fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancers. In this double-blind trial, the patients were to receive treatment over a five-year period at Hoag Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, California. Another project involving the removal of stem cells from brain tumors was approaching phase II status. In China, CSC has already completed phase I safety trials on patients with liver cancer.
Several pipeline projects were also underway at CSC in 2014, including the development of preclinical therapies for patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). A second project involved creating therapies for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease in honor of the Yankee player who called public attention to the disease after his diagnosis in 1938.
Elizabeth Rholetter Purdy
Independent Scholar
See Also: Australia; California; China; Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, The; Michael J. Fox Foundation; Stanford University; United Kingdom; University of Cambridge.
Further Readings
Benjamin, Ruha. People’s Science: Bodies and Rights on the Stem Cell Frontier. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2013.
Brennan, Pat. “OC Stem-Cell Firm Cleared for Ovarian Cancer Trial.” Orange County Register (February 19, 2014).
Broder, John M. and Andrew Pollack. “California to Vote on Stem Cell Research Funds.” New York Times (September 20, 2004).
California Stem Cell. http://www.californiastemcell.com/ (Accessed March 2014).
Chappell, Tom. “Hans Keirstead.” http://abilitymagazine.com/Hans-Keirstead.html (Accessed April 2014).
Rossi, Sharyn L. “Histological and Functional Benefit Following Transplantation of Motor Neuron Progenitors to the Injured Rat Spinal Cord.” PLoS ONE, v.5/7 (2010).
Canada: Stem Cell Network
Canada: Stem Cell Network
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Canada: Stem Cell Network
The Canadian Stem Cell Network (SCN) is a nonprofit corporation created in 2008 to act as a catalyst to translate stem cell research into practical clinical applications, commercial products, and public policy, and to help ensure that Canada continues to be a global leader in stem cell research. SCN is part of the Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE), a Canadian program created in 1989 to promote excellence in science and technology and the translation of scientific discoveries into products, services, and processes that hold the promise to improve Canadian life. SCN is hosted by the University of Ottawa and is governed by a board of directors, a research management committee, a scientific advisory board, and an ethical, legal, and social issues scientific advisory board. The SCN executive director is Philip Welford, and scientific leadership is provided by Michael Rudnicki, scientific director, and Janet Rossant, deputy scientific director.
Partnerships and Initiatives
As of 2014, SCN is engaged in partnerships with 171 organizations, including 82 charities or nonprofit organizations, 49 universities, 25 companies, and 15 government departments, and has played a leadership role in establishing several major initiatives promoting stem cell research. In 2004, SCN helped found the International Consortium of Stem Cell Networks (ICSCN), an organization that grew out of a 2004 meeting hosted by SCN for representatives from 14 national research networks. In 2005, these representatives issued the “Montreal White Paper,” which identified their mission as promoting international cooperation and collaboration in stem cell research. Today, the ICSCN membership includes most of the world’s major stem cell networks and centers of organization.
In 2009, SCN produced the “Stem Cell Charter,” written by bioethicist Bartha Maria Knoppers of McGill University, in collaboration with stem cell scientists, ethicists, patients, and members of the general public. The charter is not a legal document but a statement of principles and a call to action. Those who sign the charter affirm their belief that “stem cell science has the potential to revolutionize the practice of medicine, develop treatments for diseases, and create unprecedented hope for humanity” and that stem cell research should be carried out with regard to the principles of responsibility, protection of citizens from harm, intellectual freedom, transparency, and integrity.
The Cancer Stem Cell Consortium, a Canadian organization bringing together researchers, NGS, funding agencies, and private-sector partners to coordinate a strategy for cancer stem cell research and the translation of research into clinical applications, was created as a result of a 2006 SCN project that brought together Canada’s top cancer cell scientists. The Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine, housed at the Banting Institute in Toronto, is a nonprofit organization supporting the commercialization of products and therapies based on stem cells and biomaterials. StemBase, the world’s largest stem cell gene expression database, originated in data samples from SCN researchers and is available online. Currently it has over 700 registered users from 26 countries.
Education, Funding, and Public Recognition
SCN provides a number of training and funding opportunities, with the goal of developing a body of highly qualified stem cell researchers in Canada. Training and education is governed by a committee, chaired by Cheryle Séguin of the University of Western Ontario, whose goals include recruiting, training, and retaining qualified stem cell research personnel and promoting multidisciplinary training. SCN collaborates with Mitacs Step, a nonprofit organization, to provide free training opportunities in business-related skills, including workshops in the business environment, communication, project management, and entrepreneurship and intellectual property. SCN also provides scientific training opportunities and funding to attend international training, as well as competitive research awards in a number of categories, including translational research, social sciences, clinical research, and undergraduate research.
SCN presents the Till & McCulloch Award at the annual Till & McCulloch Meetings, a conference that brings together members of the scientific and medical communities with representatives of industry, government, and nongovernmental organizations; the 2014 meetings will be held in Ottawa on October 27–29. The award honors Canadian stem cell scientists James Till and Ernest McCulloch, whose 1961 article in Radiation Research is credited as the first to describe stem cells; Till and McCulloch were awarded the Lasker Prize in 2005 for this achievement. The nomination process is public and open (a nomination form is available on the SCN website); and the winner is chosen by a selection committee, which awards the prize to the Canadian stem cell scientist who is judged to have written the most influential peer-reviewed article of the year. The 2013 Till & McCulloch Award was presented to Peter Zandstra of the University of Toronto’s Institute for Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering.
SCN is actively engaged in public education about stem cell research and provides a number of educational materials for the general public on its website, including an overview of stem cells (including downloadable materials), an overview of ethical issues related to stem cells (including numerous downloadable white papers on topics such as “Religion and Stem Cell Research” and “Stem Cell Patents”), disease-specific information for patients, and a glossary and timeline of stem cell discoveries. SCN
