse, the damage to his macula. The team has not yet been able to measure the efficacy of this treatment but, should it work out, the researchers will look into creating a stem-cell bank where patients could immediately obtain IPS cells for their treatment rather than wait months for donor samples to be converted.

And while there isn't a reliable treatment for dry-AMD, wherein fatty protein deposits damage the Bruchs membrane, a potent solution for wet-AMD, which involves blood leaking into the eyeball, has been discovered in a most unlikely place: cancer medication. "Genentech started developing a new drug when an ophthalmologist in Florida just decided to inject the commercially available drug into patients eyes," Schallhorn explained.

"Generally this is not a great idea because sometimes things will go terribly wrong," she continued, "but this worked super-well. It basically stops and reverses the growth of these blood vessels." The only problem is that the drugs don't last, requiring patients to receive injections into their eyeballs every four to eight weeks. Genentech and other pharma companies are working to reformulate the drug -- or at least develop a mechanical "reservoir" -- so it has to be injected only once or twice a year.

Stem-cell treatments like those used in the Kyoto University trial have already proved potentially effective against a wide range of genomic diseases, so why shouldn't it work on the rare genetic condition known as choroideremia? This disease is caused by a single faulty gene and primarily affects young men. Similar to AMD, choroideremia causes light-sensitive cells at the back of the eye to slowly wither and die, resulting in partial to complete blindness.

In April of 2016, a team of researchers from Oxford University performed an experimental surgery on a 24-year-old man suffering from the disease. They first injected a small amount of liquid into the back of the eye to lift a section of the retina away from the interior cellular wall. The team then injected functional copies of the gene into that same cavity, replacing the faulty copies and not only halting the process of cellular death but actually restoring a bit of the patient's vision.

Gene therapy may be "surely the most efficient way of treating a disease," lead author of the study, Oxford professor Robert MacLaren, told BBC News, but its widespread use is still a number of years away. Until then, good old-fashioned gadgetry will have to suffice. Take the Argus II, for example.

The Argus II bionic eye from Second Sight has been in circulation since 2013, when the FDA approved its use in treating retinitis pigmentosa. It has since gotten the go-ahead for use with AMD in 2015. The system leverages a wireless implant which sits on the retina and receives image data from an external camera that's mounted on a pair of glasses. The implant converts that data into an electrical signal which stimulates the remaining retinal cells to generate a visual image.

The Argus isn't the only implantable eyepiece. French startup Pixium Vision developed a similar system, the IRIS II, back in 2015 and implanted it in a person last November after receiving clearance from the European Union. The company is already in talks with the FDA to bring its IRIS II successor, a miniaturized wireless subretinal photovoltaic implant called PRIMA, to US clinical trials by the end of this year.

Ultimately, the goal is to be able to replace a damaged or diseased eye entirely, if necessary, using a robotic prosthetic. However, there are still a number of technological hurdles that must be overcome before that happens, as Schallhorn explained.

"The big thing that's holding us back from a fully functional artificial eye is that we need to find a way to interface with the optic nerve and the brain in a way that we transmit signals," she said. "That's the same problem we're facing with prosthetic limbs right now. But there are a lot of smart people in the field working on that, and I'm sure they'll come up with something soon."

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High-tech solutions top the list in the fight against eye disease - Engadget

SBP Scientist Receives Prestigious WM Keck Foundation Grant – Newswise (press release)

Newswise La Jolla, Calif., July 10, 2017 Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) is pleased to announce that the W.M. Keck Foundation has awarded a $1M grant to Duc Dong, Ph.D., to advance research to generate replacement organs and cellssuch as insulin producing cells for diabetes or dopamine-producing neurons for Parkinsons diseasedirectly in the body and without the use of stem cells.

The grant will allow Dong to extend his studies reprogramming dispensable cells such as skin, vasculature and fat cells while they remain in the body, in vivo, without the use of cultures or induced pluripotent stem cell techniques, which could be a safer and more effective method to treat degenerative diseases and injuries.

Dong, an assistant professor in the Human Genetics Program, uses zebrafishtiny striped fish commonly used for genetic studies-as a vertebrate model to reprogram cells into unrelated types, completely within the body of these living animals. Dongs research team already has proof-of-concept data demonstrating in vivo conversion of muscle and skin cells into beta-cell precursors (the cells that mature to produce insulin)an accomplishment assumed to be impossible by most scientists.

Im honored to have received this grant from the Foundation, says Dong. The award will support my vision to ultimately make in vivo cell lineage reprogramming a practical therapeutic strategy to replace or even enhance lost, damaged or aging tissues. Our next steps are to develop technologies to convert any cells in the body, at any age, into any cell type of interest, and to uncover the molecular mechanisms driving that process.

Based in Los Angeles, the W. M. Keck Foundation was established in 1954 by the late W. M. Keck, founder of the Superior Oil Company. The Foundations grant making is focused primarily on pioneering efforts in the areas of medical research, science and engineering and undergraduate education. The Foundation also maintains a Southern California Grant Program thatprovides support for the Los Angeles community, with a special emphasis on children and youth. For more information, please visit http://www.wmkeck.org.

About SBPSanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute (SBP) is an independent nonprofit medical research organization that conducts world-class, collaborative, biological research and translates its discoveries for the benefit of patients. SBP focuses its research on cancer, immunity, neurodegeneration, metabolic disorders and rare childrens diseases. The Institute invests in talent, technology and partnerships to accelerate the translation of laboratory discoveries that will have the greatest impact on patients. Recognized for its world-class NCI-designated Cancer Center and the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics, SBP employs about 1,100 scientists and staff in San Diego (La Jolla), Calif., and Orlando (Lake Nona), Fla. For more information, visit us at SBPdiscovery.org or on Facebook at facebook.com/SBPdiscovery and on Twitter @SBPdiscovery.

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SBP Scientist Receives Prestigious WM Keck Foundation Grant - Newswise (press release)

Research on Stem Cell Therapy | Liveyon Regenerative Medicine

Liveyon LLC is the exclusive worldwide distributor of a regenerative medicine product that is derived from umbilical cord. This product contains cells, stem cells and growth factors which may serve as a therapy for various degenerative diseases/disorders.

Stem cells and cell based therapies have shown tremendous promise; yet controlled studies are still needed in order to confirm its efficacy. Professional judgment and expertise is needed in using these therapies for any therapeutic use, and we urge anyone embarking on the use of stem cell therapies or any regenerative medicine product to consult the national health data bases to evaluate current information from clinical trials. The FDA websites on human tissue should also be consulted to get its current evaluation of any regenerative therapy.

Stem cells, like other medical products that are intended to treat, cure or prevent disease, generally require FDA approval before they can be marketed. FDA has not approved any stem cell-based or regenerative medicine products for use, other than cord blood-derived hematopoietic progenitor cells (blood forming stem cells) for certain indications.

http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/Transparency/ Basics/ucm194655.htm

844-548-3966 support@liveyon.com

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Research on Stem Cell Therapy | Liveyon Regenerative Medicine

Squeezing innovation out of the NASA Twins study: Pipetting and cell isolation in space – Phys.Org

July 11, 2017 NASA immunologist Hawley Kunz performs a microgravity evaluation of the pipetting steps necessary for terrestrial purification of cells. Credit: NASA

Just like early explorers, NASA Twins Study investigators are venturing into new territory. Conducting human omics research on twin astronauts as part of the One Year Mission that took place aboard the International Space Station is one such venture. As technology evolves so does the research. NASA is evaluating more efficient and innovative research techniques to prepare for the journey to Mars.

Innovative thinking could improve the way biological samples are processed and transported from space back to research labs on Earth for future studies. This thinking was prompted by researchers in NASA's Human Research Program (HRP) and Twins Study investigators at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Freshly isolated samples yield better results than cells isolated from frozen samples returned to Earth from the orbiting laboratory. Pipetting fresh samples at ambient temperature and performing cell isolation on the space station also eliminates the need for expeditious transportation logistics, and allows for more frequent sampling. Once cells are isolated, the samples can be viably frozen and return on any transfer vehicle at any time for further analysis.

On an aircraft that is used as a parabolic flight analog to create short periods of simulated microgravity, Twins Study Investigators Dr. Andrew Feinberg and Lindsay Rizzardi of Johns Hopkins Medicine tested a theory that liquids could be transferred safely in microgravity using a pipettor, which is a slender, graduated measurement tube. Previously researchers thought transferring biological fluids in space could pose risks to precisely controlling the sample.

"This analog demonstrated that pipetting of open fluids is relatively simple and easily controlled and that all fluid transfer steps associated with centrifugation can be replicated in microgravity," Feinberg said. "When dealing with genetic material, research requires precise transfer of liquids among different types of tubes in order to purify DNA, RNA or protein from biological samples to perform molecular analyses."

Coinciding with the fluid transfer research was cell isolation research being conducted by NASA immunologists Brian Crucian, Clarence Sams, Hawley Kunz and NASA astronaut and molecular biologist Kate Rubins. NASA researchers tested terrestrial protocols for cell purification in microgravity using the parabolic flight analog. They found that cell isolation and purification could both be performed in microgravity. Rubins also confirmed some of these findings in space. They published their research with Feinberg and Rizzardi in the July 2016 issue of NPJ Microgravity.

Crucian said, "Laboratory procedures for isolating and purifying cells typically require sensitive gradient centrifugation, careful extraction of isolated cells, and general open pipetting of liquids for washing and transferring the isolated cells."

Being able to transfer fluids and isolate cells in space is significant for a variety of reasons. Mars is a challenging distance from Earth if diagnostics are ever needed of a crewmember. Enabling astronauts to conduct more human research independently could help diagnose an illness more quickly, possibly saving a life in a medical emergency.

As NASA prepares for its journey to Mars, the way researchers handle and processes biological samples in space could change. The protocols validated by the Johns Hopkins and NASA investigators demonstrate that standard cell isolation protocols may indeed be performed in space, something which may enable certain types of genetic, or 'omics', research onboard the space station. Molecular biology technologies such as hand-held sequencers continue to evolve pushing the boundaries of scientific research. HRP will continue to adapt its methodologies to support novel research that protects and ensures the safety of future crews on long-duration missions while opening the door for innovative opportunities.

Explore further: Study examines effects of spaceflight on immune system

More information: Lindsay F Rizzardi et al, Evaluation of techniques for performing cellular isolation and preservation during microgravity conditions, npj Microgravity (2016). DOI: 10.1038/npjmgrav.2016.25

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Squeezing innovation out of the NASA Twins study: Pipetting and cell isolation in space - Phys.Org