Researchers and physicians are increasingly acknowledging the positive role stem cell therapy plays in managing a host of complicated ailments that were once very difficult to handle. Among such health conditions is autism, the neuro-developmental disorder that impacts the brain of children and severely hinders development of communication and social interaction skills. Showing results There is a positive impact of stem cell therapy and conventional rehabilitation for autistic children. Over a period of time, hyperactivity among children is reduced, they are calmer and their eye contact has improved. Attention span and the ability to sit at one place have improved. This allows rehabilitation specialists to work more efficiently with children, claims Nandini Gokulchandran of Neurogen Brain and Spine Institute, Mumbai. For the past four years, the researcher has been working with 250 children from across the world on stem-cell therapy and autism. In fact, results from a study of stem cells impact on 32 autistic children by researchers led by Alok Sharma and Dr. Gokulchandran were published in the journal Stem Cells International . Correcting the imbalance Dr. Gokulchandran, who was in the city recently to deliver a talk on autism organised by Durgabai Deshmukh Vocational Training and Rehabilitation Centre, … Continue reading →

About 10 percent of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) discontinued therapy with the Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor drug ibrutinib because of disease progression during clinical trials, according to a study published online in JAMA Oncology. CLL is the most prevalent leukemia in adults and it is not considered curable without an allogeneic (donor) stem cell transplant. However, advances in therapy have been made, notably the emergence of kinase inhibitors for patients whose disease relapsed, according to the study background. The drug ibrutinib (marketed as Imbruvica) is the first drug designed to target Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK), a protein essential for CLL-cell survival and proliferation. The drug is approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and mantle cell lymphoma. Much of the clinical and basic-science research that led to the approval of ibrutinib for CLL was performed by scientists at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center -- Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC -- James). Hematologists Kami Maddocks, MD, Jennifer Woyach, MD, and colleagues have now described the characteristics of patients who discontinued ibrutinib therapy and their outcomes in a group of 308 patients participating in four trials … Continue reading →

The need for the discovery and development of innovative technologies to improve the delivery of therapeutic and diagnostic agents in the body is widely recognized. The next generation therapies must be able to deliver drugs, therapeutic proteins and recombinant DNA to focal areas of disease or to tumors to maximize clinical benefit while limiting untoward side effects. The use of nanoscale technologies to design novel drug delivery systems and devices is a rapidly developing area of biomedical research that promises breakthrough advances in therapeutics and diagnostics. Center for Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine (CDDN) serves to unify existing diverse technical and scientific expertise in biomedical and material science research at the University of Nebraska thereby creating a world class interdisciplinary drug delivery and nanomedicine program. This is realized by integrating established expertise in drug delivery, gene therapy, neuroscience, pathology, immunology, pharmacology, vaccine therapy, cancer biology, polymer science and nanotechnology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), the University of Nebraska at Lincoln (UNL) and Creighton University. CDDNs vision is to improve health by enhancing the efficacy and safety of new and existing therapeutic agents, diagnostic agents and genes through the discovery and application of innovative methods of drug delivery and … Continue reading →