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Category Archives: Stem Cell Therapy

More about Funding for Personalized Medicine Research

Posted: March 27, 2013 at 6:58 pm

A post entitled Funding for Personalized Medicine Research, dated January 31, 2012, provided information about the participation of the Cancer Stem Cell Consortium (CSCC) in the Large-Scale Applied Research Project Competition of Genome Canada, in collaboration with the first phase of the Personalized Medicine Signature Initiative of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

On March 26, 2013, it was announced that 17 projects will be supported. A list of these project is available (PDF). One of the 17 projects is entitled "Innovative chemogenomic tools to improve outcome in acute myeloid leukemia". The Project leader is Guy Sauvageau of the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) at the Université de Montréal. The Project co-leader is Josée Hébert of the Centre de Recherche Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Montréal. One of the aims of this project is to develop new models for tracking cancer stem cells that are left behind after a patient is treated.

Source:
http://cancerstemcellnews.blogspot.com/2013/03/more-about-funding-for-personalized.html

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Stem Cell Therapy For Pets – Sammy Before

Posted: March 25, 2013 at 8:44 am

Stem Cell Therapy For Pets - Sammy Before After
Amazing before and after footage of Sammy, a yellow lab who received stem cell therapy for his arthritic joints. For more information about stem cell therapy...

By: NewmanVets

More here:
Stem Cell Therapy For Pets - Sammy Before

Stem cell therapy –how profitable?

Posted: March 25, 2013 at 8:44 am

By Amads Ma. Guerrero Philippine Daily Inquirer

INFORMATION booth

You feel like you have entered an attractive boutique hotel in miniature; everything is neat, clean, almost spotless and sparkling.

This is the Asian Aesthetic Center in Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City (contact number: 7099565) across the Ateneo de Manila. The equipment is state-of-the-art, and there are two main wings: The Dermatology Wing and the Surgical Wing.

In the Dermatology Wing we have a Laser Room, Slimming Room, a Wellness Room and a Facial Treatment Room. The Surgical Room was what interested me mostbut only as a writer and not personally, because my cells are not dysfunctional (to my knowledge!).

Unfortunately, colleague Neilsen and I could not enter the Surgical Wing because a procedure was under way. In this wing, we were told, is a stem cell laboratory unit with the stem cell extractor and activator machines, and a recovery room, along with other amenities.

The clinic is cozy and family-run, you might say. It is headed by Dr. Amy B. Tinaza, a cosmetic surgeon and a stem cell specialist, and her partner (professional as well as personal) Dr. Jomar S. Tinaza, chief facial plastic surgeon and her husband. And the centers PR is a sister in law, Charlotte Tinaza.

The Tinaza couple head the Stem Cell Therapy Team, and there are also Medical, Surgical, Specialist and After-Care Teams.

So why did she (Dr. Amy) choose to be a stem cell specialist? Although stem cell therapy is at an early stage, I believe it is the future of medicine, she replies.

The centers stem cell therapy is the Autologous Fat Stem Cell, in which the stem cell is from the fat cells of the same patient, and transferred back to the patient once the stem cell is activated.

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Stem cell therapy is new hope for liver transplant patients

Posted: March 18, 2013 at 5:42 pm

Stem cell therapy has been found useful in over 60 per cent of the patients due for liver transplant, as per a paper submitted by doctors at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi recently. Not only is the treatment less cumbersome and risky, its cost is also comparatively very reasonable.

According to the papers principal author and chairman of the Department of Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases at the Hospital, Dr. Anil Arora, a large number of patients requiring liver transplantation cannot afford it for two reasons cost and donor availability.

A living donor is needed in such plantation cases with a matching blood group and he or she also has to be a family member or a first or second degree relative. They have to donate the liver. Since Rs.20 lakh is the average cost of liver transplantation, a majority of liver cirrhosis patients can not afford it. Many times they also do not have a donor, he said.

In view of the logistical problems faced by such patients, Dr. Arora said: We started looking at the feasibility of alternative methods like using reserve cells in the body called stem cells for such treatment as it costs even less than Rs.50,000. Some of these cells can be mobilised from the bone marrow as it has the capacity to regenerate the cells. So we stimulate the bone marrow by an injection.

This injection is given for five days and it mobilises the bone marrow and some of the cells. They then come into the blood circulation. In the study we tried to filter these cells from the blood marrow using a specialised filtering machine and the concentrate of these cells. About 5 ml to 10 ml of the blood containing these concentrated group of cells was then injected into the hepatic artery, which supplies blood to the liver, explained Dr. Arora. He said this process was carried out by a number of different mechanisms and it proved quite successful. We started about two years ago and finished last year. Then these patients were followed up for another one year and we were happy to see a significant proportion of the patients having substantial improvement in the liver functions as assessed by a score called Child score.

