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Category Archives: Stem Cells

Stem Cell Research: Stem Cells Nearly Cure Rats of Stroke Complications

Posted: January 29, 2013 at 4:48 pm

The latest in stem cell research suggests that stem cells given in the vital period immediately after a stroke (known colloquially as the "golden hour") could make major headway in recovery. A research team in Bolivia injected rats with stem cells thirty minutes after a stroke, and discovered that they had almost completely normal brain function restored within two weeks. The team says that this has serious potential in human trials. Their study was led by Dr. Exuperio Diez-Tejedor from La Paz University Hospital, and supports previous studies that point in a similar direction: stem cells can be useful in treating stroke patients because they aid the body's ability to repair tissue damage. The stem cells used in this study were multipotent stromal cells extracted from fat and bone marrow. These are the types of stem cells that people are talking about when they talk of "master cells," the kind that can differentiate into many different cell types. Researchers hope that they will ultimately replace cells that are lost through disease or injury. The Bolivian study was published in the open-access journal Stem Cell Research and Therapy.

The controversy surrounding stem cells, at least in the United States, has been primarily centered around embryonic stem cells; but in this study, Dr. Diez-Tejedor was able to use "allogenic" (foreign) cells from other rats, and stated: "Improved recovery was seen regardless of origin of the stem cells, which may increase the usefulness of this treatment in human trials. Adipose (fat)-derived cells in particular are abundant and easy to collect without invasive surgery." This is outstanding news, as it implies that further research can be done and treatments be created without the destruction of embryos, effectively removing the politics from this branch of medicine. The team seems incredibly optimistic about their results, stating that they believe they might even be able to stop the "chain reaction" of cellular damage that results when the initial injury destroys cells in the surrounding areas. They continued, "From the viewpoint of clinical translation allogenic stem cells are attractive because they can be easily obtained from young healthy donors, amplified, and stored for immediate use when needed after a stroke." This implies that the usage of adult stem cells collected in a similar manner to that of a blood drive could ultimately provide a stroke treatment that would be immediately available to a suffering patient, just like donor blood. As exciting as this is, Dr. Clare Walton of the British organization The Stroke Association put a gentle damper on the enthusiasm, telling BBC News that human trials will not be happening anytime soon: "Stem cells are an incredibly interesting area of stroke research and the results of this study provide further insight into their potential use for stroke recovery. However, we are a long way off these types of treatments being used in humans and a lot more research is needed."

Despite the payoff of studies such as this one being so far in the future, the data suggesting that adult stem cells could be so incredibly useful should be heartening for those who have been disappointed by the political interference in this branch of medical research to date.

Follow Lauren Moccio on Twitter @TheGrottoTweets for more commentary on news, entertainment & politics.

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Stem Cell Research: Stem Cells Nearly Cure Rats of Stroke Complications

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Stem cells aid recovery from stroke, study suggests

Posted: January 29, 2013 at 4:48 pm

Jan. 28, 2013 Stem cells from bone marrow or fat improve recovery after stroke in rats, finds a study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy. Treatment with stem cells improved the amount of brain and nerve repair and the ability of the animals to complete behavioural tasks.

Stem cell therapy holds promise for patients but there are many questions which need to be answered, regarding treatment protocols and which cell types to use. This research attempts to address some of these questions.

Rats were treated intravenously with stem cells or saline 30 minutes after a stroke. At 24 hours after stroke the stem cell treated rats showed a better functional recovery. By two weeks these animals had near normal scores in the tests. This improvement was seen even though the stem cells did not appear to migrate to the damaged area of brain. The treated rats also had higher levels of biomarkers implicated in brain repair including, the growth factor VEGF.

A positive result was seen for both fat (adipose) and bone-marrow derived stem cells. Dr Exuperio Dez-Tejedor from La Paz University Hospital, explained, "Improved recovery was seen regardless of origin of the stem cells, which may increase the usefulness of this treatment in human trials. Adipose-derived cells in particular are abundant and easy to collect without invasive surgery."

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Stem cells aid recovery from stroke, study suggests

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Stroke Recovery Aided by Stem Cells, Study Shows

Posted: January 29, 2013 at 4:48 pm

A new study has shown that stem cells may aid recovery in rats that have suffered a stroke. The study, published in the journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy, found that stem cell treatments improved the amount of brain and nerve tissue that was repaired and increased the ability of the rats to complete behavioral tasks. Researchers used stem cells from both bone-marrow and fat tissue, and found positive results for each.

Improved recovery was seen regardless of origin of the stem cells, which may increase the usefulness of this treatment in human trials, said Dr. Exuperio Dez-Tejedor, principal investigator in the neurology department at La Paz University Hospital. Adipose-derived cells in particular are abundant and easy to collect without invasive surgery.

