Category Archives: Cell Medicine

MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Advanced Cell Technology, Inc. (ACT; OTCBB: ACTC), a leader in the field of regenerative medicine, announced today that its chief scientific officer, Robert Lanza, M.D. and Anthony Atala, M.D., W.H. Boyce Professor and Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, have released the second edition of Handbook of Stem Cells (Academic Press/Elsevier), the widely-recognized definitive resource in the field of stem cells. It includes a Forward by Professor Sir Martin Evans, Ph.D., FRS, co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2007. Sir Martin is credited with discovering embryonic stem cells and is considered one of the chief architects of the field of stem cell research. The two-volume set also includes contributions from dozens of stem cell pioneers, including James Thomson, Shinya Yamanaka, Doug Melton, Janet Rossant, and Robert Langer (a member of ACTs board of directors), among others, as well as patient advocate Mary Tyler Moore. Handbook of Stem Cells, Second Edition follows a very successful edition published in 2004. The first edition was the first comprehensive body of work dedicated entirely to the stem cell field. The two-volume set quickly became the most relevant textbook in the stem cell arena. Now, … Continue reading →

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) - Deborah K. Lieu, a stem cell scientist in cardiovascular medicine at UC Davis Health System, has received a $1.3 million research grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to develop stem cells that could serve as a biological alternative to the electronic pacemakers that people now use to regulate heart rhythm. According to Lieu, each year 350,000 cardiology patients with abnormal heart rhythms receive electronic pacemakers to maintain a normal heart beat. The devices, while effective, have several disadvantages, including limited battery life and poor response to changing heart rates, such as when a person is exercising. Lieu, who is working with colleague Nipavan Chiamvimonvat, the Roger Tatarian Endowed Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at UC Davis, plans to examine ways to improve the generation of pacemaking cells using human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), potentially creating what she calls a "biopacemaker." "There are more than 3 million patients around the country who are dependent on electronic pacemakers," said Lieu. "Each one costs about $58,000 to implant and requires follow-up surgery about every 5 to 10 years to change batteries. Creating a biopacemaker from stem cells would avoid the burden of battery replacement and provide the physiological … Continue reading →

Queenstown Regenerative Medicine - http://www.queenstownRM.co.nz Professor Richard Boyd and Dr Dan Bates Latest developments of Stem Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine Queenstown Regenerative Medicine, in association with Monash University Immunology and Stem Cell Centre (MISCL), has the pleasure of requesting your attendance at an evening lecture by Prof Richard Boyd, Head of MISCL and Dr Dan Bates, Sports Medicine Physician from Melbourne AFL Club. Professor Richard Boyd is a world leader in the research and development of potential uses of stem cells to treat disease in both human and animal. He is the Director of Australia's largest and most prestigious Stem Cell Laboratory and a recipient of numerous International Awards for unique research into how stem cells and the immune system develop and how they have their effects in the body. Professor Boyd's talk will give an overall background to stem cells and the work going on around the world to put these cellular therapies and regenerative medicine into the clinic. Doctor Dan Bates is a Sports Medicine Physician working with Professor Boyd in the development and use of cellular medicine applications in the field of Sports Medicine and musculoskeletal injuries. Dan is the current team doctor of the Melbourne … Continue reading →

Public release date: 17-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Nicole White nicole.white@cshs.org 310-423-5215 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center LOS ANGELES Sept. 17, 2012 Leading scientists and clinicians from across the nation will discuss the latest findings on potential stem cell treatments for diabetes and eye diseases at the second Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Scientific Symposium. WHO: Stem cell scientists, clinicians and industry leaders. The symposium is being hosted by the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute, led by Clive Svendsen, PhD. The institute brings together basic scientists with specialist clinicians, physician scientists and translational scientists across multiple medical specialties to convert fundamental stem cell studies to therapeutic regenerative medicine. FEATURED RESEARCH: The symposium's morning session will feature an overview of the current state of stem cells and diabetes, including efforts to start the first clinical trials with stem cells for the treatment of diabetes. Other research to be presented includes an update on regenerative medicine approaches to treating macular degeneration, a progressive deterioration of the eye that causes gradual loss of vision. This will include an update from Gad Heilweil , MD, on a key, stem-cell clinical trial on macular degeneration at the University of California Los Angeles. WHEN: Sept. 21, 2012 8:30 … Continue reading →

TORRANCE, Calif., Sept. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --In conjunction with Sickle Cell Awareness Month, Emmaus Medical, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical and regenerative medicine technology company, announced that its U.S. Phase III clinical trial to study L-Glutamine as a treatment for sickle cell disease is nearing target enrollment completion, with investigation now underway at more than 30 clinical study sites throughout the U.S. For a complete list of the clinical trial sites please visithttp://www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01179217). With the clinical trial already in progress, Emmaus Medical also announced that an interim subset of data was analyzed and submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by an independent committee. Currently, more than 190 of up to 225 patients are enrolled in the trial, and the company said it expects final data collection to be complete in 2013. "During Sickle Cell Awareness month, we are reminded of the pain and suffering of those affected by this debilitating disease and the need for a widely available treatment," said Yutaka Niihara, M.D., MPH, founder and CEO of Emmaus Medical. "Today, we believe Emmaus is the only company with a Phase III trial underway for a new sickle cell treatment. With research grants and through the generous … Continue reading →