Dr. Arora said, All patients tolerated the treatment well without any side effects. Of the 10 patients, six to seven benefited. So we believe that more frequent administration of the stem cells in large number might have a more beneficial impact.

While the study by the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital team was published this year and was approved by the Department of Biotechnology and Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, Dr. Arora said there is also other published data now which calls for stimulating the bone marrow and letting the cells automatically go into the liver. By this, he said, you avoid filtering and putting the blood with the stem cells into the liver. This is also equally beneficial.

Dr. Arora said stem cell therapy might act as a bridge for liver transplant and can provide some time to the patients to arrange for treatment. But just like a damaged car tyre, he said, a damaged liver after minor repairs has to be replaced. However, if a person stops taking liquor or if the therapy goes on well, then a patient can lead a healthy life for many more years.

Originally posted here:
Stem cell therapy is new hope for liver transplant patients

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Cyberspace Makeover at California Stem Cell Agency

Posted: March 17, 2013 at 3:09 am

California's $3 billion stem cell
agency has performed a well-done makeover on its most important
public face – its web site, which is chock-a-block full of useful
information for researchers and the unwashed alike.

At cirm.ca.gov, one can find the very
words of its directors as they wrestle with everything from grant
approvals to conflicts of interest. Scientists can be seen telling
the story of their accomplishments. Money can be followed, and
summaries of reviews of grant applications read, both those approved
and those that did not pass muster.

The web site of the California
Institute of Regenerative Medicine (the formal name of the agency) is the place where the stem cell program
really meets the public. News stories are important, but infrequent.
Day to day, however, thousands of interested persons seek out
information that the folks at CIRM HQ, just a long throw from the San
Francisco Giants ballpark, bring to cyberspace.

Each month, said Amy Adams, major domo
of the web site, 15,000 to 17,000 “unique viewers”
visit online. She told the California Stem Cell
Report in an email,

“We're up about 25 percent year over
year in unique viewers to the site. A lot of that growth comes from
search, and the rest is from traffic driven through our blog and
Facebook.”

The numbers are not huge compared to
those chalked up by major media sites. But they are significant
given that there are only a few thousand people worldwide who are
deeply and regularly interested in stem cell research. Many more,
however, are stimulated to look into the subject from time to time,
either because of news stories, personal, disease-related concerns or simple interest in cutting edge science. Engaging those
readers, who can spread the CIRM story, and winning their approval is
critical for the agency as it faces the need to raise more millions
as it money runs out in the next few years.

CIRM has mounted much information online over
its short life. So much that good tools are needed to navigate the
site. Decisions about what should go on the home page are critical.
With the makeover, the agency now has a long-needed, home-page link to its
meetings , especially those of its governing board, which are the
single most important events at the agency.

The redesign is crisp and clean. The
new, white background makes it easier to read and is comfortable for
readers long conditioned to the black-on-white print of the books,
newspapers and magazines. The video image on the home page is larger,
which helps attract viewers. The site has long had a carload of
videos, some of which contain powerful and emotional stories from
patients.

Adams used CIRM staffers to test the
new features. She reported,

“I've had people inside CIRM (who
have been beta testing this site) tell me that they are finding
content they'd never seen before because the site is so much easier
to navigate.”

Adams and the CIRM communications team
also have pulled together important information on each grant on a
single page, including progress reports. You can find a sample here on a $1 million grant to Stanford's Helen Blau.

Adams said,

“Now people can not only
read about what our grantees are hoping to accomplish, they can read
about what has actually been accomplished with our funding.”

Adams said another new feature is
downloadable spread sheets of information that can be manipulated by
readers offline. She said,

“Most places on the site where you
see tables, you can now download those tables to Excel. You'll notice
the small Excel icon at the lower left of the table. This feature has
long been available for the searchable grants table. Now you'll see
it on all the tables of review reports (see here for
example http://www.cirm.ca.gov/application-reviews/10877)
on the disease fact sheets (see
here http://www.cirm.ca.gov/about-stem-cells/alzheimers-disease-fact-sheet)
and other places throughout the site. This is part of an effort to
make our funding records more publicly available.”

CIRM's search engine for its web site
still needs work. A search using the term “CIRM budget 2012-2013”
did not produce a budget document on the first two pages of the
search results. A search on the term “Proposition 71,” the ballot
initiative that created CIRM, did not provide a direct link to its
text on the first two pages of search results.

Also missing from the web site, as far
as I can tell, is a list of the persons who appointed the past and
present board members as well as the dates of the board members'
terms of office. The biographies on some of the 29 governing board
members come up short. In the case of Susan Bryant, her bio does not
mention that she is interim executive vice chancellor and provost at
UC Irvine. Links also could be added to board members statements of economic interest. A list of CIRM staff members (only slightly more than 50
persons) and their titles could be added.

