What do these three things have in common? 

• Chronic wounds: Over 6.5 million cases in the US
• Type 1 Diabetes:  Over 1.25 million cases in the US
• Parkinson's Disease:  Over 1 million cases in the US

Answer:  Research. Scientists are currently researching the potential use of cord blood to treat chronic wounds, Type 1 diabetes and Parkinson's Disease.  

Cord blood has many uses. In fact, it is currently used on a routine basis to treat over 80 different life-threatening diseases including leukemia, lymphoma, sickle cell anemia and thalassemia.  However, cord blood holds great potential in treating so much more!  Cord blood experts agree that we have only just begun to understand the full potential of cord blood stem cells in the field of cell therapies and, in particular, regenerative medicine. 

Donated stem cells (also known as allogeneic stem cells) are often the only hope for treating a cancer patient. Typically, when a patient learns that a stem cell transplant is necessary they immediately assume that the stem cells will come from a bone marrow donor. Finding a donor requires the patient to work with a transplant center who will begin a search to find a matching donor via a public registry such as BeTheMatch and/or WMDA.  The donor could come from any corner of the world.  The donor must be contacted and asked if they still agree to donate bone marrow. Meanwhile, the cancer patient is waiting, hoping and preparing themselves for the eventual procedure. 

Let's assume that the transplant center does find a bone marrow donor match. What happens next? Well, it is still a long and complicated process. Remember, the donor could be anyone, anywhere in the world. Are they still available? Are they healthy enough to donate? Are they prepared to make this type of commitment still? How quickly can they get to the required facility to actually donate? 

Is there a better solution? 

Now, let's assume that the transplant center finds a match via cord blood. What happens next? 

Simple. They order it.

Once a cord blood match is identified (often via the same public registries used for bone marrow), the transplant center simply orders the cord blood unit.  Collected at birth and frozen until needed, the donated cord blood unit can be made available immediately. It will be delivered directly to the transplant center where is it prepared by the team for infusion. It is administered to the patient much like a classic blood infusion. 

By choosing cord blood as the source of stem cells for this patient, the transplant center has not only saved time but they have avoided complicated logistics. They have also opened the door to new opportunities for stem cell transplantation.

What other advantages or disadvantages are there to choosing cord blood as a source of stem cells?  

Let's ask an expert in stem cell transplants. . .
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For our next edition of Share the Science, we are proud to welcome Dr. Karen Ballen, Professor of Medicine and Section Chief of Hematology, Hematologic Malignancy, and Stem Cell Transplant at the University of Virginia. Dr. Ballen will discuss the challenges and opportunities alternative donor stem cell transplantation provides. She will review the indications and side effects of allogeneic transplant and discuss the selection of the optimal donor for each patient, including matched related and unrelated donors, and haploidentical donors and umbilical cord blood donors. She will also review recent data on umbilical cord blood transplant and minimal residual disease, as well as current large studies comparing donor sources. 

In this webinar, attendees will learn: 

• Indication for cord blood transplantation
• Donor options available for patients with blood cancers
• Patient outcomes after cord blood transplant
• The differences between public and private banking and how to find the best donor
• The importance of diverse cord blood unit availability
• The effect of cord blood licensure

​Perinatal cells offer a promising opportunity for a wide range of regenerative medicine applications because of their unique immune modulatory properties, rather than their differentiation ability. As the director of one the most prestigious centers for regenerative medicine, Dr. Allickson is in a unique position to discuss the future of perinatal stem cells as a resource in the growing field of regenerative medicine. In her presentation, Dr. Allickson will provide information on clinically translating perinatal cells in an academic facility. She will detail the steps in clinical translation of cell therapy products, review an accelerated model of translation in an academic environment and discuss the assessment of perinatal tissues and cell in pre-clinical studies. 
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