Category Archives: Diseases

MIAMI (WTVJ/NBC) - It is widely known that stem cells can be used in life-saving treatments for deadly diseases.

Now they are being used in the fight against wrinkles.

Donna Pritchit recently had a "stem cell" makeover.

The 64-year-old headed into the operating room wanting to turn back the hands of time without it being totally obvious.

"I don't want someone to stop and go by and say Oh, she had a facelift.' I want to have someone say Donna went on vacation she must be having a great life,'" she said before the $5,000 procedure began.

Dr. Sharon McQuillan at the Ageless Institute in Aventura, FL marked the areas where she would take fat out of Pritchit's belly - and place it back into her face.

The retired teacher also hoped it would be her last step in getting rid of embarrassing acne scars.

The outpatient procedure began with traditional liposuction, and then McQuillan and her team processed that fat and concentrated the stem cells so they could be injected into Pritchit's wrinkles and in places where she has lost fullness.

"Stem cells in general are the cells in your body that regenerate tissue and heal tissue, and they make the skin look beautiful and younger," McQuillan explained.

While there are not many long-term studies on the procedure, McQuillan said the results are permanent.

Continued here:
Stem cell 'makeovers' provide a way to get rid of wrinkles

MIAMI (WTVJ/NBC) - It is widely known that stem cells can be used in life-saving treatments for deadly diseases.

Now they are being used in the fight against wrinkles.

Donna Pritchit recently had a "stem cell" makeover.

The 64-year-old headed into the operating room wanting to turn back the hands of time without it being totally obvious.

"I don't want someone to stop and go by and say Oh, she had a facelift.' I want to have someone say Donna went on vacation she must be having a great life,'" she said before the $5,000 procedure began.

Dr. Sharon McQuillan at the Ageless Institute in Aventura, FL marked the areas where she would take fat out of Pritchit's belly - and place it back into her face.

The retired teacher also hoped it would be her last step in getting rid of embarrassing acne scars.

The outpatient procedure began with traditional liposuction, and then McQuillan and her team processed that fat and concentrated the stem cells so they could be injected into Pritchit's wrinkles and in places where she has lost fullness.

"Stem cells in general are the cells in your body that regenerate tissue and heal tissue, and they make the skin look beautiful and younger," McQuillan explained.

While there are not many long-term studies on the procedure, McQuillan said the results are permanent.

Continued here:
Stem cell 'makeovers' provide a way to get rid of wrinkles

The University of California, Davis, scored a major coup in stem cell funding with a $53 million award Thursday for research into Huntington's disease, limb ischemia and osteoporosis.

The grants were approved Thursday afternoon by CIRM the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. They are a major milestone for the university, which had received $73 million in past funding from the state agency.

"We're here to bring this new era of medicine to patients," UC Davis stem cell program director Jan Nolta said.

For Melissa Biliardi of Santa Maria, the vote symbolizes hope. Her son, James Birdsall, 32, was diagnosed four years ago with Huntington's disease. The degenerative brain disorder could prove fatal over the next 10 to 15 years. There is currently no cure or treatment, but with the grant, UC Davis researchers hope to deliver an effective therapy in four years.

"This is the most hope we've ever had for a cure or treatment," Biliardi said.

Her son suffers from involuntary movement and fatigue, all symptoms of the disease, and relies on a wheelchair to get around. Birdsall is one of 30,000 Americans living with the genetic disorder, according to Nolta. Another 150,000 are at risk, but many aren't diagnosed until their early 30s.

Created by voters in 2004, CIRM is financed by state bonds. The agency started with a $3 billion fund in 2007. Since then, it has doled out a quarter of its money about $900 million to various universities and private companies doing stem cell work in the state.

"We're driving opportunity here," CIRM President Alan Trounson said.

Huntington's is caused by toxic proteins that kill nerves in the brain. Limb ischemia causes blood clots that eventually lead to amputation. Osteoporosis is characterized by a loss in bone mass.

Together, the diseases afflict millions of Americans each year. UC Davis researchers said they are on the cusp of a major breakthrough to treating all three.

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UC Davis gets $53 million in stem cell funds to study Huntington's, other diseases

BURLINGAME (KCBS) The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine decided on Thursday to approve $150 million in grants for fighting deadly diseases.

According to the institute, eight grants were issued to researchers throughout the state. Three of the grants went to teams at UC Davis, while teams at Stanford University received two. Newark-based StemCells Inc. also received a grant. The remaining grants went to teams at UCLA and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Awards from the institute ranged from $14.1 million to $20 million.

The grants will go towards researching therapies for several diseases and disorders, including Huntingtons disease, osteoporosis, spinal cord injury and ALS, also known as Lou Gehrigs disease.

KCBS Anna Duckworth Reports:

State Stem Cell Agency To Vote On Granting Research Funding At California Universities

Researchers, patients and parents addressed the 29-member governing board of the states stem cell agency before Thursdays vote at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Burlingame, voicing support for the grants.

UC Davis Stem Cell Program Director Dr. Jan Nolta said the money would allow them to start clinical trials for Huntingtons disease, which causes neurons in the brain to die slowly over the course of about 10 years.

At times the testimony was emotional with researchers speaking about patients that would most likely loose their ability to walk due to their disease.

Others spoke hopefully about the developing therapies that would hopefully keep the brain healthy.

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California Stem Cell Agency Approves $150M In Grants To Fight Diseases

The University of California, Davis, scored a major coup in stem cell funding with a $53 million award Thursday for research into Huntington's disease, limb ischemia and osteoporosis.

The grants were approved Thursday afternoon by CIRM the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. They are a major milestone for the university, which had received $73 million in past funding from the state agency.

"We're here to bring this new era of medicine to patients," UC Davis stem cell program director Jan Nolta said.

For Melissa Biliardi of Santa Maria, the vote symbolizes hope. Her son, James Birdsall, 32, was diagnosed four years ago with Huntington's disease. The degenerative brain disorder could prove fatal over the next 10 to 15 years. There is currently no cure or treatment, but with the grant, UC Davis researchers hope to deliver an effective therapy in four years.

"This is the most hope we've ever had for a cure or treatment," Biliardi said.

Her son suffers from involuntary movement and fatigue, all symptoms of the disease, and relies on a wheelchair to get around. Birdsall is one of 30,000 Americans living with the genetic disorder, according to Nolta. Another 150,000 are at risk, but many aren't diagnosed until their early 30s.

Created by voters in 2004, CIRM is financed by state bonds. The agency started with a $3 billion fund in 2007. Since then, it has doled out a quarter of its money about $900 million to various universities and private companies doing stem cell work in the state.

"We're driving opportunity here," CIRM President Alan Trounson said.

Huntington's is caused by toxic proteins that kill nerves in the brain. Limb ischemia causes blood clots that eventually lead to amputation. Osteoporosis is characterized by a loss in bone mass.

Together, the diseases afflict millions of Americans each year. UC Davis researchers said they are on the cusp of a major breakthrough to treating all three.

Read more:
UC Davis gets $53 million in stem cell funds to study Huntington's, other diseases

Public release date: 27-Jul-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Cathy Lawhon clawhon@uci.edu 949-824-1151 University of California - Irvine

Irvine, Calif., July 26, 2012 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 discovered and developed by Stem Cells, Inc. 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.

"Our 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. "Any 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.

"CIRM'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. "This latest award 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.

"That's crushing for anyone," Anderson noted. "It'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.

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