Category Archives: Stem Cell Transplant

Stanford has the largest Blood and Marrow Transplant Program in Northern California and has provided transplants to over 4500 adult patients, with over 300 transplants performed annually. The nationally recognized Stanford Blood and Marrow Transplant Program combines superior patient care with cutting-edge medicine. We are among a select number of Blood and Marrow Transplant programs in the country currently funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to conduct clinical research designed to improve patient outcomes. The program is fully accredited by the Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) and is a member of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network of the NCI. Patients receiving care with the Stanford Blood and Marrow Transplant Program have access to the full complement of specialist doctors within the medical center, including many who are nationally recognized. Although most of our patients are from California, others travel from throughout the United States and some from other countries to seek care from the Stanford Blood and Marrow Transplant Program. Our blood and bone marrow transplantation treatment process is highly interdisciplinary. The doctors in the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program have extensive blood and bone marrow transplant experience and are dedicated to the … Continue reading →

MPN Story of Michael: Stem Cell Transplant 19 Years After Diagnosis Even with an increasing number of treatments for MPNs, for some patients, stem cell transplant is necessary. After over 19 years of living with polycythemia ... By: Patient Power … Continue reading →

Home | Back August 11th, 2014 5:30 pm by Marci Gore Ginger Carrick Curlee was just shy of her 40th birthday in 2008 when the stay-at-home mom was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. At the time, her two sons were just 7 and 2. After an aggressive treatment protocol that included two rounds of chemotherapy, Curlee, a 1986 graduate of Dobyns-Bennett High School, received an allogeneic bone marrow/stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor through the National Bone Marrow Registry. And although the treatments did what they were supposed to do, the fight against cancer took a toll on Curlee's body. She knew she needed to regain strength and muscle tone. During that time, Curlee read an article in the newspaper of Cary, N.C., where she and her family now live, about Kim Estep Lampley, a double lung transplant survivor, who, at 52, swam at the World Transplant Games in Australia. Curlee, a swimmer, was excited to learn that the transplant games feature a variety of sports. "There are lots of fundraising events, like those for breast cancer, that involve running. But I don't run. These transplant games are something anybody can participate in," she said. Curlee, the daughter of … Continue reading →

Beginning today, Menorah Medical Center and Shawnee Mission Medical Center have joined Saint Lukes Hospital's Cord Blood Program and now offer mothers the option to donate their newborn babys umbilical cord blood to help those in need of a stem cell transplant. According to a news release from Saint Luke's Hospital, umbilical cord blood, like bone marrow, is rich in hematopoietic stem cells, which create all of a persons blood cells. Cord blood cells can be used in the treatment of leukemia, sickle cell anemia and dozens of other diseases. Cord blood stem cells are collected after the birth of a healthy infant and pose no risk to the donating mother or baby. Through this partnership, our hospitals are helping increase the worlds supply of stem cell-rich umbilical cord blood and helping those who suffer from any one of 80 life-threatening diseases, said Bill Ward, director of the Cord Blood Program for Saint Lukes Hospital of Kansas City. Prior to today, the Cord Blood Program at Saint Lukes Hospital, the areas only free cord blood donation program, collected and processed donations from the four metro area Saint Lukes hospitals, as well as Overland Park Regional Medical Center. Since its inception … Continue reading →

Ghost Organs, Stem Cells, and Frankensteins Transplant Technology If youre a biotech investor, youre undoubtedly aware of the buzz regarding 3D bioprinting. There have been scores of articles and video presentations in popular outlets heralding the end to transplant organ shortages. Using living cells rather than inanimate construction materials, 3D printing technologies have been used to build models of organs and other tissues. Excitement about the possibility of mass-produced bioprinted transplant organs has fueled a massive inpouring of capital into companies working on this seemingly science fiction technology. Im not writing today to tell you that bioprinting will never succeed in producing viable transplant organs, though the technology has a long way to go with many problems to solve in its path. Ive lived long enough to know that underestimating future scientific progress is a pastime popular among fools and stock shorters. On the contrary, Im writing to tell you an even older biotechnology is much, much nearer the target of lab-grown transplant organs. A few weeks ago, John Mauldin and I visited the Minnesota labs of a company that is pursuing the same goal of transplant organs. During that visit, we held ghost organs, as they are sometimes called, … Continue reading →

Suspected suicide: Yoshiki Sasai in April. Photo: AFP Tokyo: A renowned Japanese stem cell scientist who co-wrote research that was later retracted in an embarrassing scandal has been found dead, police say. The body of Yoshiki Sasai, 52, was discovered hanging inside the stairwell of a building that houses the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology, one of the country's most prestigious scientific research institutions. The office is in the western city of Kobe. Haruko Obokata, who was mentored by Yoshiki Sasai. Dr Obokata's research on stem cells published in Nature was found to have been falsified. Photo: AP/Kyodo News "Yoshiki Sasai was discovered hanging on Tuesday morning inside one of Riken's research buildings and, after being sent to hospital, he was confirmed dead at 11.03am," a spokesman for the Hyogo Prefectural police said. Advertisement "Police are investigating the case as a suspected suicide." He added that authorities discovered "farewell notes" that Dr Sasai had left behind, with public broadcaster NHK reporting that one was left for Haruko Obokata. Dr Sasai mentored Dr Obokata, whose study earlier this year was hailed as a "game-changer" in the quest to grow transplant tissue in the laboratory. Read the original post: Disgraced Japanese stem … Continue reading →

