Ep#021: Treating Parkinson's Disease Using Patient's Own Stem Cells with Professor Jeanne Loring

01/13/21 • 53 min

Welcome to the first episode of the Personalized Medicine Podcast in 2021. And what a guest do we have to kick-off this year!
In this episode, we dive deep into the world of stem cells with one of the most influential scientists in the field, Professor Jeanne Loring. Jeanne is a Professor Emeritus and a Director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Scripps Research. She made pivotal contributions to the field of stem cell research publishing 120+ papers on the topic. Jeanne is also a true veteran of the biotech industry working for some of the most important companies in the domain of stem cell therapeutics. Jeanne’s most recent venture is Aspen Neuroscience, a pharmaceutical company that develops cell replacement therapies for Parkinson’s disease based on a patient’s own induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
This episode is full of inspirational moments from Jeanne as she shares her experiences differentiating her own cells into beating cardiomyocytes and witnessing the delivery of organoids prepared in her lab to the International Space Station.
Together with Jeanne we discussed:
° Application of iPSCs in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease
° The founding story of Aspen Neuroscience
° Unexpected cost advantage of autologous vs allogeneic iPSCs
° Delivery systems for stem cell therapies
° Use of next-generation sequencing in quality control of stem cell therapies
° Logistics challenges in making iPSC-based therapies available
° Growing organoids at the International Space Station
° Future applications of iPSCs in drug screening and cell-replacement therapies
Make sure to listen until the very end of the episode, when Jeanne shares some very practical advice for aspiring young scientists.
Get in touch with Jeanne:
° LinkedIn: Jeanne Loring
° Twitter: @jeannefrances, @AspenNeuro
° Web: https://www.aspenneuroscience.com/
Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com

Previous Episode

Ep#020: Ultrapure DNA as a Novel Therapeutic Class with Dr. Cosimo Ducani

In Episode 3 of Season 2 of the Personalized Medicine Podcast, our new host, Aradhana Chopra, sat down with Dr. Cosimo Ducani. Cosimo is the founder and CEO of Moligo Technologies, a Biotech start-up from Sweden that aims at providing alternative and improved enzymatic nucleic acid synthesis methods at the industrial scale. Cosimo talks about the increasing demand and need for long and ultra-pure DNA strands in diagnostics and therapeutics and explains oportunities and challenges young biotech start-ups are facing on their journey to success.
Together with Cosimo we talk about:
◦ What inspired Cosimo to start his own company
◦ Key focus areas of Moligo Technologies
◦ How can Moligo Technologies contribute towards personalized medicine and the development of nucleic acid-based vaccines
◦ Professor privilege and role of start-up incubators in early stage biotech ventures
◦ Positives of a lab & of a start-up setup
◦ Advice that Cosimo the CEO would give to Cosimo the scientist and vice-versa
◦ Cosimo’s tips to budding entrepreneurs
◦ Future of DNA-based therapeutics
Get in touch with Cosimo:
◦ Linkedin: Cosimo Ducani, Moligo Technologies
◦ Twitter: @CosimoDucani, @moligotech
◦ Web: https://www.moligotechnologies.com/
Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com

Next Episode

Ep#022: Using Smartphones to Monitor Women's Health with Dr. Leo Martinez

In this episode, our host Aradhana Chopra sat down with Leo Martinez, one of the co-founders of Colorimetrix, the mobile health tech company behind the Pearl Fertility app. It is the first App to be approved as a medical device to monitor and chart all-important hormones of the menstrual cycle at home and help women with their fertility decisions. Dr. Martinez shares his experiences of founding Colorimetrix, developing the algorithms, using the technology in the pearl fertility app, and finally getting permissions and approvals for its release in the markets.
Together with Leo, we discussed:
° Smartphones as portable spectrophotometers
° Pearl Fertility app and its motivation
° Difference between Pearl Fertility and other similar apps
° Pearl Fertility – compatibility with different strips
° Pearl Fertility app and privacy of users
° Pearl Fertility app – informative or diagnostic
° Timeline for results from the Pearl Fertility app and kit
° Updates to the Pearl Fertility app - test for progesterone
° Demographic coverage of the Pearl Fertility app
° Challenges in developing the app
° Role of science in becoming a successful entrepreneur
° Getting funding for a startup
° Pearl Fertility in the next 10 years
Get in touch with Leo:
° Email: [email protected], [email protected]
° Dr. Leo Martinez’s social handles:
° Twitter: @expecttoexpect
° Instagram: @dr.leomartinez
° Twitter: @pearlfertility, @Colorimetrix
° LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/colorimetrix/, https://www.linkedin.com/in/juanleonardo/
° Web (Colorimetrix): https://www.colorimetrix.com/, https://www.pearl-fertility.com/
Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com