Stem Cell Clinic

The Power of Stem Cells | California’s Stem Cell Agency

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Stem cells have the potential to treat a wide range of diseases. Here, discover why these cells are such a powerful tool for treating diseaseand what hurdles experts face before new therapies reach patients.

How can stem cells treat disease? What diseases could be treated by stem cell research? How can I learn more about CIRM-funded research in a particular disease? What cell therapies are available right now? When will therapies based on embryonic stem cells become available? What about the therapies that are available overseas? Why does it take so long to create new therapies? How do scientists get stem cells to specialize into different cell types? How do scientists test stem cell therapies? Can't stem cell therapies increase the chances of a tumor? Is there a risk of immune rejection with stem cells? How do scientists grow stem cells in the right conditions?

When most people think about about stem cells treating disease they think of a stem cell transplant.

In a stem cell transplant, embryonic stem cells are first specialized into the necessary adult cell type. Then, those mature cells replace tissue that is damaged by disease or injury. This type of treatment could be used to:

But embryonic stem cell-based therapies can do much more.

Any of these would have a significant impact on human health without transplanting a single cell.

In theory, theres no limit to the types of diseases that could be treated with stem cell research. Given that researchers may be able to study all cell types via embryonic stem cells, they have the potential to make breakthroughs in any disease.

CIRM has created disease pages for many of the major diseases being targeted by stem cell scientists. You can find those disease pages here.

You can also sort our complete list of CIRM awards to see what we've funded in different disease areas.

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The Power of Stem Cells | California's Stem Cell Agency

Clinical trials news: January 2012 update | Europe’s stem …

Before new treatments can reach patients, they must be tested in clinical trials. This is our second brief update on some stem-cell-related trials currently under way or recently approved.

This update looks at trials for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or motor neurone disease, as well as the latest news on how the trials we told you about in September are progressing. Weve included details of one or two new trials for some of the conditions we focussed on last time: spinal injury, Stargardts macular dystrophy and stroke. Well post more updates on other themes in future, so tell us if theres an area you really want to know about.

Clinical trials are carried out in four phases:

The company Neuralstem Inc and researchers at Emory University in Atlanta, USA have received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to advance to the second stage of their trial investigating the safety of using human neural stem cells to treat patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is also known as motor neurone disease, or sometimes Lou Gehrigs disease. In ALS, the nerve cells that control movement degenerate and die. These nerve cells are found both in the spinal cord and in the brain.

The Neuralstem Inc/Emory clinical trial started in January 2010 and is designed to assess the safety of implanting neural stem cells derived from human fetal tissue into the spinal cord in up to 18 people with ALS. The first 12 patients received neural stem cells in the lumbar, or lower, region of the spinal cord. Following a review of the safety data in autumn 2011, the FDA granted approval to transplant neural stem cells in the cervical (upper) region of the spinal cord.

Phase and objective: This is a phase I trial. The objective is to evaluate the feasibility and safety of transplanting human spinal-cord-derived neural stem cells into the spinal cord of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Dates: January 2010 October 2012 Enrollment status: Recruiting. 12 patients already recruited. Aims to enroll up to18 patients. More information on this study More about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

The State Food and Drug Administration in China authorised a phase II trial on the use of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The cells will be injected by lumbar puncture: a hollow needle is inserted between the bones of the lower back into the fluid around the lower part of the spinal cord. The trial is being run by the General Hospital of Chinese Armed Police Forces. The researchers hope that the injected stem cells will release small proteins called trophic factors that help keep motorneurons healthy and working properly.

Phase and objective: This is a phase II trial. The objective is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of transplanting umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells by lumbar puncture into patients with ALS. Dates: January 2012 April 2015 Enrollment status: Not yet open for participant recruitment. Aims to enroll up to 30 patients. More information on this study More about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

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Clinical trials news: January 2012 update | Europe's stem ...

New York City CROs – Contract Research Map

BioreclamationIVT/Seralab PO Box 770 Hicksville NY In July 2014, BioreclamationIVT acquired Sera Laboratories. Seralab is now a division of BioreclamationIVT and offers the same products as before and more. Seralab, a division of BioreclamationIVT, handles European accounts while BioreclamationIVT oversees North American accounts. BioreclamationIVT is a worldwide provider of biological and in vitro products to pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations. We specialize in control and disease state matrices manufactured from human and animal blood, plasma and serum, which are used in drug discovery, compound development, clinical and research diagnostics. We can immediately add value to your drug discovery and preclinical development program by providing large lot of hepatocytes, other cell types, and subcellular fractions along with associated media. BioreclamationIVT's products enable scientists and biomedical researchers to better understand the pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism of newly discovered compounds and the effects on disease processes. *Seralab* is a major supplier of quality animal sera and biological products to the cell culture and biopharma industries for use in such disciplines as cell biology, genomics, proteomics, virology, immunology, drug discovery and toxicology. Our technical and managerial staff have over 20 years of experience in serum and antibody production offering our customers reliability, full traceability and extensive quality control. We offer the most extensive range of animal based products in Europe from a wide variety of origins. In addition, *Seralab* offers a contract manufacture service for the supply of any serum and plasma products. At *Seralab* we continue to focus on the traditional values of quality product, competitive pricing and absolute customer care. Seralab, a division of BioreclamationIVT, handles European accounts while BioreclamationIVT oversees North American accounts.