As for CIRM's count of visitors, CIRM
uses Google Analytics tools. Adams said,

“A unique visitor is Google's
definition (it's one of the metrics they provide). It's a visit from
a unique IP (internet protocol) address. So, if you visit our site
multiple times from one IP address during a day, you count as a
single unique visitor. (Editor's note: It is possible to have
more than one visitor from the same IP address.)

“We get ~23,000-25,000 visits per
month, or ~16,000-18,000 unique visitors. Page views are on the order
of 65,000 a month.”

Our take: The redesign of the web site
is a worthy effort and enhances CIRM's relationships with all those
who come looking for information. The agency is to be commended and
should continue its work to improve the site and its connections with
the public.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/1OuvEMC2aTs/cyberspace-makeover-at-california-stem.html

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California Stem Cell Directors to Finalize IOM Response Next Week

Posted: March 17, 2013 at 3:09 am

Directors of the California stem cell
agency will meet March 19 in Burlingame to complete action on
their response to blue-ribbon recommendations for sweeping changes at
the eight-year-old research enterprise.

CIRM Chairman J.T. Thomas last week
told the San Diego U-T editorial board that he regarded approval as
“largely ministerial.”

Thomas has been visiting newspaper
editorial boards around the state, touting his plan, which was
initially approved by the board in January. The main focus has been
on its provisions dealing with conflicts of interest, which would
have 13 of the 29 governing board members voluntarily remove themselves from
voting on any grant applications. The 13 are linked to recipient
institutions. Two other board members linked to recipient
institutions also sit on the board.

About 90 percent of the $1.8 billion
that has been awarded by the CIRM board has gone to institutions
linked to past and present members of the board.

In December, the Institute of Medicine cited major
problems with conflicts at the stem cell agency. It recommended
creation of a new, independent majority on the board, which would
mean that some members would lose their seats. The IOM report also
recommended a host of additional changes that have become eclipsed by
the controversy about conflicts, which were built into the board by
Proposition 71, the ballot measure that created it in 2004.

An analysis in January by the
California Stem Cell Report of the IOM report, which CIRM
commissioned at a cost of $700,000, showed that agency's response fell far short of what the IOM proposed to improve the agency's
performance.

Also on the agenda for the March 19 is
approval of applications in a $30 million effort by the agency
involving reprogrammed adult stem cells. The agency said the goal of
the initiative is “to generate and ensure the availability of high
quality disease-specific hiPSC resources for disease modeling, target
discovery and drug discovery and development for prevalent,
genetically complex diseases.”

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/FH7dzoNWS8c/california-stem-cell-directors-to.html

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San Diego Newspaper Hails Stem Cell Agency and IOM Response

Posted: March 17, 2013 at 3:09 am

The $3 billion California stem cell
agency hit it big in San Diego today, finally scoring an editorial
that said “arguably” the agency's largess has made the state “the
world leader in medical research.”

The San Diego U-T, the largest
circulation newspaper in the area, said the big headline about the
eight-year-old agency is “the potential for transformative medical
breakthroughs.”

The editorial noted that the agency has
long been criticized in connection with conflicts of interest. About
90 percent of the $1.8 billion the agency has awarded has gone to
institutions linked to current and past members of its board of
directors.

But the agency “is finally taking the
criticism seriously,” the newspaper said. It cited proposals that
would, if approved later this month, have 13 members of the agency's
governing board voluntarily abstain from voting on any grants that come before
the board. Twenty-nine persons sit on the board. The thirteen are
connected to recipient institutions. Two other board members are
linked to recipient institutions.

The stem cell business is no small
matter in San Diego, which is one of California's hotbeds of biotech
and stem cell research. The stem cell agency has awarded about $338
million to San Diego area institutions and businesses. Four
executives from San Diego area institutions sit on the CIRM board.

The newspaper's editorial said,

“There
remains a residue of cynicism about CIRM. Critics say the agency
board did the minimum necessary to avoid an intervention by the
Legislature – and also acted to buff the agency’s image should it
seek more bond funding from California voters before its present
funding runs out in 2017, as is now projected.

“These views
may have some merit. But on balance, we think the California
Institute for Regenerative Medicine has – at long last –
responded properly to the fair criticism it faced. Instead of being
exasperated by CIRM, more people should be excited about the great
work it is doing.”

The editorial followed a meeting
involving the editorial board of the newspaper, CIRM Chairman
Jonathan Thomas and Larry Godlstein, director of the UC San Diego stem
cell program. The meeting was part of a CIRM campaign to generate
newspaper support for the agency's response to sweeping recommendations from a blue-ribbon study by the Institute of Medicine. The San Diego editorial is the most effusive so far.

The newspaper's biotech reporter,
Bradley Fikes, sat in on the meeting and Saturday posted video excerpts from the discussion, including a brief written summary of the content of each clip.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/WHLDfisWzQI/san-diego-newspaper-hails-stem-cell.html

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