Experts to present stem cell therapies for neurological disorders at Cedars-Sinai conference

Experts from stem cell programs at respected research centers around the country will present information at an April 30 conference on stem cell therapy for neurological disorders, hosted by the Department of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in collaboration with the Genetics Policy Institute of Wellington, Fla.

Topics include stem cell therapies for:

• brain tumors;
• stroke;
• neurodegenerative disorders,
• spinal cord injury; and
• spinal disorders.
• The final session of the conference will address the future of stem cell therapies.

Guest faculty will include:

• Karen S. Aboody, MD, associate professor, Department of Neurosciences and Division of Neurosurgery, City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute, Duarte, CA
• Nicholas Boulis, MD, associate professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
• Michael Chopp, MD, scientific director, Neuroscience Institute; vice chairman, Department of Neurology; Zoltan J. Kovacs Chair in Neuroscience Research; Henry Ford Hospital Distinguished Professor of Physics, Oakland University, Detroit, MI
• Hans Keirstead, PhD, associate professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology; associate professor of Neurological Surgery, University of California School of Medicine, Irvine, CA
• Robert Klein, JD, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Governing Board, San Francisco, CA
• Jeremy N. Rich, MD, chairman, Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
• Bernard Siegel, JD, executive director of Genetics Policy Institute, Wellington, FL
• Evan Y. Snyder, MD, PhD, professor, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute; director, Program in Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology; director, Stem Cell Research Center, San Diego, CA
• Gary K. Steinberg, MD, PhD, Bernard and Ronni Lacroute-William Randolph Hearst Professor of Neurosurgery and the Neurosciences; chairman, Department of Neurosurgery; director, Stanford Institute for Neuro-Innovation and Translational Neurosciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA
• Edward Wirth III, MD, PhD, medical director, Regenerative Medicine, Geron Corporation, Menlo Park, CA

Course directors will be:

• John S. Yu, MD, professor and vice chairman, Department of Neurosurgery; director, Brain Tumor Center of Excellence; director, Surgical Neuro-Oncology; neurosurgical director, Gamma Knife Center, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
• Keith L. Black, MD, professor and chairman, Department of Neurosurgery; director, Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute; director, Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. Brain Tumor Center; Ruth and Lawrence Harvey Chair in Neuroscience, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

Co-directors will be:

• J. Patrick Johnson, MD, co-director, Spine Stem Cell Research Program, Cedars-Sinai Spine Center
• Patrick D. Lyden, MD, chairman, Department of Neurology; Carmen and Louis Warschaw Chair in Neurology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
• Clive Svendsen, PhD, director, Regenerative Medicine Institute, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center