Why Stem Cells Work: Clinical Trials for Spinal Cord Injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy

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:

  • 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

Reviewed By:

Julio Sierra, M.D.

Clinical Director

With 15 years of research experience in HIV, endocrine, and stem cell studies, Dr. Sierra joined Medistem Panama in 2014 and became Clinical Director at Stem Cell Institute in 2016. Dr. Sierra earned his medical degree from Universidad Autónoma de Centroamérica.

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