The first time I heard CAR-T cells referred to as a regenerative medicine it made me stop and think. Are CAR-T therapies really a type of regenerative medicine? Generally, CAR-T cells are a designer immune cell therapy. They work by killing cancer cells and that’s what came to mind to me. I don’t tend to …
What are CAR-T cells & are they regenerative medicine? Read More »
I’ve been following the stem cells for COVID arena for more than two years. During this time researchers have launched scores of trials. A few have been published including a new one. It’s been a wild ride that at times has included politics and an odd cast of characters. There was Rick Perry and also Rudy Guiliani getting …
A close look at new stem cells for COVID trial pub Read More »
Some unproven stem cell clinics like one called Giostar have multiple locations sprouting up. To me the concern with that spreading is the potential of multiplying risks to consumers. It can be hard to get a clear take on what these clinics are doing too. What’s in this article What is Giostar? | Giostar review | …
Giostar stem cell clinic chain review, red flags, & lawsuit Read More »
The last six months I’ve been spending even more time than usual writing NIH grants (and a few others). The last two weeks have been especially busy on this front as I am getting an R01 renewal out the door. My paper reading lately has been mostly related to the grant writing I’m doing. Still, …
Weekly reads: NIH grants, side effect of darker hair, FDA warning, CRISPR Read More »
The FDA stem cell clinic problem just continues to grow, while the agency has been oddly quiet in this space for more than a year. It’s been a major disappointment, particularly as in recent years FDA leadership had implied that bold action was coming. Their own words spiked expectations that the agency would tackle unproven …
I grew up in the Seattle area so it wasn’t great to see stem cell clinics operating there recently, but better news was the WA State AG filing suit against a clinic there. The action included the clinic parent firm US Stemology along with its leader Dr. Tami Meraglia. The suit was filed only months ago …
WA AG wins half million from Seattle stem cell clinic US Stemology Read More »
The news just keeps getting worse for Missouri state lawmaker Patricia Derges, who was indicted last year by the feds for an alleged stem cell scheme. She is now also being sued by a former patient. Derges, who is not a physician but rather an assistant physician, was providing supposed stem cell or related biological …
Over the past dozen years as I’ve written about stem cell clinics here on The Niche I’ve gotten to know many of those running the clinics including Dr. Mark Berman of Beverly Hills. It was therefore kind of a shock to learn that Berman died of last month. Michael Hiltzik of the LA Times reported …
Thoughts on death of stem cell clinic leader Dr. Mark Berman Read More »
It’s very challenging to be an academic scientist even under normal circumstances so when a government starts going after researchers for things like supposed irregularities in funding disclosures, it can cause serious problems if not carefully overseen. We’ll start this week’s recommended reads with the feds monitoring such disclosures and even making referrals to the …
Weekly reads: Yale scientist suspended, WA AG sues clinic, new pubs Read More »
A clinic called DVC Stem selling unproven stem cells has popped up prominently on the web recently. It’s a relatively new and in some ways puzzlingly dominant presence on the stem cell section of the Internet. We should pay attention to these kinds of changes on the web. They can impact many people’s healthcare choices, …
Review of DVC Stem & marketing of unproven therapies Read More »