Jason and Dad This was taken the week before admission for stem cell transplant when he was still feeling so so... By: Katie Hotz … Continue reading →

A piece of a three-dimensional bone structure obtained from the own adipose stem cells of a patient is seen at Brussels' Saint Luc Hospital January 14, 2014. Belgian medical researchers have succeeded in repairing bones using stem cells from fatty tissue, with a new technique they believe could become a benchmark for treating a range of bone disorders. REUTERS BRUSSELS -- Belgian medical researchers have succeeded in repairing bones using stem cells from fatty tissue, with a new technique they believe could become a benchmark for treating a range of bone disorders. The team at the Saint Luc university clinic hospital in Brussels have treated 11 patients, eight of them children, with fractures or bone defects that their bodies could not repair, and a spin-off is seeking investors to commercialize the discovery. Doctors have for years harvested stem cells from bone marrow at the top of the pelvis and injected them back into the body to repair bone. The ground-breaking technique of Saint Luc's centre for tissue and cellular therapy is to remove a sugar cube sized piece of fatty tissue from the patient, a less invasive process than pushing a needle into the pelvis and with a stem cell … Continue reading →

Milton Canadian Champion OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network will come to Country Heritage Park Saturday, Jan. 18 in hopes of adding more people to Canadas stem cell registry in honour of Nora Chifor. Chifor is a 33-year-old woman from Reghin, Romania who was recently diagnosed with leukemia and is in desperate need of a stem cell transplant. Potential donors are invited to provide a swab at the OneMatch booth that will be set up. At the same time, the event itself, which is dubbed United We Move Mountains a Day of Health will include family entertainment organized by Chifors supporters. The 2 p.m. fundraiser for Chifor will feature zumba, crafts, face painting, yoga and salsa. Its intended to be a fun event with plenty of childrens activities. Tickets to the entertainment portion of the days activities cost $15 and are available by calling (647) 202-4224 or (416) 903-2536 or emailing event18@chifornora.com. To register as a potential donor, drop by the event or visit OneMatch online at http://www.onematch.ca. To learn more about Chifor and follow her journey, visit her website, http://www.chifornora.com. Country Heritage Park is located at on 8560 Tremaine Rd. The rest is here: Potential stem cell donors sought … Continue reading →

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian medical researchers have succeeded in repairing bones using stem cells from fatty tissue, with a new technique they believe could become a benchmark for treating a range of bone disorders. The team at the Saint Luc university clinic hospital in Brussels have treated 11 patients, eight of them children, with fractures or bone defects that their bodies could not repair, and a spin-off is seeking investors to commercialize the discovery. Doctors have for years harvested stem cells from bone marrow at the top of the pelvis and injected them back into the body to repair bone. The ground-breaking stem cell technique of Saint Luc's centre for tissue and cellular therapy is to remove a sugar cube sized piece of fatty tissue from the patient, a less invasive process than pushing a needle into the pelvis and with a stem cell concentration they say is some 500 times higher. The stem cells are then isolated and used to grow bone in the laboratory. Unlike some technologies, they are also not attached to a solid and separate 'scaffold'. "Normally you transplant only cells and you cross your fingers that it functions," the centre's coordinator Denis Dufrane told Reuters … Continue reading →