New Data On Cell-Based Therapeutic Approaches To Cardiovascular Diseases To Be Presented At Conference On Cell Therapy

Main Category: Heart Disease
Also Included In: Conferences;  Cardiovascular / Cardiology;  Stem Cell Research
Article Date: 06 Jan 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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WHAT:

The Fifth International Conference on Cell Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease (IC3D) will include a new session on stem cells for non-cardiac organ injury. The session will include new data on stem cells for islet disease and diabetes, bone marrow cells for stroke patients, and treating Parkinson's disease with bone marrow cells.

Highlights from other sessions include the first human data using special bone marrow and adipose cells for heart attack patients and a discussion of the rapid advances in tissue engineering and how surgeons should prepare for this next stage of stem cell therapy.

WHY:

IC3D, one of the largest conferences of its kind with more than 60 internationally recognized faculty members, is a three-day comprehensive program dedicated to the evolving field of cell-based therapies for cardiac repair and regeneration. The theme of this year's meeting is "Cellular and Molecular Building Blocks: Strategies for Cardiovascular Reconstruction in 2009."

The conference encompasses all aspects of cell-based therapeutic approaches to cardiovascular diseases. Research presented at IC3D will touch upon clinical studies of stem cell repair of the heart, brain and peripheral arteries, new sources of adult stem cells and the status of embryonic stem cell research. Each day of the conference will focus on the following diseases and the future role of cell-based therapies.

PROGRAM SPECIFICS:

New sessions for 2009 will include:

• Major advances in treating peripheral vascular disease
  
  
• Combined cell and tissue regenerative methods
  
  
• Changing the potential of stem cells: Why should we try? How do we do it?
  
  
• New paradigms for the surgeon? How soon will engineered tissue be in the clinic?
  
  
• Discoveries beyond the heart, including the brain and other organs
  
  
• Expanded sessions on Industry Innovations in 2009

The full agenda can be found at: http://www.crf.org/Cell_Therapy/agenda.html.

WHO:

Warren Sherman, M.D., Conference Director, is Director of Cardiac Cell-Based Endovascular Therapies at the Center for Interventional Vascular Therapy at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Sherman is a renowned clinical investigator in the field of myocardial regeneration who pioneered a technique for injecting stem cells into the heart. In Rotterdam in May 2001, he performed the first catheter-based injection of stem cells into the heart of a patient with congestive heart failure due to a previous heart attack. At Columbia University Medical Center, researchers led by Dr. Sherman are using the patient's own myoblasts -- progenitor cells found in muscle -- to repair and replace injured cardiac tissue in a process called myogenesis. Dr. Sherman collaborates in studies to improve the outcomes of cell implantation with colleagues at Columbia University Medical Center, all of whom will be presenting their research at the conference.

WHEN:

January 13 - 16, 2009

WHERE:

The New York Academy of Medicine
New York, NY

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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For more information visit: http://www.crf.org/Cell_Therapy/

About CRF

The Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) is an independent, academically focused nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the survival and quality of life for people with cardiovascular disease through research and education. Since its inception in 1990, CRF has played a major role in realizing dramatic improvements in the lives of countless numbers of patients by establishing the safe use of new technologies and therapies in the subspecialty of interventional cardiology and endovascular medicine.

Source: Judy Romero
Cardiovascular Research Foundation