PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 14-Oct-2014 Contact: David McKeon DMcKeon@nyscf.org 212-365-7440 New York Stem Cell Foundation @nyscf NEW YORK, NY (October 14, 2014) The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) announced today that Marius Wernig, PhD, Associate Professor in the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and the Department of Pathology at Stanford University School of Medicine, is the 2014 recipient of the NYSCF Robertson Stem Cell Prize, which has been awarded since 2011 for extraordinary achievements in translational stem cell research by a young scientist. Dr. Wernig and his team discovered that human skin cells can be converted directly into functional neurons, termed induced neuronal (iN) cells, in a period of four to five weeks with the addition of just four proteins. "Dr. Wernig's groundbreaking research has the potential to accelerate all research on devastating neurodegenerative diseases," said Susan L. Solomon, CEO and Co-founder of NYSCF. "His work can impact and accelerate research on multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and autism among many other conditions." At Stanford, Dr. Wernig focuses on using induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and iN cells for disease modeling and as potential cellular therapy. This new technique transformed the field of cellular reprogramming by eliminating the … Continue reading →

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 13-Oct-2014 Contact: Karen Kreeger karen.kreeger@uphs.upenn.edu 215-349-5658 University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine @PennMedNews PHILADELPHIA Roberto Bonasio, PhD, an assistant professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and a core member of the Penn Epigenetics Program is one of the recipients of a 2014 New Innovator Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH Director's New Innovator Award, totaling $1.5 million over five years for each of the 50 recipients this year, supports highly innovative research and creative, new investigators who exhibit strong potential to make great advances on a critical biomedical or behavioral research problem. The initiative, established in 2007, supports investigators who are within 10 years of their terminal degree or clinical residency, who have not yet received a research project grant (R01), or equivalent NIH grant, to conduct unusually innovative research. Bonasio studies the molecular mechanisms of epigenetic memory, which are key to a number of biological processes, including embryonic development, cancer, stem cell pluripotency, and brain function. In particular, he will be looking at gene expression controlled by epigenetic pathways that alter the chemical structure of chromosomes and allow for multiple cell identities to … Continue reading →

By Richard M. Cohen image courtesy Richard Cohen I am one of twenty struggling every day with multiple sclerosis to be included in an innovative, phase one stem cell clinical trial at the Tisch MS Research Center of New York. Now theres a mouthful. Please let me explain. Many of us read tidbits about cell therapy and think it simply is space-age medicine that will be launched in the future. In fact, we are at the starting line now, and the race has begun. A phase one trial tests safety. The group is small, and all are treated with the real thing. No placebos, sugar pills. The trial tests autologous cells, which mean our own. That eliminates rejection and alters risk. No new medical procedure comes risk-free, but the dangers are minimal. The stem cells are pulled from bone marrow harvested from our breast bones. Sounds hideous. It is not. In this trial, the stem cells are infused directly into the spinal column. Nope. Not painful at all. Then we watch and wait. Results, if there are to be any, can take many months to show themselves. This particular procedure has never been used before. I was the first in … Continue reading →