Right now scientists are investigating the optimal dosage and timing for stem cell therapy in adults with strokes and newborns with ischemic injuries.

If these additional laboratory studies replicate the promising results of the pilot studies, which indicate about a 25 percent improvement in recovery over controls, MCG and VA researchers hope to begin clinical trials in new ischemic injuries in adults and children within two years.

“We are looking at different procedures that we can adopt from the laboratory for the clinic,” Dr. Borlongan says. “We have at least 10 years of basic research that clearly shows that stem cells have the potential to be a new therapy for adult stroke.”

“This is a whole new paradigm, a totally different way of targeting disease,” says Dr. David Hess, chair of the MCG Department of Neurology and co-investigator.

In other stem cell news, there have been impressive results in clinical trials using bone marrow, muscle, and fat cells in in heart therapies. Many of the researchers who presented their results are members of the Adult Stem Cell Research Network. Now that sounds like a worthy cause.

Many thanks to Monica at Adult Stem Cell Awareness for her dutiful reporting on all ASC news!! She does a much better job than I do 🙂