When I read about Elizabeth Holmes and her blood testing startup Theranos I see parallels to hucksters in the arena of stem cells and cell therapy. I’m thinking especially of the unproven stem cell clinics out there. It goes farther than that though too, including people who aren’t hucksters at all but get caught up …
Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos, & lessons for the stem cell field Read More »
Maybe the announcement that Commissioner Scott Gottlieb will be leaving the FDA soon shouldn’t have caught us all off-guard, but it did. Gottlieb isn’t a perfect Commissioner, but he brought a sensible, open approach to running the FDA that was very refreshing. Amongst all the top leadership in the Trump administration, Scott Gottlieb stood out …
Scott Gottlieb leaving FDA: possible reasons, impact on stem cell field, & more Read More »
The 21st Century Cures Act has some important regenerative medicine language in it. One part of that was attempting to accelerate FDA review of promising investigation regenerative medicine therapies. The mechanism for this was a new designation called Regenerative Advanced Therapy, now renamed Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT) Designation. I don’t think anyone was sure …
Big change for stem cell field with FDA quickly issuing RMATs Read More »
Blood testing biotech Theranos finds itself in a hole that seemingly just keeps getting deeper with the report today that the company is under criminal investigation. Can it bounce back? Some people are really upset with Theranos for allegedly making misleading statements including both to investors and the government about its technologies. It’s no exaggeration …
Will there be a Theranos of the stem cell field? Read More »
Paolo Bianco reportedly has died at age 60. This is terribly sad news and a huge loss for the stem cell community. Paolo made great contributions both in the science of stem cells itself and also in the area of advocating for responsible science. It is challenging to do both and he did it incredibly …
Stem cell field in mourning: Paolo Bianco dies at 60 Read More »
I recently chatted with Sean Morrison, current President of ISSCR, on his goals for the Society, where the stem cell field stands today, top challenges, and the future. 2020 update: read my new interview with Sean on cell therapies for COVID-19. What are your goals for your tenure as President of ISSCR? SM: ISSCR is the …
ISSCR President Sean Morrison on challenges and future of stem cell field Read More »
ISSCR Chat By Michael Cea Jeanne Loring of the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California kindly sat down with me at the ISSCR annual meeting for a broad discussion of her history, views on the field and developments in the science. I found Jeanne a refreshing character, as I did a number of others I was …
Michael Cea ISSCR chat with Jeanne Loring on stem cell field Read More »
What are the most interesting questions for the stem cell field in 2014 right now? What’s on your mind? I’m not going to give this deep thought, but rather just list those questions bouncing around at the moment in no particular order. You can see a lot of translational/clinical things are on my mind. I’ve …
Key questions for stem cell field bouncing around on a Friday morning Read More »
The World Stem Cell Summit in San Diego was a great meeting this past week. It was my 3rd straight Summit and the best of all. It’s a unique mix of science, medicine, and policy that links together key players from every corner of the field. I talked stem cells one-on-one or in small groups …
I recently conducted an interview with Dr. Joanne Kurtzberg of Duke. You can see Part 1 of the interview here. Today in Part 2, I asked Dr. Kurtzberg some broader questions about the stem cell field. 1. How concerned are you about non-compliant stem cell interventions here in the US as well as stem cell …
Joanne Kurtzberg interview, Part 2: clinics & stem cell field future Read More »