In our latest podcast, moderator Dave Iverson speaks with Dr. Ole Isacson, a professor of neurology and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School and founding director of the Neuroregeneration Research Institute at McLean Hospital.
"Dr. Isacson wants to recreate the dopamine neurons that go missing in Parkinson's disease with the goal of eventually transplanting those cells into a patient's brain. A therapy that, in theory, would allow patients to once again generate their own dopamine supply."
Dr. Isacson's research involves induced pluripotent stem cells, which are created by taking a patient's own skin or blood cells and reprogramming them.
"At Isacson's lab and elsewhere, scientists can essentially turn back the cell biology clock, and then fast forward it again. A skin cell is turned back into a cell that could become any cell in the body, and then, in the case of Parkinson's research, coaxed into becoming a dopamine producing cell - one that could eventually be transplanted back into that same patient's body."
Hear more expert discussion and ask your questions about stem cells in our Thursday, February 18 webinar. Dr. Isacson will be joined by MJFF CEO Todd Sherer for a discussion about stem cells and Parkinson's disease.