Monica Zhou Publishes Analysis of Human Cord Blood Applications in Cell Therapy
In the June issue of Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy, Monica Zhou, PhD, published a paper assessing the current and potential applications for human umbilical cord blood in treating disease. Umbilical cord blood, which is rich in progenitor cells and can be used to generate induced pluripotent (iPS) cells, has been shown to effectively treat a variety of blood-related disorders such as leukemia and Fanconi anemia. Additionally, these treatments offer patients a higher chance of a donor match than traditional bone marrow transplant methods. Dr. Zhou and her team are also exploring cord blood’s potential to offer new treatment options for non-blood related disorders, as iPS cells derived from cord blood could potentially be used for a variety of cell therapies without risk of immune rejection to the patient. The paper was co-authored by Stephen Chang, PhD, Vice President, Research and Development of The New York Stem Cell Foundation and Mahendra Rao, PhD, Director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health.