The day – Valentine’s Day, as it happened – began in a whirl of coffee cups, bustling dogs and homework, then a brisk walk around the block – in other words, business as usual for a UC Irvine couple who are a high-profile science team engaged in cutting-edge stem-cell research.

Brian Cummings and Aileen Anderson, whose stem-cell treatment for spinal cord injury is being tested on patients in Switzerland, say their office – only a short walk from their home on the UCI campus – has a family feel as well.

At UCI’s recently constructed Stem Cell Research Center, they supervise a crew of young students and technicians whose bond with their mentors is so close that they call themselves the “Andermings.”

“I suppose it’s like having an orphanage,” Cummings joked as he prepared for the day ahead.

It would include a lengthy meeting with the Andermings on how best to grow human embryonic stem cells without animal-cell contamination, a critique of a doctoral candidate’s presentation of potentially significant new findings and a session with Alzheimer’s researchers at an institute called UCI MIND.

But first, Cummings, Anderson and their two dogs – Chesapeake and Indiana – had to get the couple’s 6-year-old daughter, Camryn, to school.

After Camryn finished her homework (completed strategically a day in advance, leaving more time for afternoon play), they took the long way round to the Montessori school, also easy walking distance from their home.

Along the way, they encountered another faculty couple, from the German department, and their dog. They stopped with Camryn, giggling as the dogs rolled and tumbled on a neighbor’s lawn.

•••

Cummings, 47, and Anderson, 45, together since they were both undergrads at the University of Illinois, say living and working with each other comes naturally.

“People say, ‘Do I need a break from her?’ ” Cummings said as he wrangled the dogs.

“More people say, ‘Do you need a break from him?’ ” Anderson replied.

Later, the conversation transitions into a science meeting as the two take the 20-minute walk past UCI’s Ecological Preserve and into the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center. The energy-efficient building, with an open design to encourage chance meetings among scientists, houses a roster of high-powered researchers as well as their experimental subjects: rodents.

The center was seeded by $27 million in state stem-cell funding and $10 million from donors Bill and Sue Gross. The building was completed in 2010.

Now, researchers working there cultivate lines of human embryonic stem cells that can grow into a variety of cell types, from brain cells to liver and heart cells.

The ability to coax stem cells into many forms – and with it the potential to treat Alzheimer’s, paralysis and a long list of diseases – is fueling an explosion of research around the nation and across the state.

Anderson and Cummings showed that their stem-cell treatment, using cells derived from aborted fetuses, allowed partially paralyzed rats to walk again. The rat’s recovery was revealed in a dramatic before-and-after video.

So far, the human trial of the treatment in Switzerland is showing no ill effects on patients, Cummings said.

But stem-cell research is buffeted by political controversy, funding uncertainties and, sometimes, attacks by stem-cell research opponents.

The trial of the treatment developed by Cummings and Anderson with their collaborators, StemCells Inc., was the first of its kind in the world when it was announced in 2010.

In some ways, that made the family – and their team – a target.

Concerns about possible intruders prompted the couple to place a camera at their front door. Cummings’ tires have been slashed, he said, though he doesn’t know if that was the work of people who oppose the harvesting of human embryonic stem cells, animal-rights activists (angered by experiments on rodents) or perhaps a disgruntled student.

At the moment, Cummings and Anderson are running five research programs and leading 17 researchers. All of it is funded by $2.2 million in grants, much of it from California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, or CIRM.

Created by voter initiative – Proposition 71 in 2004 – CIRM is California’s $3 billion answer to federal restrictions on funding for stem-cell research. Those restrictions were started by the Bush administration and eased, but not eliminated, under President Obama.

Cummings said opposition to their research is based, in part, on incorrect assumptions.

A big one is that the research involves the destruction of embryos. In reality, they work with balls of cells created at an earlier stage of human development, called blastocysts – a distinction many opponents do not draw.

“Embryonic stem cells don’t come from embryos,” he said. “And they never have.”

The raw material comes from fertility clinics and otherwise would be discarded.

Cummings says those who say that such research is immoral have it wrong.

“The argument is backward,” he said. “It’s immoral to throw away this stuff and not use it to help someone.”

••

During their meeting with the Andermings, project leader Hal Nguyen described the group’s plan to grow a series of stem-cell cultures and check a compelling question: Is some of a stem cell’s transformation guided by the microscopic environment in which it dwells, or is it entirely dictated by the cell’s internal workings?

“The plan is in the email,” Nguyen told Anderson.

“Dude, I have 400 emails,” Anderson said.

The group’s task was meant to answer a classic nature-nurture question, Anderson said. In this case, “nature” is the DNA coding in the stem cell itself, while “nurture” is the cellular environment, with all its floating nutrients and chemical signals.

