Stem Cell Clinic

Center denies hand in Ateneo alum's death, calls for probe into all hospitals and docs she consulted

By Stem Cell Medical Center

By: InterAksyon.com April 12, 2014 12:57 PM

InterAksyon.com The online news portal of TV5

The Green and Young Health and Wellness Center, the facility at the center of allegations of malpractice that allegedly led to the death of an Ateneo de Manila alumna in 2013, on Saturday called for a broader investigation into "all hospitals where she was admitted and all doctors who treated her right before she died".

Stressing that the student, Katherine Grace Tan, "was never given stem cell treatment by the Center or Dr. Antonia Park," the Green and Yough Health and Wellness Center said it was unjustly singled out and wrongly portrayed as accountable for the young womans death.

A cum laude graduate from the Ateneo de Manila University, Tan was reported to be suffering from Hodgkin's lymphoma, when she allegedly underwent treatment at Parks wellness center.

The girl's father, Bernard Tan, claimed his daughter underwent stem cell therapy there after allegedly being advised by Park.

In a statement, however, the Green and Young Health and Wellness Center in Tagaytay City said: "Ms. Katherine Grace Tan was never given stem cell treatment by the Center or Dr. Antonia Park. The allegation is not true."

The Center's statement, released through its lawyer, Stephen Cascolan, added: "As to the cause of death, Ms. Tan's memory deserves to be honored in a manner that is true, fair, and just. Mr. Bernard Tan, the father who brought his daughter to many other physicians right before Ms. Tan died, and long after she visited the Center in July 2012, should show to the public the competent and actual medical findings showing cause of death. All hospitals where she was admitted and all doctors who treated her right before she died should be investigated. An autopsy be conducted to ascertain real and actual cause of death. Only in this manner can the issue be resolved."

Not licensed in the Philippines

Earlier this month, it was reported that Park hadadmitted that she wasn't licensed to practice in the Philippines. Records from the theProfessional Regulatory Commission as of August 2013 showed that Park was not on the list of physicians authorized to practice medicine in the country.

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Center denies hand in Ateneo alum's death, calls for probe into all hospitals and docs she consulted

Grateful patient donates $6.5M to Shiley Eye Center

By Stem Cell Doctors

Doctors perform eye surgery in an operating room at Shiley Eye Center Wednesday. The center recently received a $6.5 million gift to help establish a new stem cell research laboratory.

A $6.5 million donation from an unnamed patient will help the Shiley Eye Center at UC San Diego strengthen its focus on stem cells, which hold the promise of repairing damage done by diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration.

Dr. Robert Weinreb, the centers director and a widely-published glaucoma researcher, said hes conducting a worldwide search for stem cell scientists to come to Shiley, which last year ranked fourth in National Institutes of Health funding among ophthalmology research centers nationwide.

Stem cells are known for their ability to transform themselves into nearly any other type of cell in the body, and scientists are exploring ways to use this Rosetta stone of biology to repair damage caused by cancer, diabetes and a range of other diseases.

Theres also huge potential for stem cells and the human eye.

Were going to use the stem cells to treat retinal diseases including macular degeneration, to rescue the optic nerve in glaucoma, as well as to replace the diseased layers of the cornea in patients with blinding corneal diseases, Weinreb said.

Vision loss is a growing problem as more and more baby boomers reach retirement age.

Paul Kelly, 83, undergoes a test that measures the curvature of his corneas Wednesday at Shiley Eye Center in La Jolla.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said about 1.8 million Americans have advanced age-related macular degeneration and projects that number to soar to 2.9 million by 2020. In addition, the incidence of glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy is expected to grow significantly in the same time frame.

But theres hope.

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Grateful patient donates $6.5M to Shiley Eye Center

Grateful patient donates $6.5 million to Shiley Eye Center

By Stem Cell Doctors

Doctors perform eye surgery in an operating room at Shiley Eye Center Wednesday. The center recently received a $6.5 million gift to help establish a new stem cell research laboratory.

