Join Dr. Jeanne Loring, Professor emeritus, Scripps Research, and Founder and Advisor, Aspen Neuroscience, for a presentation on the current state of stem cell-based therapy and regenerative medicine. Featuring an overview of the challenges and successes in their development of an autologous stem cell-based therapy.

Human pluripotent stem cells are uniquely suited for treatment of diseases caused by degeneration of a specific cell type.  The promise of induced pluripotent stem cells is that they can be made from the patient, turned into the appropriate cell type, then returned to the patient, eliminating the need for immunosuppression.  Yet, significant scientific, technical, and regulatory challenges must be addressed to successfully develop stem-cell based therapies and deliver on the promise of regenerative medicine.

Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative movement disorder caused by the loss of dopamine neurons in a specific part of the brain called the substantial nigra.  Aspen Neuroscience has developed an autologous dopamine neuron replacement therapy, using genomics and machine learning to solve the challenges of developing a personalized treatment.  The Phase 1 clinical trial is still in progress, but patients are already showing early signs of improvement only 6 months after the cells were transplanted.

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