Urologic Surgery Pioneer Dr. Alexander Gershman Joins Medistem's Scientific Advisory Board
By JoanneRUSSELL25
SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - Nov 19, 2012) - Medistem ( PINKSHEETS : MEDS ) announced today appointment of Alexander Gershman, MD, Ph.D to the company's Scientific Advisory Board.Dr. Gershman is an internationally-renowned opinion leader in urological surgery having pioneered numerous minimally invasive procedures using laparoscopic techniques.
"The future of regenerative medicine lies not only in having the best stem cell product, but also being able to practically deliver it in a manner that can be integrated into existing medical practice,"said Dr. Alan Lewis, CEO of Medistem. "Through working with respected physicians such as Dr. Gershman, our aim is to develop novel delivery methods so that our cellular product can be utilized in numerous disciplines."
Medistem is currently running a Phase II clinical trial in heart failure patients using its Endometrial Regenerative Cell (ERC) product delivered through a 30-minute minimally invasive patent pending procedure.The company seeks to develop similar minimally invasive procedures for the field of urology in collaboration with Dr. Gershman.
"It is obvious that stem cell medicine is the future of medicine.Although great strides have occurred in clinical entry of stem cells, a major hurdle to commercialization is practical implementation,"said Dr. Gershman. "I commend Medistem for having discovered what appears to be the most potent blood vessel generating stem cell, the ERC, as well as having the foresight to think practically about optimum methods of delivery."
Dr. Gershman is one of the first surgeons in the world to apply the method of laparoscopic surgery and robotic-assisted surgery to urology.He currently holds numerous hospital appointments, including the following: Director of Institute of Advanced Urology at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; Director of Urologic Laparoscopy in the Division of Urology, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center; Head of Endourology Division, Department of Surgery, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System; Attending Surgeon, Laparoscopic Renal Transplant Surgery, St. Mary Medical Center; Attending Surgeon at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; and Attending Surgeon at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
About Medistem Medistem Inc. is focused on the development of the Endometrial Regenerative Cell (ERC), a universal donor adult stem cell product. ERCs possess specialized abilities to stimulate new blood vessel growth and can differentiate into lung, liver, heart, brain, bone, cartilage, fat and pancreatic tissue. These unique properties have applications for treatment of critical limb ischemia (CLI), congestive heart failure (CHF), neurodegenerative diseases, liver failure, kidney failure, and diabetes. ERCs have been cleared by the FDA to begin studies in the United States.
ERCs have several distinguishing advantages to other stem cell therapies: a) Non-invasive method of collection; b) Unlimited supply of cells; isolated from menstrual blood of young healthy donors; c) Economical and scalable to manufacture; d) Exert higher therapeutic activity compared to other stem cells; and e) demonstrated safe in animal and pilot human studies.
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Urologic Surgery Pioneer Dr. Alexander Gershman Joins Medistem's Scientific Advisory Board