Source: Medical College of Georgia
Date: January 29, 2008
Summary:
Finding answers about optimal dosage and timing for stem cell therapy in adults with strokes and newborns with ischemic injuries is a goal of two new federally funded studies. The answers are critical before clinical trials can begin, says Dr. Cesario V. Borlongan, neuroscientist at the Medical College of Georgia and Charlie Norwood Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He is principal investigator on the National Institutes of Health grants totaling $6 million that also will explore long-term benefits of cell therapy. If these additional laboratory studies replicate the promising results of the pilot studies, which indicate about a 25 percent improvement in recovery over controls, MCG and VA researchers hope to begin clinical trials in new ischemic injuries in adults and children within two years.
