Biomedical Sciences Blog

I want to intorduce a rising star for you at this time.

Xie Ting Ph.D. Associate Investigator at Stowers Institute

Research interests: Molecular Mechanisms Governing Adult Stem Cell Regulation in Drosophila and Mice

He was a postdoc at Allan C. Spradling's lab and has done excellent work. See the papers from his postdoc work: One on Science, the other on Cell.

Lab webpage: click here.

Sources: Stowers institute and PubMed

I am continuing the stem cell labs using Drosophila (fruitflies) as the model system.

Ruth Lehmann, Ph.D. HHMI Investigator and a member of National Academy of Sciences. She is also the director of the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Center for Stem Cell Biology at New York University.

Ruth Lehmann is interested in the signals that specify and guide migrating primordial germ cells and in the mechanisms that regulate germline stem cell fate, proliferation, and differentiation in Drosophila.

Lab webpage: click here.

Sources: HHMI and PubMed

Today I will introduce another big bull:
Allan C. Spradling, Ph.D. HHMI Investigator and a member of the National Academy of Sciences

Allan Spradling is interested in stem cells, egg development, and new technology for understanding how genes control tissue development and function.

Lab webpage: click here.

Sources: PubMed and HHMI

I know you will be surprised with my choice... But I am the boss, ha ha ha...

Chris Q. Doe, Ph.D. HHMI Investigator

Chris Doe investigates Drosophila central nervous system (CNS) development. His lab is currently interested in (1) asymmetric cell division of neuroblasts, (2) neuroblasts as a model for stem cell self-renewal, (3) the specification of temporal identity within neuroblast lineages, and (4) the genetic programs that generate motor neuron and interneuron subtypes.

His lab webpage: click here.
Publication list for past five years: impressive! Do you agree with me?

Sources: HHMI and PubMed

My schedule was too tight recently. I know updating my blog has been overdue. I really hope this blog can be helpful to someone... I pulled out information about stem cell training programs, industry and companies. Now I think it is the time to dig out information for individual labs. I will start with stem cell research labs using model organisms.

Guess... who goes first?

StemCells, Inc. is a world-leading biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of cell-based therapeutics to treat diseases of the nervous system, liver and pancreas. StemCells is the first company to directly identify and isolate human neural stem cells from normal adult brain tissue. These cells have been used for potential CNS treatment, including Batten disease, disorders of myelination, spinal cord indications, and Alzheimer's Disease et al.

In Nov. 2006, StemCells, Inc. announced the first transplantation of the Company's proprietary human neural stem cell product--HuCNS-SC(TM). This transplant is the first of six that are planned as part of the Company's Phase I clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety and preliminary efficacy of HuCNS-SC as a treatment for infantile and late infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL). NCL, which is often referred to as Batten disease, is a rare and fatal neurodegenerative condition afflicting infants and children.

The above chart shows you the company stock profile for the last ten years. You can tell how risky to invest stem cell industry. Who knows when the great dream will come true? If that happened, the stem cell industry will be the another millionaire generator. Again, don't forget to check out the employment opportunities. This company has quite a few openings now! Wanna go to California? This is your chance!

Sources: MSN Money and StemCells, Inc.

Although today we more and more emphasize on in vivo research and people are trying to explore better in vivo systems, like mice and zebrafish, in vitro assays still play important roles in biological reseach and pharmaceutical product development. What are in vitro assays? It generally refers to the technique of performing a given experiment in a controlled environment outside a living organism, for example, cell, tissue and organ cultures from plants and animals.

Probably not many people know the Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB). I began to know it since last summer. One of my former labmates announced he got a permanent job in a biotech company. He told us he applied the jobs listed in SIVB website and got three interview invitations within about six months. I track down the website for a while. Actually not many employment advertisements were listed there, and most of them recruited researchers or scientists working on plant transformation or genetic engineering of plants. However, I think these ads are real and serious. Plus this website is not so well know and popular. The company may not receive tons of applications. So likely that is the reason why my labmate easily caught the chance.

Attending meetings definitely is a good opportunity to meet people, build up connections, catch up the hot research topics, even find a job or a lab to join in. But a lot times, we don't have the time and money to go to meetings. We still can get some important information by just browsing the webpages of meetings. Today, my friend sent me a email about a stem cell meeting organized by Keystone Symposia. When I looked through the website of this stem cell meeting, I was happy to see the list of the speakers. Believe in me. All of them are big players in this field! You can search their names and find out their labs, and then contact them to join.

Here is the link of this meeting: Stem Cells and Cancer.

Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. is another stem cell biotech company attracing a lot attention recently. It is located in Ann Arbor, developing Tissue Repair Cell (TRC) products for bone, vascular, cardiac and neural tissue regeneration. Aastrom's Tissue Repair Cells-based products are currently in clinical trials for bone and vascular regeneration applications. Aastrom has reported positive interim clinical trial results from over 230 patients. This company has a few job openings for the biostatistician and scientist.

Again, the above chart shows you the Aastrom stock profile for the last 10 years. Its price has been flucturating widely, not so sweet as Osiris Therapeutics, but it is 10 years trend compared with half year's. Since its current stock price is only about $1 per share, it has been recommended as "low-risk" trials with near future price target of $3.75. Another nice thing I want to mention here is Aastrom offers shareholders Direct Stock Purchase Program (DSPP). The current Aastrom's shareholders don't need to pay brokerage costs and also get a slight discount to recent average market prices at the time of purchase.

Source: CNN money and Aastrom

One of the most famous companies is Osiris Therapeutics Inc.
The above chart shows you that the stock price of Osiris Therapeutics has been doubled since its IPO (inital public offering) on Aug 4, 2006, from about $10 to more than $20 a share. This happened only in less than 6 months! Don't you think stem cell biotech is a good investment opportunity?
Osiris Therapeutics has three products in clinical trials:

• Prochymal™ is finishing phase III of clinical trials for the treatment of steroid-refractory acute Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD). This disease affects half of all patients who receive a bone marrow transplant for anemia and other diseases, and attacks the gastrointestinal tract, skin and liver. The same drug is also on phase II of clinical trials for the treatment of Crohn's disease, a painful inflammatory bowel disease which can lead to disability and surgery.
• Provacel™ is currently in early stages of clinical trials for the treatment of heart muscle damage in patients who have suffered a heart attack.
• Chondrogen™ is currently being evaluated in clinical trials for regeneration of the meniscus in the knee, and prevention of osteoarthritis.

This company is expanding and recruiting many new employees, particularly technicians and scientists. Good chances for biology masters and Ph.Ds to jump into stem cell industry!

Source: CNN money

Although human embryonic stem cells have greater potential than adult stem cells, embryonic stem cell research hasn't kept up pace with adult stem cell research. The biggest advantage of adult stem cell is it is free of ethnic controversy. The first adult stem cell based treatment will be on the market within next couple years, much sooner than embryonic stem cell. For the last few days, I tried to collect information for adult stem cell biotechnology and industry. I was very impressed by the progress they have made. There are a lot employment opportunities in this fast-growing field.

I will introduce the pioneer companies of adult stem cell industry. Please be patient!