Marty Greenfield with UCLA doctors

Marty Greenfield lives with crushing pain every day due to angina, a condition that is caused by an inadequate supply of blood to the heart. He has suffered a heart attack, and a coronary bypass procedure and angioplasty have provided little relief. His doctor referred him to UCLA to be considered for a heart transplant.

Dr. Jonathan Tobis, a UCLA clinical professor of cardiology, performed an angiogram and angioplasty on Greenfield, 64, but found that the patient was not a candidate for a heart transplant because his heart muscle function was still good.

Instead, Tobis suggested that Greenfield consider participating in a Phase 3 clinical trial that uses a patient's own blood-derived stem cells to try to restore circulation to the heart. The procedure uses the latest technology to map the heart in 3-D and guides the doctor to deliver the stem-cell injections to targeted sites in the heart muscle.

On Oct. 17, Greenfield became the first patient at UCLA to participate in the multicenter clinical trial. He said he jumped at the chance to help, even though the study is double blind, which means that neither the patients nor the researchers know who is receiving stem-cell injections and who is receiving placebos.

"This just isn't about me," said Greenfield, a married father of two sons who lives near Las Vegas. "If I can help move this research forward so that it helps just one person, it will be worth it."

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