A $6.5 million donation from an unnamed patient will help the Shiley Eye Center at UC San Diego strengthen its focus on stem cells, which hold the promise of repairing damage done by diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration.

Dr. Robert Weinreb, the centers director and a widely-published glaucoma researcher, said hes conducting a worldwide search for stem cell scientists to come to Shiley, which last year ranked fourth in National Institutes of Health funding among ophthalmology research centers nationwide.

Stem cells are known for their ability to transform themselves into nearly any other type of cell in the body, and scientists are exploring ways to use this Rosetta stone of biology to repair damage caused by cancer, diabetes and a range of other diseases.

Theres also huge potential for stem cells and the human eye.

Were going to use the stem cells to treat retinal diseases including macular degeneration, to rescue the optic nerve in glaucoma, as well as to replace the diseased layers of the cornea in patients with blinding corneal diseases, Weinreb said.

Vision loss is a growing problem as more and more baby boomers reach retirement age.

Paul Kelly, 83, undergoes a test that measures the curvature of his corneas Wednesday at Shiley Eye Center in La Jolla.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said about 1.8 million Americans have advanced age-related macular degeneration and projects that number to soar to 2.9 million by 2020. In addition, the incidence of glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy is expected to grow significantly in the same time frame.

But theres hope.

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Grateful patient donates $6.5 million to Shiley Eye Center

New Technology 'Grows' Man-Made Body Parts

By Stem Cell Doctors

Man-made (or lab-grown) organs have gone from science fiction to fact in recent years. While lab-grown ears have become famous thanks to the striking picture of a mouse with an ear grown on its back, recent technology, including 3-D printing and stem cell use, has meant more complex organs are being made by scientists.

Everything from ears to tracheas and, most recently, vaginas has been recreated in a lab setting. But doctors have also refined old-fashioned surgical techniques to give patients who have been disfigured a second nose or even a face through operations.

To show just how far this seemingly fantastical medicine has come, weve found a few of the most impressive man-made body parts.

See More Medical Marvels

A study published this week in the Lancet Medical Journal revealed how researchers were able to grow vaginas in a laboratory setting.

Researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Metropolitan Autonomous University in Mexico City took tissue samples from four adolescent female patients from Mexico between the ages of 13 and 18, and then were able to construct vaginal components by culturing and expanding tissues in special incubators.

The patients, who were born with incomplete vaginas because of a genetic disorder, then underwent surgery and had the vaginal tissue implanted. In the years following the surgery, the patients reported normal sexual function.

In China, doctors were able to regrow a mans nose. The twist is that they had to temporarily put the nose on the mans forehead.

The patient identified as Xiaolian, according to Reuters, had an infection that left his nose damaged and disfigured.

To help him, doctors used tissue expanders and reshaped a second nose over a period of months on Xiaolians forehead. Eventually, when surgery is performed, theyll use cartilage from his rib to help strengthen his nose.

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New Technology 'Grows' Man-Made Body Parts

Researchers identify transcription factors distinguishing glioblastoma stem cells

By Stem Cell Medical Center

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

10-Apr-2014

Contact: Sue McGreevey smcgreevey@partners.org 617-724-2764 Massachusetts General Hospital

The activity of four transcription factors proteins that regulate the expression of other genes appears to distinguish the small proportion of glioblastoma cells responsible for the aggressiveness and treatment resistance of the deadly brain tumor. The findings by a team of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators, which will be published in the April 24 issue of Cell and are receiving advance online release, support the importance of epigenetics processes controlling whether or not genes are expressed in cancer pathology and identify molecular circuits that may be targeted by new therapeutic approaches.

"We have identified a code of 'molecular switches' that control a very aggressive subpopulation of brain cancer cells, so-called glioblastoma stem cells," says Mario Suv, MD, PhD, of the MGH Department of Pathology and Center for Cancer Research, co-lead author of the Cell article. "Understanding what drives these aggressive cells will give us insights into alternative ways of eliminating them and potentially changing the course of this very deadly tumor."

