Category Archives: Stem Cell Research

High School Students Learning Stem Cell Research: The Future's Bright for Stem Cell Therapies Over the past few months we've rolled out our "Through Their Lens" social media series ( http://go.usa.gov/WxyC ) to showcase seventy students from forty hig... By: California Institute for Regenerative Medicine … Continue reading →

How Are Adult Stem Cells Helping People Today? Adult stem cell research is already producing successful treatments for many of the diseases and illnesses that scientists hope embryonic stem cells will one day be able cure. Embryonic stem... By: OregonRightToLife … Continue reading →

An internationally recognized stem cell scientist from one of the nation's largest research universities has been selected to lead Montana State University's research enterprise. Renee Reijo Pera, director of Stanford University's Center for Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Research and Education and the Center for Reproductive and Stem Cell Biology as well as the doctoral program in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, has been named MSU's new vice president for research, creativity, and technology transfer, university officials announced Wednesday. Reijo Pera will assume her duties at MSU on Jan. 15. "Dr. Reijo Pera's experience in biomedical research is an excellent fit for MSU, where nearly 40 percent of all our research is related to biomedicine," said MSU President Waded Cruzado. "MSU is the state's largest research enterprise, and I am confident Dr. Reijo Pera will take every area to new heights including engineering, the physical sciences, agriculture, social sciences and nursing, as well as scholarship and creative endeavors in the humanities and the arts." The university's technology transfer office, which moves research discoveries made at MSU into the private sector, will also benefit from Reijo Pera's experience and leadership, Cruzado said. "Dr. Reijo Pera is an inspirational and engaged leader. … Continue reading →

Stem Cell Research Radio Broadcast Glenbrook South 2013 John, Alex By: John Donaubauer … Continue reading →

NEWARK, Calif., Oct. 22, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StemCells, Inc. (STEM), the leading stem cell company developing novel cell-based therapeutics for disorders of the central nervous system, announced today that Ann Tsukamoto, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Scientific and Strategic Alliances at StemCells, will speak at the B-Debate International Center for Scientific Debate Barcelona,to be held October 23-24 in Barcelona, Spain. Dr. Tsukamoto will participate on October 23 in the forum "Neuroregeneration: Is There Already A Translational Experience in Clinical Practice?" and will make a presentation on the Company's clinical development programs. The goal of the B-Debate International Center for Scientific Debate Barcelona is to promote the exchange of information about neuroregeneration among cutting edge researchers in basic science, translational research, and clinical innovation. The B-Debate is organized by BIOCAT, the organization that coordinates and promotes the biotechnology, biomedicine, and medical technology sector in Catalonia, and La Caixa Foundation, in collaboration with the Institute Guttmann, a leading hospital for the treatment and rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injury, brain damage, or other serious neurological disability. The Institute Guttmann is affiliated with the Autonomous University of Barcelona. About StemCells, Inc. StemCells, Inc. is engaged in the research, development, and commercialization of … Continue reading →

Oct. 22, 2013 An international research group has successfully tested the use of a new type of porous material for the efficient delivery of key molecules to transplanted cells derived from stem cells. These results can lead to improvements in the way stem cell-based neurodegenerative diseases are treated. A group of researchers based in Sweden, Denmark and Japan has successfully tested in animal models the use of a new type of porous material for the efficient delivery of key molecules to transplanted cells derived from stem cells. The researchers have developed a novel technological approach for the local delivery of exogenous trophic factor mimetics to transplanted cells using specifically designed silica nanoporous particles. This is potentially a versatile and widely applicable strategy for the efficient differentiation and functional integration of stem cell derivatives upon transplantation, and it can serve as a foundation for improving stem cell-based neuroregenerative protocols, for example Parkinson's disease. "We are working to provide standard and reproducible methods for the differentiation and implementation of Stem Cell therapies using this type of approach, which couples material science with regenerative medicine," said Dr. Alfonso Garcia-Bennett, one of the leading authors of the study currently working at the Department of … Continue reading →