“Will that environment, the extrinsic factor, trump anything the cell can do?” Anderson had wondered earlier. “Or is the intrinsic programming of the cell the principal determinant? Is that the main driving factor?”

Cummings stood by in the tiny meeting room while the researchers batted around their questions and answers. He said Anderson, a spinal cord specialist, was the expert in this arena, though he couldn’t help piping in during a discussion of the medium in which the cells would be grown.

“You’re comparing two different medias, too?” Cummings asked.

“We all know what we’re talking about,” Anderson told him. “Don’t interrupt.”

Then it was on to a larger, mostly empty meeting room where Sheri Peterson, a doctoral candidate, wanted to test her presentation on Cummings and Anderson.

Her eventual target is an advancement committee that will determine her future. The presentation will be crucial in her quest for a Ph.D.

Peterson ran through an array of slides projected on a large screen to reveal her findings. Inflammation of damaged tissue being regenerated in rats, she said, might be eased or worsened simply by manipulating proteins surrounding the regenerating cells.

Again, the topic was in Anderson’s wheelhouse.

“My notes said, ‘Nicely done,’ ” Cummings told Peterson.

“He’s not an aficionado,” Anderson said.

The husband-and-wife researchers then provided her with a detailed, slide-by-slide critique.

•••

Cummings’ expertise centers on traumatic brain injury. But he also is an expert at the complex task of marshaling grant funding. On his office wall, a whiteboard densely covered with writing tells the story: Cummings must police incoming and outgoing grants like an air traffic controller, timing the grants and the work they fund to match years of employment for graduate students and staff members.

The grants come and go over months and years, and so do the students and staff. Get the timing wrong, and you might have funding with no researchers, or researchers with nothing to do.

“At UCI, I’m like a small-business owner,” Cummings said.

Over a hasty lunch in his office (cold sandwiches grabbed during a trip, with Anderson, to a nearby campus snack shop), Cummings spoke of the merging of home and office life.

Writing up grant requests takes up both researchers’ time. Often, as they write, Camryn is playing in the background, whether at home or at the office. And research collaborators can show up wanting to conduct interviews at any time, holidays included.

“I did draw a line in the sand at Christmas Eve,” Anderson said.

Cummings knows such stress has driven other husband-and-wife teams into open conflict. But that just isn’t his and Anderson’s style. In fact, he said, keeping a scientific perspective, even at home, might help keep things calm.

“There’s no need to be yelling and shouting at each other because we don’t think that way,” he said. “You’re supposed to believe nothing until you prove it.”

That doesn’t mean they don’t differ, sometimes strongly, over scientific details.

“They don’t always agree with each other, and that’s good,” said Brittany Greer, an intern in their lab and an Anderming.

Nurturing the students and young scientists is part of the pleasure of doing science for both halves of the research couple, Anderson said.

“You start to look at this crowd of people as your second family,” she said. “They’re your kids. That is fun and rewarding for sure.”

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Stem-cell scientists find right chemistry

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem-cell scientists find right chemistry | February 19th, 2012

ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Neuralstem, Inc. (NYSE Amex: CUR) announced today that it has closed on its previously announced registered direct placement of 5,200,000 shares of common stock at a price of $1.00 per share, and 5,200,000 warrants each with an exercise price of $1.02 per share and exercisable starting six months from the issuance date for a term of five years. The company received aggregate gross proceeds of $5,200,000, which will be used for general corporate purposes, including ongoing U.S. clinical trials.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20061221/DCTH007LOGO )

T.R. Winston & Company, LLC acted as the exclusive placement agent for the offering.

About Neuralstem

Neuralstem's patented technology enables the ability to produce neural stem cells of the human brain and spinal cord in commercial quantities, and the ability to control the differentiation of these cells constitutively into mature, physiologically relevant human neurons and glia. Neuralstem is in an FDA-approved Phase I safety clinical trial for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, and has been awarded orphan status designation by the FDA.

In addition to ALS, the company is also targeting major central nervous system conditions with its cell therapy platform, including spinal cord injury, ischemic spastic paraplegia, chronic stroke, and Huntington's disease. The company has submitted an IND (Investigational New Drug) application to the FDA for a Phase I safety trial in chronic spinal cord injury.

Neuralstem also has the ability to generate stable human neural stem cell lines suitable for the systematic screening of large chemical libraries. Through this proprietary screening technology, Neuralstem has discovered and patented compounds that may stimulate the brain's capacity to generate new neurons, possibly reversing the pathologies of some central nervous system conditions.  The company has received approval from the FDA to conduct a Phase Ib safety trial evaluating NSI-189, its first small molecule compound, for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD).  Additional indications could include schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and bipolar disorder.

