Share the Science: Dr. Camillo Ricordi - Potential to Reduce COVID Deaths & Improve Recovery with Cord Blood MSCs

​​Save the Cord Foundation and WellSky are proud to welcome Dr. Camillo Ricordi, as our featured speaker for our next edition of Share the Science on June 10th, 2021 2pm ET / 11am PT. Join us to hear Dr. Ricordi discuss a recent study using cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cell infusions to treat COVID-19 patients suffering from the most severe conditions. RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE.
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Share the Science is a free webinar series focused on the cord blood industry and the latest research in this field.  As always, we invite both health professionals and the general public to join us for this unique online educational series. Learn more about this exciting educational series here.

Cord Blood MSCs for COVID-19?

Dr. Ricordi and his team began to document their ground-breaking study using cord blood-derived MSCs to treat COVID-19 patients beginning in the spring of 2020, at the height of the pandemic. It was a moment of incredible challenges for healthcare professionals around the globe. Everyone was desperate to understand this new, mysterious disease. Cases were increasing exponentially everywhere. News agencies in every country began to count the daily death rates. Many countries decided to lockdown. The new normal was bleak, but doctors and nurses on the front lines were not giving up. They were looking for new ways to treat COVID-19 patients.

Building on a very small study in China, Dr. Ricordi and his team at the University of Miami led the battle against COVID-19 with their innovative study using cord blood-derived MSCs to potentially improve recovery and prevent deaths in the most severely affected patients. The results of this study were very encouraging and have laid the groundwork for further studies using umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cell infusions and other similar techniques to potentially treat COVID-19.  

The group published their results in January 2021 in Stem Cells Translational Medicine: 
"Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells for COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome: A double-blind, phase 1/2a, randomized controlled trial"

​Join us on June 10th to hear Dr. Ricordi, the study’s senior author, as he reviews the data and the potential for stem cells to be used more broadly to treat COVID-19 and similar respiratory infections.

Highlights from the study:

• Patient survival at one month was 91% in the stem-cell treated group compared with 42% in the control group.
• More than 80% of the treatment group recovered by day 30, compared to 37% in the control group.
• There were no infusion-related serious side effects.
• The stem cell infusions also clearly inhibited the ‘cytokine storm,’ associated with severe COVID-19.
• A single umbilical cord contains enough mesenchymal stem cells when expanded to provide therapeutic doses for over 10,000 patients. 

SHARE THE SCIENCE
with

Camillo Ricordi, MD

Director of the Diabetes Research Institute and the
​Cell Transplant Program at the University of Miami, Florida
 
"Reducing risks of COVID-19 with Mesenchymal Stem Cells"

Free webinar.  Open to the public.
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Thursday, June 10th at 2 pm ET / 11am PT

RECORDING NOW AVAILABLE.

Watch the recording: Dr. Ricordi - Cord Blood MSCs to potentially treat COVID-19

*Note: You will be directed to register via WellSky, our partner for this event.

About the speaker

Camillo Ricordi, M.D.

​Dr. Ricordi is the Stacy Joy Goodman Professor of Surgery, Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Miami (UM), Florida, where he serves as Director of the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) and the Cell Transplant Program.

​Dr. Ricordi been serving as Responsible Head of the NIH-funded cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices) Human Cell Processing Facility (1993-present), for the manufacturing of advanced human cell and other biologic products, for research and clinical applications at the University of Miami, in the U.S. and worldwide. Dr. Ricordi has also served as Senior Associate Dean for Research (2003-2006) and chaired the Dean’s Research Cabinet (2006-2012) at the UM Miller School of Medicine.

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We wish to thank Dr. Camillo Ricordi for volunteering his time to speak on
Share the Science and sharing his valuable insight
on the use of cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells.
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We also wish to also thank our generous sponsor and partner for this event,
WellSky Health, who continue to support cord blood
education through our “Share the Science” series.