Stem Cell Clinic

Global Stem Cells Group to Hold Intensive, Two-day Training Course on Stem Cell Harvesting, Isolation and Re …

Miami, FL (PRWEB) May 31, 2014

Global Stem Cells Group, its subsidiary Stem Cell Training, Inc. and Bioheart, Inc. have announced plans to conduct a two-day, hands-on intensive stem cell training course at the Servet CordnVida Clinic Sept. 27 and 28 in Santiago, Chile. The Adipose Derived Harvesting, Isolation and Re-integration Training Course, will follow the Global Stem Cells Group First International Symposium on Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at the Santiago InterContinental Hotel Sept. 26, 2014.

Global Stem Cells Group and the Servet CordnVida Stem Cell Bank Clinic of Chile are co-organizing the symposium, designed to initiate a dialogue between researchers and practitioners and share the expertise of some of the worlds leading experts on stem cell research and therapies.

Servet CordnVida is a private umbilical cord blood bank that harvests and stores the hematopoietic-rich blood stem cells found in all newborns umbilical cords after birth. The hematopoietic tissue is responsible for the renewal of all components of the blood (hematopoiesis) and has the ability to regenerate bone marrow and restore depressed immune systems.

Umbilical (UCB) stem cells offer a wealth of therapeutic potential because they are up to 10 times more concentrated than bone marrow stem cells. In addition, UCB cells have a generous proliferative capacity with therapeutic potential that is very similar to embryonic stem cells, without the ethical debate associated with embryonic stem cell research and use.

UCB cells are the purest adult stem cells available, coming from newborns who have not been exposed to disease or external damage. Many parents today are utilizing cord banks like Servet CordnVida to store their newborns UCB cells safely for future medicinal use if the need arises.

Global Stem Cells Group and Servet CordnVida represent a growing global community of committed stem cell researchers, practitioners and investors whose enthusiasm is a direct result of the hundreds of diseases and injuries that stem cell therapies are curing every day. Global Stem Cell Groups First International Symposium on Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine will host experts from the U.S., Mexico, Greece, Hong Kong and other regions around the globe who will speak on the future of regenerative medicine and share experiences in their field of specialty. The Global Stem Cells Group is hoping the symposium will open lines of communication and cooperation, explore new and exciting techniques in stem cell therapies, and create an environment of education and learning.

For more information on the symposium and the lineup of guests and speakers already confirmed, visit the First International Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine website, email bnovas(at)regenestem(dot)com, or call 305-224-1858.

To learn more Global Stem Cells Group, visit http://www.stemcellsgroup.com, email bnovas(at)regenestem(dot)com, or call 305-224-1858.

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Global Stem Cells Group to Hold Intensive, Two-day Training Course on Stem Cell Harvesting, Isolation and Re ...

Global Stem Cells Group Teams With CordnVida Servet Stem Cell Bank and Clinic to Organize the First International …

Miami (PRWEB) May 31, 2014

Global Stem Cells Group and the Servet CordnVida Stem Cell Bank Clinic of Chile will be teaming up to organize the First International Symposium on Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine in Santiago, Chile Sept. 26, 27 and 28. The three-day symposium will be followed by an intensive hands-on training course at the Servet Clinic for medical practitioners interested in learning techniques for harvesting stem cells for in-office medical therapies.

Symposium organizers plan to initiate a dialogue between researchers and practitioners to bridge the gap between bench scienceresearch science that is exclusively conducted in a lab settingand stem cell therapies delivered in the physicians office.

The first-of-its-kind conference will host some of the worlds leading experts on stem cell research and therapies. Servet CordnVida General Manager Mauricio Cortes, Ph.D. says that Santiago is the perfect launching pad for the event, as awareness and increasing demand for stem cell services has swept the South American countrys healthcare market over the past decade.

The use of human stem cells in medical therapies has attracted major scientific and public attention because stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they have the ability to differentiate into all body tissues, Cortes says. Knowing this, the possibilities for regenerating damaged or diseased tissue where no effective treatments existed before opens a new world of possibilities to patients and healthcare providers.

Were very excited to participate in this important conference.

Servet CordnVida is a private umbilical cord blood bank that harvests and stores the hematopoietic-rich blood stem cells found in all newborns umbilical cords after birth. The hematopoietic tissue is responsible for the renewal of all components of the blood (hematopoiesis) and has the ability to regenerate bone marrow and restore depressed immune systems.

Umbilical (UCB) stem cells offer a wealth of therapeutic potential because they are up to 10 times more concentrated than bone marrow stem cells. In addition, UCB cells have a generous proliferative capacity with therapeutic potential that is very similar to embryonic stem cells, without the ethical debate associated with embryonic stem cell research and use.

