Pioneer in cord blood stem cell therapies to speak at Medical Student Research Forum
Joanne Kurtzberg, M.D. ’76, a world renowned trailblazer in cord blood stem cell therapies and a graduate of New York Medical College, will be the keynote speaker at the Medical Student Research Forum on February 9, 2012 in Nevins Auditorium. Dr. Kurtzberg is Duke University’s Chief Scientific Officer of the Robertson Clinical and Translational Cell Therapy Program and Co-Director of the Stem Cell Laboratory and Director of the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank. She will present “The Potential of Cord Blood for Cell Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine; Lessons Learned and Future Possibilities.”
“Dr. Kurtzberg is an internationally accomplished physician scientist in the field of pediatric hematology/oncology stem cell transplantation,” said Mitchell S. Cairo, M.D. professor of pediatrics and medicine, and chief of pediatric hematology, oncology and stem cell transplantation at Westchester Medical Center. “She is a pioneer in the field of cord blood banking, cord blood transplantation and cord blood regenerative medicine. As a medical graduate of NYMC, she exemplifies the continued outstanding tradition of highly accomplished alumni.”
Dr. Kurtzberg pioneered and continues to advance the use of banked umbilical cord blood as a source of stem cells for marrow transplantation in children. Under her leadership, Duke established the internationally known Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant (PBMT) program and currently treats children with cancer, blood disorders, immune deficiencies and metabolic disorders. It is the largest dedicated pediatric transplant program in the world.
Throughout the PBMT program, more than 1,400 autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplants have been performed on children with cancer or genetic diseases since 1990. Dr. Kurtzberg established the Carolinas Cord Blood Bank (CCBB) in 1996 with support from the National Institutes of Health and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Over the years, the CCBB has grown to become a processing, testing and storage center for public cord blood units donated by mothers delivering at 14 hospitals and health systems throughout the region. The CCBB is one of the largest public cord blood banks in the world, currently storing approximately 27,000 units.
Umbilical cord blood stem cells, normally discarded after birth, have the ability to grow and develop into various types of cells throughout the body. They can be harvested after birth and stored for future transplant in patients with many types of blood disorders, and increasingly, other diseases as well.
Dr. Kurtzberg provided care for the first person ever to receive a cord blood transplant, and was the first in the world to perform an unrelated cord blood transplant. Much of her current interest focuses on children with acquired or genetically-linked brain injury.
Children with cerebral palsy and other brain injuries come from all over the world to receive cord blood treatments under her direction. There are a series of genetic diseases that can be helped by stem cell therapy. Blood-forming diseases such as sickle cell anemia, immune diseases like severe combined immunodeficiency and metabolic diseases such as adrenoleukodystrophy can also be helped by stem cell therapy, Dr. Kurtzberg said.
“I think the next big advancement in medicine will involve using cells as therapy. We are learning from these children how to do that,” said Dr. Kurtzberg.
Second-year medical student Shannon McKernan, who heads the Medical Student Research Forum committee, said she was very pleased that Dr. Kurtzberg agreed to speak. “The forum is about celebrating student physician scientists, and Dr. Kurtzberg serves as an excellent example of how today’s medical students can have clinical careers that include conducting research,” said Ms. McKernan. “Also, we are looking forward to reconnecting Dr. Kurtzberg with the community at her alma mater.”
...From a article appearing in INTouch (December 2011)
Page updated: December 8, 2011