Yan Cui, PhD Pamela Kozlowski, PhD Alistair Ramsay, PhD Jakob Reiser, PhD Guoshun Wang, PhD Xianyang Zhang, PhD
Arrigo De Benedetti, PhD Wei-Ming Duan, PhD Ronald Klein, PhD Benjamin Li, MD J. Michael Mathis, PhD Cherie-Ann Nathan, MD Kate Ryman, PhD Francesco Turturro, MD B. Jill Williams, PhD Qian-Jin Zhang, PhD Li-Ru Zhao, PhD
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1615 Poydras Street - Suite 1000
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 Darwin Prockop, MD, PhD
Areas of Research: Adult Stem Cells Dr. Prockop, Director of the Tulane Center for Gene Therapy, has a distinguished career and his pioneering research is renowned throughout the world. The center has been recognized as a world leader in production and characterization of adult stem cells. Dr. Prockop's primary research focus is the use of adult stem cells from a patient's own bone marrow (MSC) to be gene engineered and then potentially used in the same patient to target the genes of the central nervous system, the bones, cartilage and many other tissues. In some diseases, the stem cells do not need to be gene engineered because the cells are part of a natural repair system. Therefore, simply administering more of the patient’s own stem cells may improve tissue repair. His team is focused on both the basic biology of adult stem cells and the development of procedures for use of the cells in patients with devastating diseases. In one series of experiments, cells are transplanted into mice that undergo spontaneous bone fractures because of a genetic defect. The aim of theses experiments is to determine if the stem cells can travel to the site of a bone fracture, strengthen the bone and prevent further fracture. Results from these studies should define the most effective ways that cells can be used to treat human bone diseases, such as osteogenesis imperfecta and osteoporosis. Other experiments evaluate if MSCs can replace the missing protein and reverse the degeneration of the brain. If the experiments succeed, they will suggest that MSCs can be used to treat serious neurological diseases. Selected Publications Barrilleaux, B., Phinney, D.G., Prockop, D.J., O’Connor, K.C. Ex vivo engineering of living tissues with adult stem cells. Tissue Engineering, (2006) Prockop, D.J., and M. Czarny-Ratajczak. Chapter: Inherited disorders of Connective Tissue. The 17th edition of Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine, (2006) Peister, A., Zeitouni, S., Pfankuch, T., Reger, R.L., Prockop, D.J., and Raber, J. Novel object recognition in Apoe−/− mice improved by neonatal implantation of wild-type Multipotential stromal cells. Experimental Neurology, (2006) 201:266-269 Dominici, M., LeBlanc, K., Mueller, I., Slaper-Cortenbach, I.,Marini, F.C., Krause, D.S., Deans, R.J., Keating, A., Prockop, D.J., and Horwitz, E.M. Minimal criteria for defining multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells. The International Society for Cellular therapy Position Statement. Cytotherapy, (2006) 8:315-317 Lee, R.H., Seo, M.J., Reger, R., Spees, J., Pulin, A., Olson, S., and Prockop, D.J. Multipotent stromal cells from human marrow home to and promote repair of pancreatic islets and renal glomeruli in diabetic NOD/scid mice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciene, (2006)103:17438-17443 |
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