(March 5, 2015) - Gender equality has not yet been achieved in science, medicine, and engineering, but The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF), through its Initiative on Women in Science and Engineering, is committed to making sure progress is made. NYSCF convened the Inaugural Meeting of its Initiative on Women in Science and Engineering (IWISE) Working Group in February 2014, where the group put forward seven actionable strategies for advancing women in science, medicine, and engineering, and reconvened in February 2015 to further develop the strategies. NYSCF began this initiative after an analysis of its own programs. "We found that the ratio of men and women in our own programs was OK but it could certainly be improved," said Susan L. Solomon, CEO and Co-Founder, of NYSCF. "We wanted to take action and actually make tangible progress, so we brought together many of the leading men and women who have already committed time, energy, and resources towards this problem." Today, the recommendations were published in Cell Stem Cell. They were divided into three categories: direct financial support strategies, psychological and cultural strategies, and major collaborative and international initiatives. The group chose to highlight the most high-impact and implementable strategies … Continue reading →

Despite the progress made by women in science, engineering, and medicine, a glance at most university directories or pharmaceutical executive committees tells the more complex story. Women in science can succeed, but they are succeeding in fields that may not even be conscious of the gender imbalances. These imbalances manifest themselves in the number of women that are invited to speak at conferences, the percentage of grants awarded to women scientists, and the higher rates of attrition of women at every stage of the career ladder compared to those of men. In the March 5 issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell, the Initiative on Women in Science and Engineering Working Group, a collection of more than 30 academic and business leaders organized by the New York Stem Cell Foundation, present seven strategies to advance women in science, engineering, and medicine in this modern landscape. "We wanted to think about broad ways to elevate the entire field, because when we looked at diversity programs across our organizations we thought that the results were okay, but they really could be better," said Susan L. Solomon, co-founder and CEO of the New York Stem Cell Foundation and a member of the working … Continue reading →

Published February 10, 2015 A British biotech company founded by a Nobel prize winner has raised what it says is a record 691,000 pounds ($1 million) via crowdfunding to help launch a stem cell-based regenerative medicine for use following heart trauma. Cell Therapy, based in the Welsh capital Cardiff, says the medicine has the potential to reduce scarring of the heart muscle caused by a heart attack or failure. Chief Executive Ajan Reginald, previously at Roche, said crowd funding was a quick way to raise money for final stage trials or commercial launches. "It was very fast and very efficient," he told Reuters on Monday. "We have spent 5 percent of our time on fundraising, which enables me to spend 95 percent of my time on the business." The company, whose founder Martin Evans shared the 2007 Nobel Prize for medicine for groundbreaking stem cell research, used website Crowdcube to raise nearly three times its original target from more than 300 investors. Reginald said the backers included investment bankers, hedge fund employees and scientists. "Crowd funding allows investors to look in detail at a company in their own time," he said, adding that some 10,000 investors had seen the pitch. … Continue reading →

Pioneering treatment has allowed wheelchair-bound patients to run again Patient given high dose of chemotherapy to wipe out faulty immune system Therapy then uses person's own stem cells to fight the devastating disease It may be the first ever treatment tosuccessfullyreverse symptoms of MS By Fiona Macrae for the Daily Mail Published: 13:27 EST, 1 March 2015 | Updated: 02:54 EST, 2 March 2015 11k shares 94 View comments Britons left wheelchair-bound by multiple sclerosis can walk, run and even dance again after being given a pioneering stem cell treatment. Doctors have described the recoveries as miraculous, while patients say they have been given their lives back. The treatment uses a patients own stem cells the bodys master cells to fight the disease. Recovery: MS sufferer Holly Drewerybecame wheelchair-bound after the birth of daughter Isla, but thanks tothe stem cell transplant shecan dance, run and chase after Isla in the park Continue reading here: MS stem cell treatment hailed 'miraculous' as patients make dramatic recovery … Continue reading →

A new stem-cell treatment that reboots the entire immune system is enabling multiple sclerosis sufferers to walk, run and even dance again, in results branded "miraculous" by doctors. Patients who have been wheelchair-bound for 10 years have regained the use of their legs in the ground-breaking therapy, while others who were blind can now see again. The treatment is the first to reverse the symptoms of MS, which is incurable, and affects about 100,000 people in Britain. The two dozen patients who are taking part in the trials at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, and Kings College Hospital, London, have effectively had their immune systems "rebooted". Although it is unclear what causes MS, some doctors believe it is the immune system itself that attacks the brain and spinal cord, leading to inflammation pain, disability and, in severe cases, death. In the new treatment, specialists use a high dose of chemotherapy to knock out the immune system before rebuilding it with stem cells taken from the patient's own blood. Advertisement "Since we started treating patients three years ago, some of the results we have seen have been miraculous," Prof Basil Sharrack, a consultant neurologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, … Continue reading →

Sabrina Chahir was waiting to meet the man who helped send her cancer into remission. The 8-year-old from Mount Prospect, who likes art and takes piano lessons, knew he had flown across an ocean to see her, nearly four years after he donated his stem cells to help rid her blood of cancer that could have taken her life. Thursday evening, Sabrina and Maximilian Eule, 30, had their first face-to-face meeting at a celebration in Schaumburg with Sabrina's friends and family. The two had emailed and video-chatted. But Sabrina's mother, Natalia Wehr, said it was important to her to meet Eule in person. "It's your daughter, and this person we don't know did something so wonderful," Wehr said. "You need to know who that is." Sabrina was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, one of the most common types of cancer in children, when she was 2 1/2. The cancer cells were in more than 80 percent of her blood. The girl's cancer had gone into remission before, but she soon relapsed. After rounds of treatment and infections that caused Sabrina to go blind temporarily, doctors at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago told Sabrina's family she would need a stem cell … Continue reading →

Testing breast cancer cells for how closely they resemble stem cells could identify women with the most aggressive disease, a new study suggests. Researchers found that breast cancers with a similar pattern of gene activity to that of adult stem cells had a high chance of spreading to other parts of the body. Assessing a breast cancer's pattern of activity in these stem cell genes has the potential to identify women who might need intensive treatment to prevent their disease recurring or spreading, the researchers said. Adult stem cells are healthy cells within the body which have not specialised into any particular type, and so retain the ability to keep on dividing and replacing worn out cells in parts of the body such as the gut, skin or breast. A research team from The Institute of Cancer Research, London, King's College London and Cardiff University's European Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute identified a set of 323 genes whose activity was turned up to high levels in normal breast stem cells in mice. The study is published today (Wednesday) in the journal Breast Cancer Research, and was funded by a range of organisations including the Medical Research Council, The Institute of … Continue reading →