Normal biological development follows an orderly hierarchical progression from stem cells, capable of differentiating into almost any type of cell, to progenitor cells, giving rise to specific subtypes of cells and tissues, to fully differentiated cells. While the process usually proceeds in a one-way direction, artificially inducing the activity of key transcription factors can reprogram differentiated cells back into a stem-like state, a discovery honored with the 2012 Nobel prize.

Small populations of adult stem cells with somewhat limited developmental potential are responsible for the body's ability to heal injuries and replace worn out cells and tissues, and evidence is growing that rare cancer stem cells are responsible for the uncontrolled growth of some malignant tumors, including glioblastoma. Several studies have used cell-surface markers proteins found on the outer membranes of tumor cells to identify glioblastoma stem cells; but the specific markers used have been controversial and cannot reflect molecular processes going on within tumor cells. The current study was designed to clarify the cellular hierarchy underlying glioblastoma, to identify epigenetic factors that distinguish glioblastoma stem cells from more differentiated tumor cells and to suggest potential therapies targeting those factors.

In a series of experiments, the researchers first identified a set of 19 transcription factors that were expressed at significantly greater levels in cultured human glioblastoma stem cells capable of tumor propagation than in differentiated tumor cells. Testing each of these factors for their ability to return differentiated tumor cells to a stem-like state, identified a combination of four POU3F2, SOX2, SALL2 and OLIG2 that was able to reprogram differentiated tumor cells back into glioblastoma stem cells, both in vitro and in an animal model.

The investigators then confirmed that these four factors and their corresponding regulatory elements the DNA segments to which transcription factors bind were active in from 2 to 7 percent of human glioblastoma cells, cells that also expressed a known stem cell marker. They also showed that inhibiting the action of an important regulatory protein complex that involves a known target gene of one of the core transcription factors a gene active in stem-like glioblastoma cells but not differentiated cells caused glioblastoma stem cells to lose their stem-like properties and die.

"This study brings us back to the fundamental idea that there are many reasons that cancer cells can be aggressive," explains senior author Bradley Bernstein, MD, PhD, of MGH Pathology and the MGH Cancer Center. "Just as normal cells with the same genome differentiate into many different cell types, a single tumor characterized by specific genetic mutations can contain many different types of cells stem-like and more differentiated cells with the difference being rooted in their epigenetic information. Identifying the drivers of these different cellular states in glioblastoma stem cells could offer us the best opportunity for treating what remains an extremely difficult-to -treat tumor."

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Researchers identify transcription factors distinguishing glioblastoma stem cells

Former NIH stem-cell chief joins New York foundation

By Uncategorized

Nature News Blog

10 Apr 2014 | 22:47 BST | Posted by Sara Reardon | Category: stem cells

Stem-cell biologist Mahendra Rao, who resigned last week as director of the US National Institutes of Healths Center for Regenerative Medicine (CRM), has a new job. On April 9, he was appointed vice-president for regenerative medicine at the New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF), a non-profit organization that funds embryonic stem cell research.

Rao left the National Institutes of Healthabruptly on 28 March, apparently due to disagreements about the number of clinical trials of stem cell therapies that NIHs intramural CRM programme would conduct. CRM was established in 2010 to shepherd therapies using iPS cells adult cells that have been reprogrammed to an embryonic state into clinical translation. One of CRMs potential therapies, which will use iPS cells to treat macular degeneration of the retina, will continue moving toward clinical trials at the NIH, although several others were not funded. NIH officials say that CRM will not continue in its current direction, but the fate of the centers remaining budget and resources is undecided.

Rao says that he wants to move more iPS cell therapies toward trials than NIH had been willing to do. He has already joined the advisory boards of several stem cell therapy companies: Q Therapeutics, a Salt Lake City-based neural stem cell company he co-founded, as well as Cesca Therapeutics formerly known as ThermoGenesis of Rancho Cordova, California, and Stemedica of San Diego, both of which are developing cell-based therapies for cardiac and vascular disorders.