TAMPA, Fla., July 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --On behalf of Saneron CCEL Therapeutics, Inc., President and COO, Nicole Kuzmin-Nichols, MBA, expressed strong support today for the Cryo-Cell International, Inc. (CCEL) current executive management in response to a proxy bid by a former Board member. Cryo-Cell is a major shareholder in Saneron, a Tampa based biotechnology research and development company that was spun out from the University of South Florida to develop cellular therapies for deadly diseases that lack adequate treatment options. "Saneron has enjoyed a good working relationship with David and Mark Portnoy since they assumed leadership at Cryo-Cell in August 2011, and our board is convinced that their guidance is adding shareholder value," commented Kuzmin-Nichols. "They have shown themselves to be committed partners with Saneron as we continue breaking new ground in cord and menstrual blood stem cell research. Our Small Business Technology Transfer Program (STTR) Phase II efforts are producing real progress towards effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease and stroke and we look forward to continuing our research in concert with Cryo-Cell." "Our research team is very impressed with Dr. Linda Kelley, Cryo-Cell's new chief scientific officer, who joined the company from Harvard's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She will be … Continue reading →

Tuesday, July 03 16:25:12 Ireland has the capacity to be an international centre for commercialisation in the field of regenerative medicine, delegates at an international stem cell conference in NUI Galway heard today. Reflecting this potential, new Irish company Orbsen Therapeutics is developing proprietary technologies designed to isolate stem cells. The NUI Galway spin-out is targeting the rapidly maturing and expanding regenerative medicine market, which is expected to grow to $118 billion next year. Frank Barry is Professor of Cellular Therapy at NUI Galway, Director of Orbsen Therapeutics, and organiser of the Mesenchymal Stem Cell Conference, which opened yesterday. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a type of adult stem cell, and this event brings together the world's leading scientists in the field to discuss their latest ideas and findings. This is the first major stem cell conference to take place in Ireland, and is looking at all aspects of adult stem cells, from basic biology to manufacturing to clinical trials and therapeutics. Stem cells hold great promise as an alternative to drugs and surgical procedures for treating a wide range of medical conditions including heart disease, arterial disease of the limbs, diabetes complications, arthritis and other inflammatory conditions. The treatment … Continue reading →

Newswise Using an in vitro cell model of Huntingtons disease (HD), researchers at Florida Atlantic Universitys Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine have discovered a novel mechanism and potential link between mutant huntingtin, cell loss and cell death or apoptosis in the brain, which is responsible for the devastating effects of this disease. Apoptosis has been proposed as one of the mechanisms leading to neuronal death in HD. Dr. Jianning Wei, Ph.D., assistant professor of biomedical science in the Schmidt College of Medicine, has received a $428,694 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a project titled Regulation of BimEL phosphorylation in the pathogenesis of Huntingtons disease. With this grant, she will further her research and investigation of the molecular and physiological functions of BimEL, a protein known to promote cell death, in a rodent HD model to better understand the pathogenesis of this disease and develop treatments and therapies to prevent or slow down its progression. Weis previous findings may also represent a universal mechanism in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases that are involved with protein misfolding and aggregation a phenomenon that occurs in many highly debilitating disorders including neurodegenerative diseases. HD is a fatal, inherited disease … Continue reading →

Newswise Using an in vitro cell model of Huntingtons disease (HD), researchers at Florida Atlantic Universitys Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine have discovered a novel mechanism and potential link between mutant huntingtin, cell loss and cell death or apoptosis in the brain, which is responsible for the devastating effects of this disease. Apoptosis has been proposed as one of the mechanisms leading to neuronal death in HD. Dr. Jianning Wei, Ph.D., assistant professor of biomedical science in the Schmidt College of Medicine, has received a $428,694 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a project titled Regulation of BimEL phosphorylation in the pathogenesis of Huntingtons disease. With this grant, she will further her research and investigation of the molecular and physiological functions of BimEL, a protein known to promote cell death, in a rodent HD model to better understand the pathogenesis of this disease and develop treatments and therapies to prevent or slow down its progression. Weis previous findings may also represent a universal mechanism in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases that are involved with protein misfolding and aggregation a phenomenon that occurs in many highly debilitating disorders including neurodegenerative diseases. HD is a fatal, inherited disease … Continue reading →

T-cell Vaccines Could Treat Elusive Diseases A biotech company believes it can create the first effective T-cell vaccines. If it is right, it would redefine infectious medicine. Mercurial mercenary: A colored scanning electron micrograph of a T cell. David Scharf | Science Faction | Corbis For some infectious diseases, traditional vaccines just don't cut it. Microbes that hide inside human cells and cause chronic illness aren't stymied by the antibody response generated by the kind of vaccine available at the doctor's office. T-cell vaccines, which activate a different type of immune response, could, in theory, better prevent or control such chronic infections, but so far nobody has been successful at transitioning T-cell vaccines from the lab bench to the clinic. A Cambridge, Massachusetts, biotech company called Genocea thinks its high-throughput method could change that. The company will begin its first clinical trial later this year, when its experimental herpes vaccine will be the first test of its claims. All existing vaccines rouse the body into creating antibodies that attach to the surface of infecting microbes and flag them for destruction. But pathogens that live inside our cells, such as the viruses, bacteria, and other microbes that cause AIDS, malaria, herpes, … Continue reading →