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PCON to co-sponsor academy presentations on stem cell therapy
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Primary Care Optometry News will co-sponsor the plenary session on stem cell and ocular regenerative therapies at the American Academy of Optometry’s annual meeting in Seattle on Oct. 23. In the 2-hour session, three researchers and professors will discuss progress in the lab as well as clinical applications.
Potential treatment for Stargardt’s disease
Amander T. Clark, PhD, a cell biologist and geneticist from the University of California-Los Angeles, will discuss how stem cells hold considerable promise to change the way disease and injuries are treated.
“My role as a basic scientist is to introduce attendees to the special type of stem cell that is being used to make retinal pigmented epithelial cells in the laboratory to treat Stargardt’s disease,” Clark told PCON.
Amander T. Clark
“Scientists and clinicians in the stem cell field are anticipating the outcome of the phase 1/2 clinical trial using human embryonic stem cells to manufacture retinal pigmented epithelial cells to treat Stargardt’s macular degeneration,” she continued. “This trial represents the first major use of a human embryonic stem cell product in the clinic, and, if successful, this treatment could transform the lives of millions of people worldwide. Given that embryonic stem cell-based therapy is very new, it is imperative that the clinical community understand the basics behind this research to accurately inform patients about these new, cutting-edge techniques.”
Clark will also explain the three major types of stem cells – adult, fetal and embryonic – and the clinical trials currently using mesenchymal, cord blood and spinal cord stem cells.
Potential to restore vision in glaucoma, AMD
Jeffrey Goldberg, MD, PhD, a professor and director of research at the Shiley Eye Center at the University of California-San Diego, is investigating neuroprotection and regeneration of retinal ganglion cells and other retinal neurons. His laboratory is developing novel stem cell and nanotherapeutic approaches for ocular repair.
Jeffrey Goldberg
Goldberg told PCON: “We’re entering an exciting period in eye care with the development of restorative therapies. Gene therapies and cell therapies are in trials for eye diseases that normally have no hope of vision preservation.
“We now face the possibility of returning function to patients who have lost their vision in a variety of conditions, including some of the most common diseases such as macular degeneration and even glaucoma,” he continued. “The advances we’re making in understanding stem cell biology are outstanding — including progress in turning stem cells into retinal cells and functionally integrating donor cells into the retina.”
Goldberg will also discuss progress being made toward clinical trials.
Applications in the anterior segment
Victor L. Perez
Victor L. Perez, MD, an associate professor of ophthalmology at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, will address the use of stem cells in patients with anterior segment limbal stem cell deficiency.
The anterior segment is on the leading edge of stem cell therapy to treat blindness, Perez told PCON. Because the corneal surface is easy to access and evaluate, it can be readily used to understand stem cell biology and develop novel cell replacement therapies.
“In most of these patients, the retina and optic nerve are intact,” Perez said. “Therefore, restoring corneal clarity provides investigators with two objective endpoints to evaluate their technology: vision and clinical examination of the cornea using slit lamp biomicroscopy.”
The future is “bright and achievable,” he said.
“As we discover better markers of stem cells, selective therapy will be available, and access to the cornea makes this goal a reality,” Perez continued. “Moreover, the front part of the eye allows us to use novel growth factors that will open doors for regenerative medicine to become a reality as well. We may not need to transplant stem cells, but provide topical factors that will enhance the expansion of residual stem cells in the eye or make the stem cell niche in the ocular surface regenerate and support cell growth to rehabilitate the cornea.”
For more information or to register, go to: www.aaopt.org/meetings/academy2013. – by Nancy Hemphill, ELS