Rao says that his initial focus at NYSCF will be developing iPS cell lines for screening, and formulating a process for making clinical grade cell lines from a patients own cells.

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Former NIH stem-cell chief joins New York foundation

Global Stem Cells Group and Revita Life Sciences Announce Joint Venture to Establish a Stem Cell Training Course in …

By Uncategorized

Miami (PRWEB) April 11, 2014

GlobalStemCellsGroup.com and Revita Life Sciences have announced plans to present the adipose and bone marrow stem cells course hosted by Himanshu Bansal, M.D., May 22-23 in Delhi.

Revita Life Sciences is a biotech company based in Dehli that specializes in stem cell research, training and clinical applications protocol development in regenerative medicine. Stem Cell specialists from both Global Stem Cells Group and Revita will participate in the two-day training program designed to help medical professionals bring stem cell therapies to the physicians office.

The adipose-derived harvesting, isolation and re-integration training course for the advancement of stem cell procedures is a two-day, hands-on intensive training course developed for physicians and high-level practitioners to learn techniques in harvesting and reintegrating stem cells derived from adipose (fat) tissue and bone marrow. The objective of the training is to bridge the gap between bench science in the laboratory and the doctors office by teaching effective in office regenerative medicine techniques.

For more information, visit the Global Stem Cells Group website, email bnovas(at)regenestem(dot)com, or call 305-224-1858.

About the Global Stem Cell Group: Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. is the parent company of six wholly owned operating companies dedicated entirely to stem cell research, training, products and solutions. Founded in 2012, the company combines dedicated researchers, physician and patient educators and solution providers with the shared goal of meeting the growing worldwide need for leading edge stem cell treatments and solutions. With a singular focus on this exciting new area of medical research, Global Stem Cells Group and its subsidiaries are uniquely positioned to become global leaders in cellular medicine.

Global Stem Cells Groups corporate mission is to make the promise of stem cell medicine a reality for patients around the world. With each of GSCGs six operating companies focused on a separate research-based mission, the result is a global network of state-of-the-art stem cell treatments.

About Revita Life Science:

Revita Life Sciences is a biotechnology company that provides complete support to patients from their first inquiry through stem cell therapy performed by a Revita Life Science specialized physician.

Revitas primary objective is the development of stem cell therapies that target areas of significant unmet or poorly met medical need. Years of research and experience have resulted in substantial improvements in the health and condition of patients suffering from a variety of illnesses through stem cell therapy, even where other treatments have failed.

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Global Stem Cells Group and Revita Life Sciences Announce Joint Venture to Establish a Stem Cell Training Course in ...

Gene, stem cell therapies trials underway for Parkinson's, but not in Mumbai

By Stem Cell Treatment

illustration by: Ravi Jadhav

Stem cells and gene hold promising treatment options for Parkinson's Disease, say doctors across the globe, including those in Mumbai.

Eleven trials to test stem cell and gene therapies for treating the disease are currently underway. In Mumbai, however, only two out of these 11 trials were being done resource constraints led to one being canned and regulatory hurdles have put the other one on hold.

Currently, neuro-augmentative therapies, such as usage of drugs or deep brain stimulation (DBS), are being used to treat Parkinson's Disease. "The future holds hope for neuro-restorative therapies like that of stem cells or gene infusion. Stem cells are the very primary kind of cells which can take on the function of any body part's cells after their infusion with that body part. It (the treatment) involves restoration of brain function to normal. In the next five to seven years, this may pave the way for the future," said Dr Paresh Doshi, neurologist at Jaslok Hospital on Peddar Road.

Doshi said trial of Duodopa therapy, which involves infusion of an active ingredient gel called Levodopa in the intestines, has been kept on hold. Jaslok Hospital was the only centre in the whole of Southeast Asia that was running the trial.

"Levodopa gets converted into dopamine in the body. Normal levels of dopamine control Parkinson's Disease," said Doshi.

A trial to infuse stem cells from the patient's body into the patient himself/herself had been underway in a small group of patients in India, but it had to be stopped due to the inability to recruit more patients.

