Search Results for: northwestern

Northwestern abruptly ending Burt HSCT autoimmune trials

Selma-Blair-HSCT

“HSCT Chicago Clinic Closing!” is the startling header in all caps on a patient-run Facebook page about a stem cell therapy clinical trial program at Northwestern University. What’s going on? Unfortunately, the promising field of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases seems to have suffered an unexpected setback …

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Burt Northwestern Stem Cell MS Trial Part 3: Funding, Patient Perspectives, & the Future

Stem-cells-for-MS-trial-concerns-e1493137263166

Today’s post is the last of a three-part series on the Burt stem cell trials at Northwestern. This piece is focused on funding and the future of the trial, and also includes perspectives from patients. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here, which focused on issues related to potential encouragement of patient fundraising that unintentionally releases …

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Burt Northwestern Stem Cell MS Trial Part 2: Marketing ‘Cure’-Like Outcomes?

stem-cells-MS-Northwestern-University

Can science now cure MS in some patients with stem cells or is that near on the horizon? What about stem cells for other serious autoimmune disorders? What are the risks to patients in terms of health, money, and hope? What if patients must find $100,000 or $200,000 just to get into a clinical trial for …

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Burt Northwestern Stem Cell MS Trial Part 1: Big Promise & Tough Questions

Curing-Multiple-Sclerosis-Stem-Cells

Dr. Richard Burt of Northwestern University has been doing cutting edge research on the use of stem cells for autoimmune disorders for more than a decade. The core idea behind the work that Burt and other research teams are doing is that stem cells may have revolutionary potential to somehow counteract the autoimmunity that causes …

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FDA warns Northwestern’s Richard Burt on reporting patient deaths, other issues in stem cell trials

Richard-Burt-Warning-Letter-e1490745772151

The FDA recently issued a lengthy warning letter to Northwestern University over the clinical trial practices of its Dr. Richard Burt and this letter just popped up on the FDA website. To my knowledge this is an unprecedented event as I’m not aware of another warning letter to a major university for a stem cell trial. Burt received the FDA …

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Weekly reads: stem cell for hair loss, clinic lawsuit update, 2 big retractions

stem cell for hair loss

There seems to be a never-ending supply of stem cell for hair loss research but a new article invokes a novel mechanism. Stem cell for hair loss research and cell mechanics Here’s a recent news item about a PNAS paper: Coaxing hair growth in aging hair follicle stem cells, NW Now. A common theme is things …

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Why did Duke autism team halt its troubling pay-for-play program?

Almost two years ago I publicly called on the FDA to freeze the unproven cord cell expanded access program (EAP) at the Duke Autism Center. Duke has been infusing kids with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with unproven cord cells and requiring large payments for this. The cost was as much as $15,000. A halt and a …

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What is HSCT & its possible roles in MS treatment?

Selma-Blair-HSCT

Patients regularly reach out and ask me about something called HSCT. “What is HSCT?” and is it proven as a therapy? Often the patients asking about this have multiple sclerosis (MS) or some other autoimmune disease. I’m not a physician so I can’t give medical advice, but as a stem cell biologist here at UC …

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Weekly reads: stem cells for MS, blood origins, iPSCs

Types-of-Multiple-Sclerosis

How promising is the idea of stem cells for MS? I have been working slowly as time permits on a piece more specifically about hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for MS. Two new pieces caught my eye on this topic so I’ll start with those. Stem cells for MS NurOwn Found Safe, Shows Promise in …

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Weekly stem cell reads: COVID kidney, FDA letter, H3.3, EO Wilson

EO Wilson

Happy New Year and get ready for another 364 more days of stem cell excitement and craziness in 2022. In the next day or two I’ll post my predictions for this new year. Recommended reads EO Wilson obit by Carl Zimmer in NYT. Who’s the next EO Wilson or someone like him with such big impact these …

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