Though this type of research is promising for human patients, the researchers stated that questions regarding treatment protocols and which types of stem cells to use still need to be answered.

The rats in the study were injected with stem cells or saline 30 minutes after suffering a stroke. 24 hours after the stroke, the rats treated with stem cells had already shown a better recovery. Two weeks later the stem cell-treated rats had nearly normal scores on their behavioral tests.

The rats that received stem cells were also found to have higher levels of biomarkers linked to brain repair. This is despite of the fact that the stem cells did not appear to migrate to the damaged area of the brain.

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Stroke Recovery Aided by Stem Cells, Study Shows

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CIRM's Thomas: Conflicts 'Put to Bed' at Stem Cell Agency

Posted: January 29, 2013 at 1:50 am

The chairman of the $3 billion
California stem cell agency, Jonathan Thomas, today hailed board
action last week as putting “to bed once and for all” questions
about financial conflicts of interest by members of the agency's
governing board.

Writing on the agency's blog, Thomas
pointed to board approval of a new policy that would bar 13 of the 29
members of the governing board from voting on any grants whatsoever.
The 13 are the members who are “appointed from an institution that
is eligible to receive money.” Three other board members have ties
to institutions that receive money. Two are employees of the institutions and one is the
chair of the University of California board of regents, Sherry
Lansing. All three are appointed as patient advocate members of the
board. Currently all 16 are barred individually from voting on grants
to their institutions, but they can vote for awards to other
institutions.

Thomas proposed the plan last week to
the governing board, which approved it on a 23-0 vote with one
abstention. Thomas advanced the proposal in response to the
recommendations of a 17-month study by the Institute of Medicine(IOM).
CIRM paid $700,000 for the blue-ribbon report, hoping that it would
serve as the basis for continued financing of the agency beyond 2017,
when funds for new grants run out.

The IOM's far-reaching recommendations
included creation of a majority of independent members on the board,
which would mean some current members of the board would lose their
seats. No institutions would be guaranteed seats on the board.
Currently five members are appointed from the University of
California. The Thomas plan does not deal with those recommendations.

The IOM said “far too many” members
of the board have ties to institutions that receive funds from CIRM.
Compilations by the California Stem Cell Report show that about 90
percent of the $1.7 billion that the board has awarded has gone to
institutions linked to directors.

Thomas said that the board last week
“endorsed a framework of proposals that would dramatically change
the way the board works, and directly addresses the concerns and
recommendations of the IOM, in particular their feeling that the way
our Board works could create a perception of conflict of interest.”

Concerning the change in voting for the
13 board members, Thomas wrote,

“It was not an easy change to propose
and certainly not an easy one for our board members to approve. They
all care deeply about our mission and devote a great deal of thought,
time and energy to helping us do our work. So for 13 of them to agree
to abstain from a key aspect of their work was difficult to say the
least. And yet they did it because they felt it was important for the
overall goal of the agency.”

Thomas continued,

“So why did we take this approach?
It's simple. We want people to focus on the great work we do, on the
groundbreaking research we fund, and the impact we are having on the
field of regenerative medicine not just in California but throughout
the U.S. and around the world. As long as there are perceptions of
conflict of interest hanging over the Board, this will continue to be
difficult.”

Thomas said,

“This puts the economic conflicts
issue to bed once and for all.”

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/GHXrGjkYixw/cirms-thomas-conflicts-put-to-bed-at.html

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Loring on Patient Advocates and Their Role at the California Stem Cell Agency

Posted: January 28, 2013 at 1:55 pm

The following statement by stem cell researcher Jeanne
Loring was read at the January 23, 2013, meeting of the governing board of the California stem cell agency. Loring is director
of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the Scripps Research
Institute in La Jolla, CA.

“I am sorry that I
cannot attend this important meeting of the ICOC. I'm in Toronto
reviewing stem cell grants for Japan and Canada. I've asked (patient advocate) Don Reed
to read my statement.

“I am a California
stem cell scientist whose research is funded by the NIH, private
foundations, and CIRM. I am the director of one of CIRM's shared
laboratories, which has provided formal training in research and
ethics to hundreds of young stem cell scientists. My CIRM funding
supports the stem cell genomics research that is the main focus of
the lab. We have also been funded by CIRM to investigate stem cell
therapies for Alzheimer disease and multiple sclerosis. I have
leveraged CIRM grant support to obtain funding for studies of autism
through the NIH, and for Parkinson's disease from a private
foundation.

“The IOM report
recommended a number of changes in CIRM's policies. One of these
recommendations is of especially great concern to me: the suggestion
that patient advocates should have much less influence in CIRM's
decisions about what research should be funded.

“Patient advocates
are extremely valuable to us researchers. Most of us stem cell
researchers had never met a patient advocate- and perhaps not even a
patient- before CIRM was founded. In my 20 years of being funded by
the NIH, the funding agency never once suggested that I should talk
to people who have the disease, or have relatives with a disease that
I was receiving funding to study.