For more information, please visit http://www.neuralstem.com and connect with us on Twitter and Facebook.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information

This news release may contain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements in this press release regarding potential applications of Neuralstem's technologies constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks inherent in the development and commercialization of potential products, uncertainty of clinical trial results or regulatory approvals or clearances, need for future capital, dependence upon collaborators and maintenance of our intellectual property rights. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Additional information on potential factors that could affect our results and other risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in Neuralstem's periodic reports, including the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 and the  quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2011.

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Neuralstem Announces Closing of $5.2-Million Registered Direct Offering

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Neuralstem Announces Closing of $5.2-Million Registered Direct Offering | February 15th, 2012

PIEDMONT, Okla. -- Stem cell research is one of the newest and most exciting areas of study. Experts believe these tiny unwritten cells hold the keys to curing a number of diseases and debilitating injuries. But here in the U.S., stem cell research isn't moving fast enough for a growing number of families.

This is the story of an Oklahoma family that traveled to China for cutting-edge stem cell treatment not offered in the US.

Cora Beth Taylor walks a different road than most will ever travel.

Her journey is filled with obstacles, heartbreak and triumph.

Cora, William and Tate Taylor are triplets born premature.

The brothers have never shown any signs of prematurity.

But Cora, at about a year old, started falling behind developmentally.

By 18 months she had been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.

Cora has never had any cognitive delays.

She's a super-smart little gal but her muscles haven't developed properly.

It's devastating; they just won't cooperate.

Cora's parents, Kevin and Beth Taylor, have tried everything for their little girl; that is, everything available in the U.S.

Last year, Piedmont Schools raised the money to help the Taylors take Cora to China for treatment, close to $50,000.

Research hospitals in China are using stem cells from donor umbilical cord blood to treat children with Cerebral Palsy.

Beth Taylor says, "That was a difficult decision to make to take your child to a foreign country for medical treatments. Living in the US you feel like this is the best there is."

The Taylors spent 37 days in China.

Cora Beth had eight stem cell transfusions.

Through a spinal tap, doctors put the cells into her spinal column where they penetrate the blood-brain barrier and get to work.

Critics are quick to point out this area of regenerative medicine has largely unverified effectiveness. Results are often anecdotal and the FDA is a long way from approving this type of experimental treatment for America.

Though the Taylors are convinced and here's why.

Beth Taylor said, "Within the first couple of weeks we could see changes. We could see definite improvements in strength and balance."

Cora had never been able to do a sit-up in her life ever; she did her first in China.

Nine-year-old Cora remembers, "The thing that I was most happy about accomplishing was a sit up. Because I'd tried to do a sit up before going to China but I just couldn't do it."

Now, Cora Beth can do 20.

The most notable change has been Cora's walk.

This third-grader had never gone to school without her walker.

Today she walks the halls without it; she hasn't used it in months.

She recently competed in a beauty pageant in her hometown of Piedmont, without the help of her walker as well.

Cora says, "So, I'm really excited. I don't think there's anything that I couldn't accomplish."

Doctors say Cora’s stem cells will continue to mature over the next few years.

For her, there are many milestones ahead.

In the US, Duke University is studying stem cell treatments for children with Cerebral Palsy.

Right now they don't have FDA clearance to use donor stem-cells.

Experts say treatment similar to Cora Beth's Chinese therapy is years away in the U.S.

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Stem cell treatments change girl's life

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem cell treatments change girl's life | February 14th, 2012

15-01-2012 02:05 Spinal Cord Injury patient is able to walk again. - http://www.stemcellofamerica.com

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Breakthrough Spinal Cord Injury Treatment - Stem Cell Of America - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Breakthrough Spinal Cord Injury Treatment – Stem Cell Of America – Video | January 31st, 2012

27-12-2011 00:09 Many of our patients travel to Guangzhou from all over the world for medical treatment and tourism. China medical tourism can help with becoming a patient, travel arrangements and language assistance

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China medical tourism--Spinal Injury--Stem Cell - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on China medical tourism–Spinal Injury–Stem Cell – Video | January 22nd, 2012

19-12-2011 14:50 Katie Sharify, 23, of Pleasanton, receives stem cells for a spinal cord injury.

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Stem cell therapy at VMC - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem cell therapy at VMC – Video | January 22nd, 2012

19-11-2011 12:10 Stem cells have two main characteristics, the ability to divide and the ability to differentiate into other cell types. Before stem cells are used, the cells are tested through different methods to make sure that they are stem cells.

