Stem cell news!

State stem cell research funding agency awards $20 million to UCI, StemCells Inc.

Funds will advance joint project to treat spinal cord injury

_ÑÓ Irvine, Calif., July 27, 2012 _ÑÓ

Efforts to begin human clinical trials using stem cells to treat cervical spinal cord injury in the U.S. received a $20 million boost Thursday, July 26, from the state's stem cell research funding agency, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

The award will be shared by Aileen Anderson and Brian Cummings, associate professors of physical medicine & rehabilitation at UC Irvine's Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, and Nobuko Uchida of StemCells Inc. in Newark, Calif. Anderson and Cummings proved that transplanting human neural stem cells _ÑÐ discovered and developed by StemCells Inc. _ÑÐ into rodents with thoracic spinal cord injury could restore mobility. The CIRM award announced Thursday will fund the collection of data necessary to establish human clinical trials in the U.S.

_ÑÒOur therapeutic approach is based on the hypothesis that transplanted human neural stem cells integrate into the injured spinal cord to repair the protective myelin sheath and spinal circuitry, Anderson said. _ÑÒAny therapy that can partially reverse some of the effects of spinal cord injury could substantially change the quality of life for patients by altering their dependence on assisted living and medical care.

CIRM's governing board on Thursday gave authorized $150 million for eight teams at five institutions statewide. The projects backed are considered critical to the institute's mission of translating basic stem cell discoveries into clinical cures.

_ÑÒCIRM's support for UC Irvine's efforts to advance novel stem cell-based therapies for a variety of diseases is extremely gratifying, said Peter Donovan, director of the university's Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center. _ÑÒThis latest grant for spinal cord treatment holds great promise. We are delighted.

About 1.3 million Americans suffer chronically from spinal cord injuries. In California, nearly 147,000 individuals are living with such damage, which can severely impair the movement, sensation and autonomic function of otherwise healthy people. Recovery from spinal cord injury is often limited, even after aggressive emergency intervention with steroids and surgery, followed by rehabilitation.

_ÑÒThat's crushing for anyone, Anderson noted. _ÑÒIt's very tough for patients and their families. We believe stem cell therapies could provide significant functional recovery, improve quality of life and reduce the cost of care for those with spinal cord injury. That's our goal.

Anderson's and Cummings' laboratory has a long history of collaboration with StemCells Inc. in addressing spinal cord injury, including studies that led to the world's first clinical trial of a neural stem cell therapy for chronic spinal cord injury. This Phase I/II clinical trial, currently under way in Zurich, recently reported positive safety data from the first cohort of treated patients and continues to enroll subjects.

_ÑÒWe are very encouraged by the preliminary results in these volunteers," Cummings said, "and we are excited to receive CIRM funding to enable us to extend this approach to those with cervical injuries and to patients in the U.S.

About CIRM: Established in November 2004 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine is authorized to provide $3 billion in funding over 10 years for stem cell research and facilities throughout California.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UCI is among the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system, with nearly 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,000 staff. Orange County's second-largest employer, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $4 billion. For more UCI news, visit www.today.uci.edu.

News Radio: UCI maintains on campus an ISDN line for conducting interviews with its faculty and experts. Use of this line is available for a fee to radio news programs/stations that wish to interview UCI faculty and experts. Use of the ISDN line is subject to availability and approval by the university.

New and interesting facts on stem cells for Spinal cord injury.

Unit to fight Paralysis News letter
 

Empowering the Paralysis Community

While we haven't sent out a newsletter for several weeks, that doesn't mean we haven't been busy.  Until we restore healthy bodies to survivors of spinal cord injury, we will always have lots of work to do!  Since the 1st of the year, U2FP leaders have visited a couple of the research facilities that have shown promising results with treatments for chronic SCI.  We feel very optimistic about the work of Dr. Jerry Silver's lab at Case Western University, and the collaborative efforts being led by Dr. Oswald Steward at the Reeve-Irvine Research Center.       In January, Chris, Donna and Marilyn spent most of a day with Dr. Silver in his lab at Case Western.  He shared his extensive knowledge of spinal cord injury, and in particular his view of the various problems that must be solved in the injured cord in order to restore function.  Last October at Working 2 Walk, Silver explained how a combination of nerve bridging with chondroitinase was restoring functional recovery to the diaphragm in lab rats (video).  Since that time the same technique has been used to restore bladder function.  For a complete report on our visit to Dr. Silver's lab, click here. On March 10, Donna and Marilyn attended the annual "Meet the Scientists" forum at the Reeve-Irvine Research Center.  Prior to this trip, we had been studying a research breakthrough that is showing extraordinary promise for spinal cord regeneration.  The initial discovery was made by Dr. Zhigang He, who first demonstrated that by blocking an enzyme in the brain called pTEN, he could achieve regeneration in the optic nerve.  He tried the same technique in the spinal cord and was able to regenerate axons in the corticospinal tract.  This discovery has excited researchers around the world; Dr. Steward and the RIRC team are coordinating a collaborative effort that hopes to answer questions surrounding this potential therapy and bring it to translation.  The principles behind pTEN deletion can be better understood by watching this excellent video produced by community supporters of RIRC.  Since the video was released, additional discoveries surrounding this science have been made and are explained in our comprehensive report on our visit to Irvine here. The next 6 months should see significant advances in the world of SCI research, just in time for this year's Working 2 Walk Science & Advocacy Symposium.  Our presentations and discussions at W2W 2012 will focus on repair strategies to benefit the CHRONIC spinal cord injury.  We are pleased to announce that Dr. Silver and Dr. Steward have already confirmed their participation; we look forward to hearing from them as well as other leaders in the research and advocacy fields. Sponsor Opportunities: Now's the time to join the Support Team for Working 2 Walk by becoming an Event Sponsor.  We have a wide variety of sponsor options to suit any budget.  Because we keep our registration fees so low, with no charge to personal assistants or grant recipients, we rely on our sponsors to help pay for conference costs that include venue rental, catering, audio visual equipment, etc.  You can help ensure that the SCI community is well represented, and gain exposure for your organization, by joining us as an Event Sponsor. Our conference hotel for this year's Working 2 Walk Symposium is the Hilton Orange County Airport.  Conveniently located across the street from the John Wayne Santa Ana (SNA) airport, the hotel interior was recently renovated and offers excellent accommodations, amenities, and meeting space.  We have reserved a block of guest rooms for our attendees at a special rate of $119/night.  To book your room, visit our online reservation page here.  For special requests or to make a reservation by phone, call the hotel directly at 949-833-9999. All the best from, Your friends at Unite 2 Fight Paralysis