Today’s post is an interview I did with Dr. Van Bokkelen covering 10 questions. Dr. Gil Van Bokkelen is Chairman and CEO of Athersys, Inc., a company that has focused heavily on stem cells and regenerative medicine for more than a decade. For more on Dr. Van Bokkelen’s background see additional bio section at the end of […]
Interview with Gil Van Bokkelen of Athersys Read More »
L’Oreal/Lancome has been in the business of making money off of stem cells for quite some time now via so-called stem cell facial creams that are expensive and based on dubious claims, and now they are in the stem cells for baldness biz too. Note I have a helpful 2nd post on how stem cells
L’Oreal now claims baldness cure with stem cells Read More »
One of the more exciting stem cell biotechs out there today is Advanced Cell Technology (ACT). At this time ACT has the only two ES cell-based FDA-approved clinical trials ongoing and so far they have looked quite promising in terms of preliminary safety data. However, ACT has much more in the pipeline including potentially iPS
Interview with Gary Rabin of Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) Read More »
I recently did a poll asking people if they are or are not going to ISSCR and in either case, why. The results (at right) are pretty interesting. The #1 answer was that respondents were not going and the reason was that attending would be too expensive. Two other reasons given for not attending (tied
ISSCR 2013 poll results: encouraging but travel awards needed Read More »
I’ve written in the past (see here, here, and parody here on HuffPost) about how stem cell sports medicine is a dangerous thing. It continues to grow in popularity. There’s a new piece out now saying that Ultimate Fight Championship President Dana White went on a stem cell tourism trip to Germany for a treatment
Snake oil stem cell sports medicine: A-Rod, Kobe, Dana White Read More »
In my series eight simple reasons to pause before getting an unlicensed stem cell treatment from a non-compliant clinic I have covered the first five: (1) potential loss of insurance coverage for negative outcomes that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, (2) failure of patient follow up by the doctors and clinics, (3) exclusion from future clinical trial
Would you want a GI specialist doing your heart surgery? How about a radiologist doing your brain surgery? I wouldn’t. So why then do so many patients accept that the doctor doing their stem cell transplant has no training in that area? I’m doing a series on eight simple reasons not to get an unlicensed
Over the last few weeks, I have enjoyed talking with and interviewing Dr. Allan Wu, of The Morrow Institute on stem cell cosmetic procedures. I was impressed greatly by his talk at the World Stem Cell Summit last year. Dr. Wu is a fellowship trained Surgical Molecular Biologist with a background in Molecular Embryology and a board
Interview with Regenerative Surgeon, Dr. Allan Wu Read More »
What are stem cell facelifts?Hundreds or even thousands of patients are getting stem cell procedures including right here in the U.S. Many key issues remain unresolved, but clinics and doctors are giving these treatments anyway to make money. Critical issues include lack of proper informed consent, lack of strong data on risks and benefits, huge costs,
Comic on stem cell facelifts Read More »
Just how safe are stem cell transplants? Is an autologous stem cell transplant always safe? Is it really true, as one stem cell transplant doc once said of autologous stem cell treatments, that “the worst thing that could happen is the treatment won’t work”? Are adult stem cell treatments by definition safe? The reality is
Some 2012 papers that raise serious safety concerns about adult stem cell treatments Read More »