Perhaps most significant is the fact that UCB cells are the purest adult stem cells available, coming from newborns who have not been exposed to disease or external damage. Many parents today are utilizing cord banks like Servet CordnVida to store their newborns UCB cells safely for future medicinal use if the need arises.

Thanks to advances in stem cell science, we can preserve an infants stem cells at birth and store them safely for his or her future, says CordnVida Director Javier Sez. Hopefully, this symposium will be the first of many like it in the future of regenerative medicine, because the more we discuss what we know about the power of stem cells to heal, the closer we get to sparing our patients from needless suffering when the cure is right before us.

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Researchers see stem cells take key step toward development: A first

The gap between stem cell research and regenerative medicine just became a lot narrower, thanks to a new technique that coaxes stem cells, with potential to become any tissue type, to take the first step to specialization. It is the first time this critical step has been demonstrated in a laboratory.

University of Illinois researchers, in collaboration with scientists at Notre Dame University and the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, published their results in the journal Nature Communications.

"Everybody knows that for an embryo to form, somehow a single cell has a way to self-organize into multiple cells, but the in vivo microenvironment is not well understood," said study leader Ning Wang, a professor of mechanical science and engineering at the U. of I. "We want to know how they develop into organized structures and organs. It doesn't happen by random chance. There are biological rules that we don't yet understand."

During fetal development, all the specialized tissues and organs of the body form out of a small ball of stem cells. First, the ball of generalized cells separates into three different cell lines, called germ layers, which will become different systems of the body. This crucial first step has eluded researchers in the lab. No one has yet been able to induce the cells to form the three distinct germ layers, in the correct order -- endoderm on the inside, mesoderm in the middle and ectoderm on the outside. This represents a major hurdle in the application of stem cells to regenerative medicine, since researchers need to understand how tissues develop before they can reliably recreate the process.

"It's very hard to generate tissues or organs, and the reason is that we don't know how they form in vivo," Wang said. "The problem, fundamentally, is that the biological process is not clear. What is the biological environment that controls this, so they can become more organized and specialized?"

Wang's team demonstrated that not only is it possible for mouse embryonic stem cells to form three distinct germ layers in the lab, but also that achieving the separation requires a careful combination of correct timing, chemical factors and mechanical environment. The team uses cell lines that fluoresce in different colors when they become part of a germ layer, which allows the researchers to monitor the process dynamically.

The researchers deposited the stem cells in a very soft gel matrix, attempting to recreate the properties of the womb. They found that several mechanical forces played a role in how the cells organized and differentiated -- the stiffness of the gel, the forces each cell exerts on its neighbors, and the matrix of proteins that the cells themselves deposit as a scaffolding to give the developing embryo structure.

By adjusting the mechanical environment, the researchers were able to observe how the forces affected the developing cells, and found the particular combination that yielded the three germ layers. They also found that they could direct layer development by changing the mechanics, even creating an environment that caused the layers to form in reverse order.

Now, Wang's group is working to improve their technique for greater efficiency. He hopes that other researchers will be able to use the technique to bridge the gap between stem cells and tissue engineering.

"It's the first time we've had the correct three-germ-layer organization in mammalian cells," Wang said. "The potential is huge. Now we can push it even further and generate specific organs and tissues. It opens the door for regenerative medicine."

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Researchers see stem cells take key step toward development: A first

Human rights court rules that evidence must support compassionate therapy

Patients do not have an automatic right to a compassionate therapy for which there is no scientific evidence of efficacy, according to a landmark ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The 28 May ruling referred to the case of Nivio Durisotto, whose daughter suffers a degenerative brain disease. He wished her to be treated with a controversial stem cell-based therapy offered by the Stamina Foundation, based in Brescia, Italy.

But more generally, it will guide any judge facing requests from desperate patients for access to unproved therapies promoted from outside the regulated medical sector.

The judgement is yet another blow for the Stamina Foundation, whose president, Davide Vannoni, is now facing charges of fraudulently obtaining public money to support his therapy.

The Italian Medicines Agency had closed down the Stamina operations in August 2012 on safety grounds (see Leaked files slam stem-cell therapy). In March 2013, the government issued a decree allowing patients to continue Stamina treatment if they had already begun.

Then on 11 September, 2013 an expert committee appointed by the health ministry to examine the Stamina method concluded that there was no evidence to indicate that it might be efficacious (see Advisers declare Italian stem-cell therapy unscientific). The committee further warned that it could be dangerous.

With encouragement from Vannoni, some patients appealed to courts for the right to treatment with the Stamina method. Some judges ruled that the treatment should be given on compassionate grounds, while others including the judge in the Durisotto case ruled that compassionate therapy was not justified because there was no scientific evidence of efficacy.