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Explaining stem cells - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Explaining stem cells – Video | January 3rd, 2012

27-11-2011 23:17 Mouse with spinal cord injury before and after stem cells

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MouseVideo-SCI - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on MouseVideo-SCI – Video | January 1st, 2012

Many of our patients travel to Guangzhou from all over the world for medical treatment and tourism. China medical tourism can help with becoming a patient, travel arrangements and language assistance

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China medical tourism--spinal cord injury--stem cells therapy - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on China medical tourism–spinal cord injury–stem cells therapy – Video | December 27th, 2011

Charles H. Tator, CM, MD, MA, PhD, FRCSC, FACS Hear Dr

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Which Stem Cell Will Win The Race To Repair The Spinal Cord? - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Which Stem Cell Will Win The Race To Repair The Spinal Cord? – Video | December 23rd, 2011

50 Year old man becomes the first FDA approved patient to receive stem cells for spinal cord to treat ALS.

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StemCellTV Daily Report-November 22, 2011 - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on StemCellTV Daily Report-November 22, 2011 – Video | December 14th, 2011

Spinal cord injury patient, Christina Cohen, discusses her progress after undergoing stem cell therapy at the Stem Cell Institute in Panama City, Panama. Christina suffered a T-12 injury after falling from a 150 ft cliff

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Stem Cell Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury - Patient Interview - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem Cell Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury – Patient Interview – Video | December 7th, 2011

For instance, neural cells in the brain and spinal cord that have been damaged can be replaced by stem cells. In the treatment of cancer, cells partially damaged by radiation or chemotherapy can be replaced with new healthy stem cells that adapt to the affected area, whether it be part of the brain, heart, liver, lungs, or wherever.

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Stem Cells Treatment for Spinal Cord Injuries, Successfully Results, Stem Therapy - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem Cells Treatment for Spinal Cord Injuries, Successfully Results, Stem Therapy – Video | November 23rd, 2011

Gabi has received five rounds of adult stem cell treatments over the past four years. He believes that the infusions of umbilical cord blood stem cells have significantly improved his condition.

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Gabi - SCI Stem Cell Patient - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Gabi – SCI Stem Cell Patient – Video | November 23rd, 2011

Stem cell treatments used to be performed by opening up the skin, muscle and exposing the spinal cord in order to transplant the stem cells. Dr.

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Innovative stem cell treatment for Spinal Cord Injuries - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Innovative stem cell treatment for Spinal Cord Injuries – Video | November 22nd, 2011

Transplanted adult stem cells have been found to reverse paralysis associated with spinal cord injuries in lab rats, a new study finds. youtu.be The study, headed up by Miodrag Stojkovic, deputy director and head of the Cellular Reprogramming Laboratory at Centro de Investigacion Principe Felipe in Spain, involved transplanting so-called progenitor stem cells from the lining of rats' spinal cords into rodents with serious spinal cord injuries. youtu.be The rats recovered significant motor activity one week after injury, Stojkovic and his co-authors wrote in the Jan

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Biological Physics : Stem Cells - Paralyzed Spinal Cord Injury Patient Walks Again - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Biological Physics : Stem Cells – Paralyzed Spinal Cord Injury Patient Walks Again – Video | November 10th, 2011

Transplanted adult stem cells have been found to reverse paralysis associated with spinal cord injuries in lab rats, a new study finds.

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Electro-Medicine : Biological Physics - Paralysis Spinal Chord Injury Treatment - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Electro-Medicine : Biological Physics – Paralysis Spinal Chord Injury Treatment – Video | November 10th, 2011

T-6 spinal cord injury patient, Trish Stressman, speaks about her recovery from spinal cord injury after receiving a combination of stem cells harvested from her bone marrow and from human umbilical cord blood and matrix.

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Stem Cells - Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem Cells – Treatment for Spinal Cord Injury – Video | October 31st, 2011

Tamara, a mother of two, survived a car crash in Elko, Nevada. She suffered significant spinal injuries during the accident and underwent a lot of surgery following it to secure her spine. In Shijiazhuang, China she received a regimen of adult stem cells and physical therapy to enhance her recovery efforts.

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Tamara Marquis - SCI Stem Cell Patient - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Tamara Marquis – SCI Stem Cell Patient – Video | October 31st, 2011

Session 1a: Science behind the Headlines Dr Megan Munsie introduces stem cells at the opening session of the "Stem Cells: Hope, Hype and Progress" workshop held in Brisbane in July 2011

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Stem Cells: Hope, Hype and Progress - Session 1a - Video

Spinal Cord Stem Cells Comments Off on Stem Cells: Hope, Hype and Progress – Session 1a – Video | October 29th, 2011