CBR Client Newsletter Summer 2009

1-888-770-6105 | Winter 2010

CBR Clients to Participate in First FDA-Approved Stem Cell Trial in Pediatric Cerebral Palsy

Medical College of Georgia researchers are conducting the first FDA-approved clinical trial to evaluate the use of a child's own cord blood stem cells as a medical intervention with cerebral palsy. The study will enroll 40 children ages 2-12 whose parents have stored cord blood at Cord Blood Registry. To ensure consistency in cord blood stem cell processing and storage, CBR is the only family stem cell bank participating in the study.

Dr. James Carroll, professor and chief of pediatric neurology in MCG School of Medicine and principal investigator on the study, has been working for the past five years with stem cells in animal models. The study animals with brain injury have shown significant improvements in motor abilities after a stem cell infusion.

More Heartening News for Cardiac Patients: Specific Type of Stem Cell Helps Repair Heart Damage

Imagine if stem cell therapy could be widely used not only to manage the injury caused by a heart attack, but to reverse the damage and repair the heart. In a recent study of 53 heart attack patients published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers used mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), a particular type of stem cell with several unique characteristics which make them of particular interest to investigators.

MSCs have an excellent ability to proliferate, or increase rapidly, and give rise to many types of specialized cells that are the building blocks of connective tissue, bone, cartilage, and the circulatory and lymphatic systems. More than 70 clinical trials are already underway using MSCs, and doctors are enthusiastic about the results reported for therapies addressing several conditions, including stroke, heart attack, bone injuries and autoimmune diseases like type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

CBR Employees: Helping Infants Go The Distance!

Later this month, a team of 12 CBR employees will participate in a 200-mile relay race from Prescott to Phoenix, Arizona to raise money for Cord Blood Registry's Newborn Possibilities Program, an initiative developed to help change the treatment of cerebral palsy and other forms of brain injury.

The goal of the program is to make sure children born at-risk for neurological damage have every opportunity to participate in new medical research using their own cord blood stem cells. Cord Blood Registry is working with a couple of select medical institutions to collect the cord blood of these "at-risk" children at no cost to the family.

Donations raised by the runners will provide financial support to families whose children are participating in the first FDA-approved clinical trial using the child's own cord blood stem cells as a medical intervention for cerebral palsy.

For more information or if you would like to help contribute to this important fund, click here

Join CBR on Facebook

Cord Blood Registry just launched its new Facebook page, a resource for CBR clients and friends to learn about the latest cord blood stem cell news and connect with other parents who've banked their child's cord blood. Please join the thousands of families who have already become fans of our Facebook community:

1. Become a Fan

It's easy - just make sure you're logged in to Facebook (or join) and click the "Become a Fan" button.

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