Durisotto brought his appeal to the European Court of Human Rights on 28 September, 2013 a month after losing his case in Italy.

The European Court dismissed Durisottos claim, saying that the Italian courts ruling had pursued the legitimate aim of protecting health and was proportionate to that aim. It further said that the Italian courts decision had been properly reasoned and was not arbitrary, and that the therapeutic value of the Stamina method had, to date, not yet been proven scientifically. Because the case had been appropriately reasoned, it said, Durisottos daughter had not been discriminated against even if some other national courts had allowed the therapy for similar medical conditions.

Munich-based patent lawyer Clara Sattler de Sousa e Brito, an expert in biomedical laws, says that this clear ruling that scientific proof is necessary will help avoid the use of unproven therapies for so-called compassionate purposes in the future.

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Human rights court rules that evidence must support compassionate therapy

For the first time in the lab, researchers see stem cells take key step toward development

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

30-May-2014

Contact: Liz Ahlberg eahlberg@illinois.edu 217-244-1073 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. The gap between stem cell research and regenerative medicine just became a lot narrower, thanks to a new technique that coaxes stem cells, with potential to become any tissue type, to take the first step to specialization. It is the first time this critical step has been demonstrated in a laboratory.

University of Illinois researchers, in collaboration with scientists at Notre Dame University and the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China, published their results in the journal Nature Communications.

"Everybody knows that for an embryo to form, somehow a single cell has a way to self-organize into multiple cells, but the in vivo microenvironment is not well understood," said study leader Ning Wang, a professor of mechanical science and engineering at the U. of I. "We want to know how they develop into organized structures and organs. It doesn't happen by random chance. There are biological rules that we don't yet understand."

During fetal development, all the specialized tissues and organs of the body form out of a small ball of stem cells. First, the ball of generalized cells separates into three different cell lines, called germ layers, which will become different systems of the body. This crucial first step has eluded researchers in the lab. No one has yet been able to induce the cells to form the three distinct germ layers, in the correct order endoderm on the inside, mesoderm in the middle and ectoderm on the outside. This represents a major hurdle in the application of stem cells to regenerative medicine, since researchers need to understand how tissues develop before they can reliably recreate the process.

"It's very hard to generate tissues or organs, and the reason is that we don't know how they form in vivo," Wang said. "The problem, fundamentally, is that the biological process is not clear. What is the biological environment that controls this, so they can become more organized and specialized?"

Wang's team demonstrated that not only is it possible for mouse embryonic stem cells to form three distinct germ layers in the lab, but also that achieving the separation requires a careful combination of correct timing, chemical factors and mechanical environment. The team uses cell lines that fluoresce in different colors when they become part of a germ layer, which allows the researchers to monitor the process dynamically.

The researchers deposited the stem cells in a very soft gel matrix, attempting to recreate the properties of the womb. They found that several mechanical forces played a role in how the cells organized and differentiated the stiffness of the gel, the forces each cell exerts on its neighbors, and the matrix of proteins that the cells themselves deposit as a scaffolding to give the developing embryo structure.

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For the first time in the lab, researchers see stem cells take key step toward development

East End home for cell network

By Joel Ceausu, May 28th, 2014

An East End Montreal hospital is home to a new national network on regenerative medicine and cell therapy research. CellCAN will be based at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital and directed by renowned cell therapy researcher Dr. Denis Claude Roy. The objective is to unite efforts of researchers, clinicians, funders, industry, charities, government members, patient representatives and the public. Specifically, CellCAN will promote exchanges, cooperation, partnership development and innovation in regenerative medicine and cell therapy, explained Roy. As the hub of a network of cell therapy centers and labs in Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City, Edmonton, and Vancouver, CellCAN will propel Canadian stem cell research and clinical development forward thanks to a $3 million grant over four years. Discoveries in stem cell research make their way to clinical trials bringing researchers closer to new treatments for patients with cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular and ocular diseases, neurological and blood disorders and other health issues. Regenerative cell therapies have almost unlimited possibilities, said Roy, director of the cellular therapy laboratory at Maisonneuve-Rosemonts research centre. This will transform the nature of medicine and have significant impact on our health care systems. The Universit de Montral-affiliated hospital in Rosemont is an internationally recognized leader in hematology-oncology, stem cell transplants, ophthalmology, nephrology and kidney transplants. The funds come from the federally financed Networks of Centres of Excellence, Maisonneuve-Rosemont Foundation, Ronald and Herbert Black, and various organizations across Canada.n

Click here to see the full newspaper. Updated on May 28, 2014

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East End home for cell network