Welcome to the E-newsletter of the Nebraska Coalition for Lifesaving Cures February 2017! Below are a few articles that caught our eye this month. Enjoy.
Harvard scientist worries we’re ‘reverting to a Pre-Enlightenment form of thinking’
George Q. Daley, the new head of Harvard Medical School, knows what it’s like when presidential politics collides with science. Daley was a leading stem cell scientist back in 2001 when President George W. Bush suddenly barred federal funding for research on new embryonic stem cells — a gesture to Republican antiabortion backers that, many believe, put a chill on one of the most cutting-edge areas of biology.
Read more here.
Japan IPS cell trial for vision to start in new incarnation
It’s been a long road, but the first ever IPS cell clinical study in humans is starting up again in a new incarnation. You might say it has been regenerated in a novel form.
Masayo Takahashi (高橋 政代) first started the pioneering IPS cell study a few years back in 2014, but it ended up getting put on hold in the summer of 2015 in the midst of changing regs in Japan and the discovery of some mutations in the IPS cell derivatives.
Read more here.
California’s stem cell program ponders a future of new challenges and old promises
Evangelina Padilla Vaccaro of Corona is the new face of stem cell science in California. Born with “bubble baby” disease that deprived her of a functioning immune system, she was cured with stem cell therapy developed in Donald Kohn’s lab at UCLA, which has received millions of dollars in grants from the California stem cell program.
Read more here.
Upcoming Events
March 14: Science Cafe
Dr. John D. Jackson leads his talk titled, “Bioprinting: Enabling Technology for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine” Tuesday, March 14 at 7 p.m. at the Slowdown. Read more here.
April 24, 2017: Spring Luncheon
Save the Date for NCLC’s Spring Luncheon honoring Mary “Andy” Holland. This event will take place Monday, April 24, 2017 from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the Happy Hollow Club.