Stem cell researchers at the University of Wisconsins Waisman Center hope their ongoing work will eventually allow them to move into human clinical trials to treat degenerative illnesses suchParkinsons disease and Down syndrome. UW has been at the forefront of stem cell research since 1998 when James Thomson, director of RegenerativeBiology at the Wisconsin Institutes of Discovery, isolated the first human embryonic stem cells. Waisman Manufacturing Director Derek Hei said UW has a very strong presence in the area of pluripotent stem cells research because of Thomsons work. Hei said with the discovery of pluripotent stem cells, research has expanded to include the development of disease models by producing induced pluripotent stem cells from people with specific diseases, like Down syndrome and heart diseases. Much of this work has either indirectly or directly focused on producing cell types that may need to be replaced in degenerative diseases; for example, neurons in people with Parkinsons Disease, retina in blind people or heart muscle cells in heart attack victims, Hei said. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells from which other types of cells can arise, according to the Stem Cell and Regenerative Center at UWs website. Pluripotent stem cells are derived from a … Continue reading →

Oct. 17, 2013 A source of gut stem cells that can repair a type of inflammatory bowel disease when transplanted into mice has been identified by researchers at the Wellcome Trust-Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute at the University of Cambridge and at BRIC, the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. The findings pave the way for patient-specific regenerative therapies for inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis. All tissues in our body contain specialised stem cells, which are responsible for the lifelong maintenance of the individual tissue and organ. Stem cells found in adults are restricted to their tissue of origin, for example, stem cells found in the gut will be able to contribute to the replenishment of the gut whereas stem cells in the skin will only contribute to maintenance of the skin. The team first looked at developing intestinal tissue in a mouse embryo and found a population of stem cells that were quite different to the adult stem cells that have been described in the gut. The cells were very actively dividing and could be grown in the laboratory over a long period without becoming specialised into the adult counterpart. Under the correct growth conditions, however, the … Continue reading →

NEWARK, Calif., Oct. 17, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- StemCells, Inc. (STEM), the leading stem cell company developing novel cell-based therapeutics for disorders of the central nervous system, announced today that investigators from two of the Company's clinical trials will make presentations at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting, which will be held October 19-23 at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco, California. The first presentation, scheduled for 2:36 p.m. Pacific Time on Monday, October 21, will be given by Nathan Selden, MD, PhD, FACS, FAAP, who was co-principal investigator in the Company's Phase I clinical study in neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL, also often referred to as Batten's disease) and the four-year long-term observational study that followed. Dr. Selden will present a summary of the results from the long-term follow up study, which includes data from patients who are now more than five years after transplantation of the Company's proprietary HuCNS-SC(R) cells. Dr. Selden is Campagna Chair of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Doernbecher Children's Hospital and Oregon Health & Science University. The second presentation, scheduled for 2:28 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, October 23, will be given by Raphael Guzman, MD, who is co-principal investigator for the Company's Phase … Continue reading →

CARLSBAD, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 16, 2013) - International Stem Cell Corporation (OTCQB: ISCO) (www.internationalstemcell.com) a California-based biotechnology company developing novel stem cell based therapies announced the latest results from its Parkinson's disease program at the American Neurological Association's 2013 Annual Meeting. Neural stem cell (NSC) potentially provide therapeutic benefit through multiple mechanisms of action including migration to the site of injury, secretion of neurotrophic factors, immunomodulation, cell replacement, and finally recovery of the endogenous neurons. The new data obtained as part of ISCO's collaboration with the Sanford Burnham Medical Research Institute, includes: According to ISCO's, Chief Scientific Officer Dr. R. Semechkin, "These results are important because they establish a solid foundation for the clinical use of neural stem cells for the treatment of Parkinson's diseases. This also potentially opens up a number of other neurological indications, for example Alzheimer's disease, with this cellular product." About ISCO's Parkinson's disease program ISCO's program uses human parthenogenetic neural stem cells (hPNSC), a novel therapeutic cellular product derived from the company's proprietary histocompatible human pluripotent stem cells. The hPNSC are self-renewing multipotent cells that are precursors for the major cells of the central nervous system. The ability of hPNSC to (1) differentiate into dopaminergic … Continue reading →