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New York City CROs - Contract Research Map

Amazon Exclusive Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Pre-K …

Would you like to help your child go beyond singing the ABC song? When your child is three or four years old or whenever they are starting to realize that letters have names and sounds there is so much discovery! Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Pre-K helps you as a parent do more than just pass on a love of reading. We make it easy for you to play a role in helping your child understand the building blocks to reading itself all while having fun together! (And we ve got a new ABC song that solves the L-M-N-O-P problem...)

Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Pre-K is based on research, approved by the Children's Reading Foundation and designed in conjunction with leading educators, renowned authors and most important, parents. Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Pre-K uses engaging phonics-based activities, music videos, and online games to give your child a strong foundation in phonemic awareness. Each unit concludes with a storybook you read to your child, specially written to support what your child just learned. Each lesson takes only about 20 minutes a day.

Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Pre-K covers letter names, letter sounds, uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and blending sounds. Learn to Read Pre-K includes:

6 original storybooks written to promote the skills your child learns in the program, including 2 books by the award-winning children s book author and illustrator, David McPhail

2 reading workbooks that will guide you and your child through all of the lessons and many fun activities

2 DVDs filled with music videos and engaging, animated introductions to each lesson, where letters come to life

2 sets of stickers so a child can proudly mark their progress in the workbooks and celebrate their success

4 sets of letter and picture flashcards designed to reinforce letter names and letter sounds

Quick Start Guides

1 bonus Reading Rainbow DVD, Stellaluna, exclusive to Amazon customers

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Amazon Exclusive Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read Pre-K ...

AMD Research – The Foundation Fighting Blindness

New research is underway to develop additional treatments for both dry AMD and wet AMD.Several pharmaceutical companies are currently conducting trials of new drugs, while non-profitfunders like the FFB and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research are working together to speed the translation of treatments from animal studies to human trials.

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The Foundation Fighting Blindness supports scientists who are making incredible advances in understanding and treating age-related macular degeneration. For example in 2009, Dr. Gilbert Bernier identified a genethat helps to control the aging of cells in the eyes and brain. This discovery may one day help us prevent conditions of aging like AMD, Alzheimers and Parkinsons. Learn more about this discovery.

Until that day, research on age-related macular degeneration continues, with the support of donors like you.FFB projects and partnerships help fund pre-clinical studies that make the development of new therapies possible.Here are three ongoing projects that your donations will help to support:

Preventing the Death of Vision Cells in the Eye The FFB has also partnered with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to support a team of researchers led by Dr. Catherine Tsilfidis at the Ottawa Health Research Institute. This team is exploring ways to slow or stop the death ofphotoreceptors (cells that capture light and allow us to see)in the retina of the eye.While such treatment would not correct the underlying problemthat leads to vision loss, it might preserve sight for many years. The Tsilfidis team has already shown that this approach works to protect the vision of blinded mice. This teamhopes to be ready for human clinical trialstesting this treatmentwithin five years. Learn more about therapies designed to slow cell death.

Producing New Cells to Restore Sight in Failing Eyes Dr. Gilbert Bernier at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital is receiving FFB funding to explore the use of stem cells as AMD treatment. Stem cells are very simple cells that can become other, more complex, cells to replace photoreceptors damaged by AMD. He recently patented a process that is effective fortransforming stem cells into adult eye cells. His current studies are using mice to test whether these newly created cells will be an effective treatment for AMD. He and his partners hope to begin clinical trials in the next few years.

Identifying the Factors that Cause Abnormal Blood Vessel Growth Wet AMD occurs when the blood vessels beneath the retina grow abnormally and begin leaking blood and fluid. This can cause rapid vision loss. In the past 10 years, factors within the body have been identified which promote rapid blood vessel group, and drugs which block these factors have been shown to protect the vision of people with wet AMD. The currently available drugs target one set of factors, called VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factors) however other potential factors and treatments are being identified. New drugs targetting these factors might be even more effective atcontrolling wet AMD. The Foundation Fighting Blindness funds several Canadian teams working to understand and control these blood vessel growth factors included Dr. Bob Gendron and Helene Paradis in St. John's Newfoundland, and Dr. Mike Sapieha and Dr. Bruno Larrivee, both based in Montreal.

Clinical Trials of Emerging Treatments for AMD

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AMD Research - The Foundation Fighting Blindness

The Foundation Fighting Blindness – Retinitis Pigmentosa

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This page provides a brief overview of retinitis pigmentosa. For a longer discussion about living with this condition, please see the Foundation Fighting BlindnessGuide to Retinitis Pigmentosa and Related Conditions. Last updated in 2006, this guide was designed to give you, your family and friends a better understanding of your condition and to aid in discussions with your ophthalmologist and/or specialist.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetic condition that slowly damages the retina. The condition progresses throughout a persons life, affecting about 1:3500Canadians.

RP is usually diagnosed in childhood or adolescence, although some people have no recognized symptoms until their adult years. The most common early symptom is difficulty seeing at night and adapting to dim light conditions. This is called nyctalopia (night blindness). People also begin to lose peripheral vision quite early in the disease.

RP occurs because the light-sensing retinal cells, called photoreceptors, are slowing damaged due to an inherited genetic mutation. Many different mutations can cause RP.

There are two types of photoreceptors: rod cells and cone cells. Rod photoreceptors are responsible for peripheral vision and night vision; cone photoreceptors are responsible for central vision and for seeing fine detail and colours. Night blindness occurs early in RP because the mutations that cause RP damage the rod cells first.

Over time, as more rod photoreceptors are lost, cell death also occurs amongst the cone cells. This is not well understood, but cone cell loss seems to be triggered by the death of rod cells. When cones die, central vision and visual acuity are lost.

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The Foundation Fighting Blindness - Retinitis Pigmentosa