Award Type: Development Candidate Award
Human retinal progenitor cells as candidate therapy for retinitis pigmentosa
The targeted disease is retinitis pigmentosa (RP), is a severe form of blindness that runs in families. This disease is not overly common, yet represents an attainable near term target for stem cell therapy for a number of reasons: 1) RP destroys the light detecting cells of the retina but generally leaves the rest of […]
Dual targeting of tyrosine kinase and BCL6 signaling for leukemia stem cell eradication
Leukemia is the most frequent form of cancer in children and teenagers, but is also common in adults. Chemotherapy has vastly improved the outcome of leukemia over the past four decades. However, many patients still die because of recurrence of the disease and development of drug-resistance in leukemia cells. In preliminary studies for this proposal […]
Dual targeting of tyrosine kinase and BCL6 signaling for leukemia stem cell eradication
Leukemia is the most frequent form of cancer in children and teenagers, but is also common in adults. Chemotherapy has vastly improved the outcome of leukemia over the past four decades. However, many patients still die because of recurrence of the disease and development of drug-resistance in leukemia cells. In preliminary studies for this proposal […]
Banking transplant ready dopaminergic neurons using a scalable process
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a devastating movement disorder caused by the death of dopaminergic neurons (a type of nerve cells in the central nervous system) present in the midbrain. These neurons secrete dopamine (a signaling molecule) and are a critical component of the motor circuit that ensures movements are smooth and coordinated. All current treatments […]
New Drug Discovery for SMA using Patient-derived Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is the leading genetic cause of infant death in the U.S. This devastating disease affects 1 child in every 6,000-10,000 live births, with a North American prevalence of approximately 14,000 individuals. The disease is characterized by the death of spinal cord cells called motor neurons that connect the brain to muscle. […]
Harnessing native fat-residing stem cells for bone regeneration
Like most tissues of the body, bone possesses a natural regenerative system aimed at restoring cells and tissues lost to natural cell aging, disease or injury. These natural regenerative systems are complex combinations of cell growth factors and support structures that guide and control the development of specialized bone stem cells. However, the regeneration process […]
Cartilage Regeneration by the Chondrogenic Small Molecule PRO1 during Osteoarthritis
The ability to direct the differentiation of resident mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) towards the cartilage lineage offers considerable promise for the regeneration of articular cartilage after traumatic joint injury or age-related osteoarthritis (OA). MSCs can be stimulated in vitro to form new functional cartilage. In the OA-affected joint, the repair is insufficient, leaving a damaged […]
A hESc-based Development Candidate for Huntington’s Disease
Huntington’s disease (HD) is a devastating degenerative brain disease with a 1 in 10,000 prevalence that inevitably leads to death. These numbers do not fully reflect the large societal and familial cost of HD, which requires extensive caregiving. HD has no effective treatment or cure and symptoms unstoppably progress for 15-20 years, with onset typically […]
Preclinical development of a pan Bcl2 inhibitor for cancer stem cell directed therapy
Cancer is the leading cause of death for individuals under 85. Relapse and metastatic disease are the leading causes of cancer related mortality. Anti-apoptotic BCL2 family member overexpression has been shown to promote disease progression in both chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and prostate cancer. Andr., the emergence of cancer stem cells (CSC) promotes apoptosis resistance […]