News and media about our research and other web resources for stem cells.

January 2013
Texas Heart Institute Stem Cell Center is now cited by National Institutes of Health (NIH) in its list of "Research Programs at Universities and Institutions." See the section on Other Online Resources at the NIH Stem Cell Information website.

December 2012

Texas Heart Institute has been chosen as the Biorepository Core Lab for the national network of cardiovascular stem cell research centers, the Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (CCTRN). As the biorepository for the Network, THI will store, catalog and make available for approved research adult stem cells to laboratories throughout the nation. The Biorepository Core is directed by Doris A. Taylor, PhD, Director of Regenerative Medicine Research at THI at St. Luke’s, and Adrian P. Gee, PhD, Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics and Director of the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at Baylor College of Medicine. (News release December 2012)

 

July 5, 2012
FOCUS trial in the spotlight again  
Dr. Emerson Perin discusses FOCUS with Dr. Alexandra Lansky (Yale University, New Haven, CT) for the Trials and PIs series. Filmed for theheart.org at ACC in 2012. Watch the video on YouTube. Learn more about the clinical trial on this website.

June 14, 2012
Inside a beating heart
"Imagine a day when human organs could be regenerated using one's own stem cells or those donated from other adults. Scientists are making progress toward that day". Dr. James Willerson, president and medical director of THI shares a bit of stem cell research history.
From the Ladue News, St. Louis, Missouri. 

May 2012 Act 2 Opens for Stem Cell Heart Treatments Medical Director of THI's Stem Cell Center, Dr. Emerson Perin, is featured in the lead story of Cardiology News. "Stem cell treatment for cardiac disease recently launched into advanced clinical trials, as a flurry of early-phase studies over the last year has collectively confirmed the treatment as safe but left its efficacy unresolved." Read more at ecardiology.com.

April 3, 2012
The National Institutes of Health Extends National Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (CCTRN)
The national Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (CCTRN), which includes Texas Heart Institute, will be expanded and has been refunded for an additional seven years by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

March 24, 2012
Study Shows Potential for Stem Cell Therapy in Patients Suffering from Heart Failure 
Novel treatment may help restore heart's ability to pump
THI doctors presented at the American College of Cardiology's 61st Annual Scientific Session, the results of a multi-center clinical study that measured the possible benefits of using a patient's own bone marrow cells to repair damaged areas of the heart. The study, the largest such investigation to date, found that the hearts of patients receiving bone-marrow derived stem cells showed a small but significant increase in the ability to pump oxygenated blood from the left ventricle. "This is exactly the kind of information we need to move forward with the clinical use of stem cell therapy," said THI's Dr. Emerson Perin. The study was conducted by the Cardiovascular Cell Therapy Research Network (CCTRN).

March 15, 2012
Cytomedix, Inc. Announces Publication in American Heart Journal Highlighting Positive Phase I Clinical Data Using ALD-201 to Treat Ischemic Heart Failure
Emerson C. Perin, MD, PhD, Medical Director of THI's Stem Cell Center, noted, "The preliminary evidence suggests improved perfusion and a trend toward improved functional capacity in no-option heart failure patients treated with ALDHbr cells." Read the full press release from Cytomedix.

November 15, 2011
Stem cells give new hope to heart attack survivors
"There is promising news for people at risk of heart failure after US researchers found stem cell therapy in humans has been surprisingly successful in replacing damaged muscle and getting the heart to pump better." ABC reports on the groundbreaking research work of Dr. Emerson Perin and others.

"The Current State of Stem Cell Research"
July 2011 video of Dr. Guilherme Silva on Eddy Warman TV (Mexico).

May 5, 2010 
$1.5 million NIH grant awarded for study of adult stem cells and heart assist devices as combined therapy for heart failure.

April 22, 2010 
Research findings could help improve stem-cell treatments for damaged hearts.

On Other Websites 

"Rebuilding the Heart" is a 12-minute video from the PBS State of Tomorrow series featuring physicians at the Texas Heart Institute and their patients who are enrolled in clinical trials of stem cell therapy to treat heart failure. Drs. James Willerson, Emerson Perin, and Edward Yeh are interviewed. (November 2007)

Discover: September 2005 “Can Stem Cells Save dying Hearts?” Vol. 26 No. 09
discovermagazine.com/2005/sep/stem-cells-save-dying-hearts

PBS
www.pbs.org/news hour/bb/health/july-dec04/stemcell_7-14.html

Wired News
www.wired.com/news/medtech/0, 1286,58295,00.html

San Francisco Chronicle Online
www.s fgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/25/MNGTKDF1LI1.DTL

Genome News Network
www.genomen ewsnetwork.org/articles/2004/04/16/stem_cell_trial.php

Cardiology Online
www.cardiologyonline.com/journal_articles/Bone_marrow_cells.htm

Other Web Resources

The National Institutes of Health resource for stem cell research:
http://stemcells.nih.gov/index.asp

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Updated January 2013