“With my first CIRM
grant, I started meeting patient advocates, and now I can't imagine
pursuing a disease-related research project without them. I've
learned a great deal from the advocates on the ICOC, and I greatly
enjoy talking with them. They are wonderful sources of knowledge:
Jeff Sheehy taught me about HIV/AIDS and patient activism, I learned
about Parkinson's disease from Joan Samuelson, autism from John
Shestack, and David Serrano-Sewell, Diane Winoker have educated me
about MS and ALS.

“Professional
research scientists are competitive by nature- a conversation between
scientists is often constrained by our secrecy- we need to publish,
or perish. But advocates have no such constraints, which makes ICOC
meetings more enjoyable and informative than many scientific
meetings.

“Patient advocacy has
made me a better scientist. Advocacy makes CIRM-funded research
breathtakingly relevant and uniquely powerful to change the course of
medicine.”

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/l-jQiD3JTec/loring-on-patient-advocates-and-their.html

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Patient Advocate Reed Defends Patient Advocates on Stem Cell Board

Posted: January 28, 2013 at 1:46 pm

Patient advocate Don Reed, declaring that the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) 17-month study of the $3 billion California stem cell agency is "grossly misguided," this weekend nonetheless said the agency took "the high road" in its response to the study's recommendation.

Reed, of Fremont, Ca., was particularly incensed about the IOM's recommendations concerning patient advocates on the board. The IOM said that none of the board members, including patient advocates, should vote on grant applications secretly in grant review groups. The IOM said their votes should be recorded in public at full board meetings. Other patient advocates would still have seats on the grant review group, under the IOM recommendations. But they would not also be members of the governing board.

The IOM also said that CIRM should also revise its conflict of interest standards to regulate personal conflicts of interest, such as those involving particular diseases and patient advocates. Some members of the CIRM governing board bristled at the recommendation, and the board did not act on it last week.

Last Wednesday, the CIRM board acted to permit board members who are patient advocates to continue to participate in the closed door grant review sessions, but not vote on the grants at that stage. Previously patient advocates had two cuts at applications, one in the grant review group and one at the public board meeting.

Writing on the Daily Kos blog, Reed also said that no real conflicts of interest currently exist on the board, although 90 percent of the $1.7 billion that has awarded has gone to institutions tied to board members.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/SmmFtyc1zXo/patient-advocate-reed-defends-patient.html

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Stem cells aid recovery from stroke

Posted: January 28, 2013 at 9:46 am

Public release date: 27-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Hilary Glover hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com 44-020-319-22370 BioMed Central

Stem cells from bone marrow or fat improve recovery after stroke in rats, finds a study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy. Treatment with stem cells improved the amount of brain and nerve repair and the ability of the animals to complete behavioural tasks.

###

Media Contact

Dr Hilary Glover Scientific Press Officer, BioMed Central Mob: 44-778-698-1967

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Stem cells aid recovery from stroke

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IOM's Shapiro Wants to See More Changes from California Stem Cell Agency

Posted: January 28, 2013 at 12:16 am

Additional mainstream media news
coverage surfaced last Friday involving the California stem cell
agency's response to the blue-ribbon report from the Institute of
Medicine(IOM), whose concerns about the agency ranged from conflicts of interest to grant
appeals by rejected researchers.

One of the more interesting pieces was
done by Stephanie O'Neill of Los Angeles radio station KPCC. To her
credit, she contacted the chairman of the IOM panel, Harold Shapiro,
for his fresh take on what the stem cell agency's board did on
Wednesday.

His comments were somewhat different
than those read Wednesday at the CIRM board meeting. On Friday, Shapiro was quoted as
saying the board action was “an important first step forward,”
but he added a caveat. O'Neill wrote,

“'I’m encouraged by this,' Shapiro
told KPCC. 'Presumably in the future they’ll take other steps. But
these are steps they could take without any legislative approval and
…I think it does respond in a pretty significant way to the spirit
of the report.'
“But Shapiro expressed concern that
the agency is making only 'small moves' to address a recommendation
that CIRM separate operations from oversight. Currently, the ICOC
functions 'both as an executor and as an overseer—competing duties
that compromise the ICOC’s critical role of providing independent
oversight and strategic direction,' according to the December IOM
report.
“'But I do understand… that
would be a move that they would have to take over time so we’ll
have to wait and see,' Shapiro said.
“Thomas agreed and said that while
CIRMs recommendations more clearly define the roles of chairman and
president, more refinements will be likely over time.”

From the Los Angeles Times, came a
piece from Eryn Brown. Her article was brief and she referred her
readers to the California Stem Cell Report for details. Her first
paragraph said,

“Changes may be on the way at
California’s stem cell funding agency.”