15 hours ago by Mari Yamaguchi In this April 16, 2014 photo, Yoshiki Sasai, deputy chief of the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology, speaks during a press conference in Tokyo. Police said Sasai, 52, was found Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014, at a government science institute RIKEN in Kobe, western Japan. Sasai had supervised and co-authored stem-cell research papers that had to be retracted due to falsified contents. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) A senior Japanese scientist embroiled in a stem-cell research scandal has apparently committed suicide, police said Tuesday. Yoshiki Sasai, who supervised and co-authored stem-cell research papers that had to be retracted due to falsified contents, was found dead Tuesday at the government-affiliated science institute RIKEN in Kobe, in western Japan, according to Hyogo prefectural police. Sasai, 52, was deputy chief of RIKEN's Center for Developmental Biology. A security guard found him suffering from cardiac arrest, with a rope around his neck, according to RIKEN. Sasai was rushed to a hospital, but was pronounced dead two hours later. Police and RIKEN said Sasai left what appeared to be suicide notes, but refused to disclose their contents. RIKEN spokesman Satoru Kagaya told a news conference that Sasai had three letters with him, … Continue reading →

(08-05 15:42) A renowned Japanese stem cell scientist who co-wrote research that was later retracted in an embarrassing scandal has been found dead in an apparent suicide, police and officials said Tuesday. The body of Yoshiki Sasai, 52, was discovered hanging inside the stairwell of a building that houses the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology, one of the country's most prestigious scientific research institutions, AFP reports. The office is in the western city of Kobe. "Yoshiki Sasai was discovered hanging on Tuesday morning inside one of Riken's research buildings and, after being sent to hospital, he was confirmed dead at 11:03 am,'' a spokesman for the Hyogo Prefectural police told AFP. "Police are investigating the case as a suspected suicide.'' A Riken spokesman later confirmed Sasai's death was suicide, and told reporters: "We were aware that (Sasai) had been mentally and physically exhausted.'' He added that authorities discovered "farewell notes'' the scientist had left behind, with public broadcaster NHK reporting that one was left for researcher Haruko Obokata. Sasai mentored the 30-year-old Obokata, who unveiled a study earlier this year that was hailed as a "game-changer'' in the quest to grow transplant tissue in the lab. But the feted research … Continue reading →

TOKYO: A renowned Japanese stem cell scientist who co-wrote research that was later retracted in an embarrassing scandal has been found dead of an apparent suicide, police said on Tuesday (Aug 5). The body of Yoshiki Sasai, 52, was discovered hanging inside the stairwell of a building that houses the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology, one of the country's most prestigious scientific research institutions. The office is in the western city of Kobe. "Yoshiki Sasai was discovered hanging on Tuesday morning inside one of Riken's research buildings and, after being sent to hospital, he was confirmed dead at 11:03 am," a spokesman for the Hyogo Prefectural police told AFP. "Police are investigating the case as a suspected suicide." He added that authorities discovered "farewell notes" that Sasai had left behind, with public broadcaster NHK reporting that one was left for Haruko Obokata. Sasai mentored the 30-year-old Obokata, whose study earlier this year was hailed as a "game-changer" in the quest to grow transplant tissue in the lab. But the feted research unravelled amid claims Obokata used fabricated data in her research. Leading science journal Nature said last month it had withdrawn the study after mistakes were discovered in some data … Continue reading →

A renowned Japanese stem cell scientist who co-wrote research that was later retracted in an embarrassing scandal has been found dead after apparently taking his own life. The body of Yoshiki Sasai, 52, was discovered inside the stairwell of a building that houses the Riken Centre for Developmental Biology, one of the country's most prestigious scientific research institutions. The office is in the western city of Kobe. "Police are investigating the case as a suspected suicide," a spokesman for the Hyogo Prefectural police said. A Riken spokesman later confirmed Sasai's death was suicide, and told reporters: "We were aware that (Sasai) had been mentally and physically exhausted." He added that authorities discovered "farewell notes" the scientist had left behind, with public broadcaster NHK reporting that one was left for researcher Haruko Obokata. Sasai mentored the 30-year-old Obokata, who unveiled a study earlier this year that was hailed as a "game-changer" in the quest to grow transplant tissue in the lab. But the feted research unravelled amid claims Obokata used fabricated data in her research. Leading science journal Nature said last month it had withdrawn the study after mistakes were discovered in some data published in two papers, among other problems. … Continue reading →