Program Type: Discovery
Enhancing hair cell regeneration in mouse and human inner ear
Hearing loss (HL) is a permanent sensory disorder affecting over 278 million people worldwide. In the US and California, 20% of individuals suffer from this sensory deficit. Those affected range from newborns (2 per 1000), to children aged 3-17 (5 per 1000), to adults including the elderly (~33% in aged 65-74 and ~50% >85 years […]
Stem cell therapy for inflammatory bowel disease
One of the most promising approaches that physicians foresee for treating human disease is regenerative medicine. A major aim in this field is to restore function by repairing damaged organs. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic disease characterized by intermittent episodes of intestinal inflammation and disruption of the intestinal epithelial barrier. It causes significant […]
White matter neuroregeneration after chemotherapy: stem cell therapy for “chemobrain”
Chemotherapy for cancer is often life saving, but it also causes a debilitating syndrome of impaired cognition characterized by deficits in attention, concentration, information processing speed, multitasking and memory. As a result, many cancer survivors find themselves unable to return to work or function in their lives as they had before their cancer therapy. These […]
Characterization of Human Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells for Clinical Application
Skeletal muscle makes up 40% of our bodies, dictates our form, is responsible for our ability to move, express ourselves, eat, breath and to look around. Restoration or preservation of the body’s normal form and function is the central goal of regenerative medicine and the central focus of my clinical specialty of plastic and reconstructive […]
Human endothelial reprogramming for hematopoietic stem cell therapy.
The current roadblocks to hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) therapies include the rarity of matched donors for bone marrow transplant, engraftment failures, common shortages of donated blood, and the inability to expand HSCs ex vivo in large numbers. These major obstacles would cease to exist if an extensive, bankable, inexhaustible, and patient-matched supply of blood were […]
Tunable hydrogels for therapeutic delivery of multipotent stem cells.
Rationale: Skin ulcers represent the largest economic burden of all skin diseases. Human adult stem cell therapies for the treatment of chronic wounds have shown considerable promise. However, a delivery system is needed before they can be used clinically. Hydrogels have emerged as a promising vehicle for stem cell delivery because their 3-D structure and […]
Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Cardiovascular Progenitor Cells for Cardiac Cell Therapy.
Despite therapeutic advances, cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in California. Regenerative therapies that restore normal function after a heart attack would have an enormous societal and financial impact. Although very promising, regenerative cardiac cell therapy faces a number of challenges and technological hurdles. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) allow […]
The generation and expansion of tissue-engineered small intestine from human stem/ progenitor cells: a preclinical study of functional translation
This proposal aims to complete the preclinical steps to develop tissue-engineered intestine (TESI) as a functional replacement of the small intestine to treat short bowel syndrome (SBS). Common birth conditions especially those associated with prematurity result in SBS wherein 50-75% of the small intestine is gone. SBS children cannot get adequate nutrition and supportive medical […]
Human pluripotent stem cell-based therapeutics for preeclampsia
Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy complication, characterized by high blood pressure and abnormal kidney function, which affects 5-8% of all pregnancies. It is responsible for a significant proportion of maternal deaths and growth-restricted babies; it is also a major reason why obstetricians induce delivery prematurely, resulting in additional neonatal complications, often requiring extended stays in […]
Preclinical evaluation of human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiovascular progenitors in a large animal model
Because the regenerative capacity of adult heart is limited, any substantial cell loss as a result of a heart attack is mostly irreversible and may lead to progressive heart failure. Human pluripotent stem cells can be differentiated to heart cells, but their properties when transplanted into an injured heart remain unresolved. We propose to perform […]