In coverage outside the mainstream media,
the Burrill Report carried an article by Daniel Levine. The Burrill
Report is produced by Burrill & Co., a San Francisco life
sciences financial firm. Levine's straight-forward account was
largely based on the CIRM press release and the IOM report.

Two bloggers surfaced with some
coverage. UC Davis stem cell researcher Paul Knoepfler, who is a CIRM
grantee, called the Thomas plan a “bold one-year experiment” and
“biggest development for CIRM in many years.” Knoepfler said,

“I’m still not sure I’m a fan of
all of the proposed changes, but I would say the plan is bold and
creative.”

On livingbiology.com, an unidentified
CIRM grantee carried a few brief items live from the meeting.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/A2ayEbm2Se0/ioms-shapiro-wants-to-see-more-changes.html

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Stem Cell Agency Adds Fresh Details to IOM Response

Posted: January 27, 2013 at 8:06 am

The California stem cell agency today
issued a press release touting “dramatic changes” at the agency in response to critical recommendations by the Institute of Medicine.

The press release contained a few more
details about the changes than were released in the Power Point
presentation yesterday. Here is the text of those details.

“The 13 Board members appointed from
institutions eligible for funding from the stem cell agency, such as
those in the University of California system, would no longer vote on
any grants brought before the Board but would instead abstain
“All members of the Board would
be able to participate in discussions on applications but only
patient advocates and independent members of the Board would be able
to vote on funding issues (members would continue to refrain from
any discussion of specific applications from their institutions)
“Patient Advocates would
continue to be members of the Grants Working Groups but would not
vote on individual applications
“Programmatic review, aimed at
balancing the agency’s portfolio, would take place at public Board
meetings where members have a chance to make changes to
recommendations from the Grants Working Group
“Industry involvement would
increase, where appropriate, on the Grants Working Group, and also
feature in a newly constituted Scientific Advisory Board; the
structure and membership of this group is still under discussion
“Appeals on applications not
recommended for funding will be handled by science staff who will
evaluate them, determine if they merit further review by the Grants
Working Group, and ultimately make recommendations to the Board.
Staff will also be allowed to advocate for additional grants not
recommended for funding by the Grants Working Group that they
believe should be considered in programmatic review
“The Chair and President would
share a division of responsibilities with the President supervising
all scientific operations and internal operational responsibilities.
In addition the Chief Financial Officer would report to the
President. The Chair would handle the ‘external affairs’ aspect
of the agency, things such as financial sustainability to raise
additional funds, state legislative relations, bond financing,
public communications etc.
“IOM recommendation on the
creation of a Scientific Advisory Board to provide counsel on such
issues as funding priorities and portfolio strategy will be
implemented by staff
“IOM recommendations on
Intellectual Property will be referred to the agency’s IP
subcommittee which will review and report back to the full board
with options and recommendations
“IOM recommendations on
Sustainability: Chair, working with the President, will develop a
plan to address this and present to the Board when ready

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/MHSytXHG-zU/stem-cell-agency-adds-fresh-details-to.html

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Nature on the IOM and the California Stem Cell Agency

Posted: January 27, 2013 at 8:06 am

The journal Nature today said on its
web site that the California stem cell agency plans to make a “few
changes” in response to a critical report from the Institute of
Medicine(IOM).

A short piece by Monya Baker on the agency's response yesterday summarized
some of the IOM recommendations and the CIRM response. Baker wrote,

She said,

"Other IOM recommendations were only
indirectly addressed by (CIRM Chairman J.T.) Thomas’ plan. The IOM report had stated
that the board should restrict itself to an 'oversight' role
rather than an 'operational' role. Thomas’s recommendations
instead described ways to avoid overlapping duties. His own role as
chair is to handle 'external affairs' whereas CIRM’s president
will be to handle scientific and internal affairs."

Baker also carried the favorable
comments from John M. Simpson of Consumer Watchdog.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/JU2zXAO4Q1Q/nature-on-iom-and-california-stem-cell.html

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Page 219«..10 20..218219220 221..230 240..»

Category Archives: Stem Cells

Stem Cell Research: Stem Cells Nearly Cure Rats of Stroke Complications

Stem cells aid recovery from stroke, study suggests

Stroke Recovery Aided by Stem Cells, Study Shows

CIRM's Thomas: Conflicts 'Put to Bed' at Stem Cell Agency

Loring on Patient Advocates and Their Role at the California Stem Cell Agency

Patient Advocate Reed Defends Patient Advocates on Stem Cell Board

Stem cells aid recovery from stroke

IOM's Shapiro Wants to See More Changes from California Stem Cell Agency

Stem Cell Agency Adds Fresh Details to IOM Response

Nature on the IOM and the California Stem Cell Agency

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