Durham, NC & Serbia, October 2011 A young scientist who led research into the use of stem cells from hair follicles to treat the ocular surface disease has been named the winner of the Young Investigator Award by the journal Stem Cells. Dr. Ewa Meyer-Blazejewska will be presented with her award at The Stem Cell Symposium, hosted by the University of Kragujevac in Serbia on October 15, 2011. The $10,000 prize is awarded annually to a young scientist whose paper has been judged to be of worldwide significance by a global jury.
Dr. Meyer-Blazejewska, from the University of Erlangen-Nrnberg, in Germany, won the award for her research into Limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD), a condition which causes the cornea to become cloudy and develop a rough surface causing pain and leading to blindness.
Currently, treatments focus on harvesting limbal cells from a patient's healthy eye or from cadaveric tissue. In her pioneering research, Dr. Meyer-Blazejewska considered the potential use of stem cells harvested from hair follicles to reconstruct damaged tissue for patients who suffer from LSCD in both eyes.
"Tissue engineering has become a rapidly growing field of research and it is expected to reveal the potential for the application of adult stem cells in clinical practice," said Dr. Meyer-Blazejewska. "I hope the results in our paper will be instrumental for the advancement of research in the areas of stem cell niche, stemness and differentiation, which will aid in the treatment of LSCD as well as other ocular and non-ocular diseases."
Dr. Meyer-Blazejewska's team demonstrated that in the right microenvironment stem cells from hair follicles do have the capacity for cellular differentiation, the process whereby a less specialized cell becomes a more specialized cell type, in this case the cells of the corneal epithelial phenotype.
The team's results showed an 80% rate of differentiation in mouse eyes following a cell tra
'/>"/>
| Contact: Ben Norman Lifesciencenews@wiley.com 44-124-377-0375 Wiley-Blackwell Source:Eurekalert |
Related biology news :
1. Master regulator found for regenerating nerve fibers in live animals
2. NIH funds work at WPI on regenerating heart tissue and preventing urinary tract infections
3. Fat-regenerating stem cells found in mice
4. Can antivirulence drugs stop infections without causing resistance?
5. Study tracks mutations causing CDA II back to the Roman Empire
6. Modeling cancer using ecological principles
7. Carnegie Mellon scientists track neuronal stem cells using MRI
8. Pitt team identifies key protein causing excess liver production of glucose in diabetes
9. MSU engages public on using newborn blood spots for research
10. Using human genomes to illuminate the mysteries of early human history
11. Using bone marrow to protect the brain
| Copyright © 2003-2012 Bio-Medicine. All rights reserved. ABOUT | CONTACT US | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS |  |