Doshi said, "We could only recruit four patients for two years. However, a similar trial is underway in China and another trial, which explores adipose tissue stem cells, is underway in South Africa."

In January, medical journal The Lancet reported that after 16 years of trials, gene therapy is showing promising results in humans. "Three genes that promote the formation of dopamine-generating cells in the brain were injected in the brain, bound with a viral vector, in 15 patients. ...dopamine... becomes deficient in patients with Parkinson's," The Lancet report stated.

Three patients from the UK and 12 from France in advanced stages of Parkinson's Disease underwent an operation, wherein the virus with the three genes was injected in their brains. The patients, who had become stiff due to the disease, showed a 30% improvement in their movement after the surgery. After four years of follow-ups, they continued to improve and dopamine kept on being produced in their brain, in parts where it was not being produced before.

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Gene, stem cell therapies trials underway for Parkinson's, but not in Mumbai

Lung Institute's Innovative Stem Cell Procedure is Giving End Stage Lung Disease Patients a New Option

By Stem Cell Treatment

Tampa, Florida (PRWEB) April 10, 2014

One year ago, Gary Oberschlake was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a deadly lung disease with no known cause characterized by the permanent scarring of lung tissue. Gary wasnt alone approximately 48,000 others received the same diagnosis last year. Claiming the lives of nearly 40,000 individuals annually, IPF is as deadly as breast cancer.

Doctors told Gary, a family man with a wife, four children, and four grandchildren, his only treatment option was a double lung transplant. Knowing the inherent risks associated with this procedure, including his bodys rejection of the new lungs, Gary refused to accept it as his only chance for survival.

After spending considerable time researching possible alternative options, Gary became fascinated by recent developments in stem cell medicine, and its potential for treating sufferers of chronic lung disease like IPF. His excitement regarding this option was met with doubt expressed by his pulmonologist, who didnt see the clinical viability of stem cells for lung conditions at the time. Despite his doctors reluctance, Gary decided to give stem cell therapy a chance.

According to his wife Debra, when he found Lung Institute in Tampa, FL, it was like it was meant to be. And, feeling as though it was a sign he couldnt ignore, Gary made the decision to pursue autologous stem cell treatment at Lung Institute in Tampa.

Today, nine months after receiving his first treatment at Lung Institute, Gary has seen results that have far exceeded his expectations, leaving his pulmonologist and cardiologist in disbelief. In fact, all the doctors he saw after his treatments have been shocked by his positive progression, which has completely changed their perspective on his prognosis and the viability of stem cells for lung disease in general.

Their astonishment at the treatments overwhelming success is not unusual many doctors like them are skeptical of the clinical application of stem cells for lung disease, simply because advancements in the field have been so recent. But skeptics need only witness the success of these treatments, as Garys doctors did, to have their position turned upside down.

Gary says prior to his stem cell treatment, his cardiologist said the next time hed see me would be in a hospital bed. Quite to the contrary, Gary is now able to enjoy many aspects of life that were previously limited by his condition. In his words, Ive been able to do things with [my grandchildren]. Before I was only able to sit down and watch them.

As a result of his refusal to accept his original prognosis, Gary and his wife are now looking into the future and planning ahead. Lung Institute continues to produce positive results, much like those experienced by Gary, and in doing so, is changing the lives of many suffering from chronic and debilitating pulmonary conditions.

About Lung Institute At Lung Institute (LI), we are changing the lives of hundreds of people across the nation through the innovative technology of regenerative medicine. We are committed to providing patients a more effective way to address pulmonary conditions and improve quality of life. Our physicians, through their designated practices, have gained worldwide recognition for the successful application of revolutionary minimally invasive stem cell therapies. With over a century of combined medical experience, our doctors have established a patient experience designed with the highest concern for patient safety and quality of care. For more information, visit our website at LungInstitute.com, like us on Facebook or call us today at 1-855-469-5864.

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Lung Institute's Innovative Stem Cell Procedure is Giving End Stage Lung Disease Patients a New Option

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