Why Stem Cells Work: Trials for Spinal Cord Injury, MS, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Duchenne’s

Neil Riordan, PhD speaks at the Riordan-McKenna Institute and Stem Cell Institute fall seminar in Southlake, Texas on October 10, 2015.
Dr. Riordan discusses (click "Show More" to view)
• How our lab selects uses specialized screening techniques to select only the stem cells that we know will be the most useful for our patients. Only about 1 in 100 cords pass this screening process.
• How umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) control inflammation, modulate the immune system and stimulate regeneration.
• How the number and function of our own stem cells decline over time.
• How MSC secretions promote healing
• Where MSCs are found in our body
• First clinic trial in the US using umbilical cord tissue-derived stem cells
• How MSC doubling times dramatically decrease as people age, which is why cord cells are much more robust than a patient’s own cells as they age
• The origin of Medistem Lab in Panama
• Why the Stem Cell Institute and Medistem Labs are in Panama
• Stem cell therapy laws and approvals around the world
• Global interest in mesenchymal stem cell therapy research
• Current clinical trials using mesenchymal stem cells
• Clinical trials in Panama
• Collaborations with corporations and educational institutions
• Mesenchymal stem cell selection, donor selection, and testing
• Brief tour of Medistem Panama stem cell laboratory
• Isolation and production of mesenchymal stem cells
• Discovery of mesenchymal stem cells in menstrual blood
• Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell studies for rheumatoid arthritis
• The role of T-regulatory cells in rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis
• Treating spinal cord injuries with mesenchymal stem cells
• Mechanism of mesenchymal stem cells on spinal cord injury. They are not becoming tissue. It’s their secretions that allow the spinal cord to heal itself.
• Umbilical cord MSC studies on spinal cord injury
• Data from Stem Cell Institute spinal cord injury patients
• Video from treated spinal cord injury patients
• Postnatal MSC safety
• MSCs and cancer risk - MSCs have been shows to actually inhibit tumor growth