Current UK Stem Cell Projects

The Foundation


Our Research

The UKSCF has funded several projects that aim to translate stem cell research into future therapies with genuine patient benefits.

Research Projects

PhD Studentships


Repair of spinal cord injury using adult stem cells

Prof. Geoff Raisman, Institute of Neurology, London

Prof. Geoff Raisman

Start Date: Aug 2007
Duration: 2 years
Amount: £212,000
Extended for further 2 years (£706,000) from Dec 2009.

Injury to the spinal cord severs nerve fibres connecting the brain with the spinal cord. The resulting disability can include the loss of sensation due to destruction of fibres conveying sensory input from the body to the brain, and loss of control of movement, breathing, bladder, bowels, blood pressure and body temperature.  Therefore the implications of the benefits of the reconnection of severed nerve fibres are great.

In laboratory studies Prof Raisman has demonstrated that cells cultured from the upper part of the adult nasal cavity when transplanted can restore major functional defects as a result of spinal cord injury.  The aim of this project is to manipulate stem cells from the nasal cavity to allow the re-establishment of severed spinal nerve connections.

The team will also investigate larger-scale methods of transplanting nasal stem cells into spinal cord injury and the optic nerve head in glaucoma as well as further develop innovative methods for the placement and retention of transplanted cells.


Hip revision surgery employing stem cell technology

Prof. Gordon Blunn, University College London and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital

Prof. Gordon Blunn

Start Date:  Dec 2007
Duration:  2 years
Amount:  £138,000

Hip replacements last for approximately 15 years before they deteriorate and loosen.  Although hip replacement is regarded as one of the most successful advances in modern orthopaedic surgery its number is set to increase due to demographic and lifestyle changes in the population. This will impact on the need for revision surgery due to the failure of the initial hip replacement.
 
Prof Blunn’s research focuses on the second hip replacement, which is generally less successful because the bone into which the prosthesis is fixed has degraded.  The primary aim of the project is to determine whether the inclusion of stem cells in the graft structure will improve implant fixation and lead to bone regeneration.


The treatment of heart disease using stem cell technology

Prof. John Martin and Prof. Anthony Mathur, University of London, in collaboration with Barts Hospital and the Heart Hospital London.

Prof. John Martin Prof. Anthony Mathur

Start Date: Jan 2008
Duration: 2 years
Amount: £1 Million

This study investigates for the first time whether damage to the heart muscle caused by heart attack, can be prevented by injecting stem cells taken from heart attack patients’ own bone marrow into their hearts within a critical five hours of the attack.

It is the first known project of its type in the UK to combine stem cell delivery to the heart with primary angioplasty – where the blocked arteries in heart attack patients are opened as quickly as possible.

The project addresses the UK’s biggest killer and hopes to ascertain whether stem cells administered immediately after suffering a heart attack can speed up recovery, reduce the likelihood of suffering repeat attack and reduce fatalities from later onset heart failure.


Bone and Cartilage repair employing stem cells

Prof Brendon Noble, MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh

Prof. Brendan Noble

Start Date: April 2008
Duration: 2 years
Amount: £2.9 Million 

Musculoskeletal disorders such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis account for enormous suffering and morbidity worldwide.  There are currently 60,000 hip fractures per annum in the UK, 250,000 in the USA. Osteoarthritis is in the top 10 causes of disability with hip fractures being a major cause of mortality in an increasingly elderly population.  Existing surgery includes hip replacement and artificial cartilage constructs but most have a limited life span and patients frequently require multiple revisions sometimes only regaining limited independence.

Prof Noble has two related projects that employ related techniques to derive bone and cartilage forming cells from two distinct sources – human embryonic stem cells and autologous adult stem cells.  While autologous cells might be appropriate in a range of clinical situations, the use of embryonic stem cells addresses problems associated with production of large numbers of cells and when for genetic reasons the patients own stem cells cannot be employed.  The stem cells are grafted onto bioactive scaffolds creating the optimum environment to nurture repair to areas of bone and cartilage damage.


The treatment of Liver Disease employing Stem Cells

Prof John Iredale, MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, University of Edinburgh

Prof. John Iredale

Start Date: April 2008
Duration: 2 years
Amount: £1.7 Million

Liver cells are not uniform and perform different key functions, metabolising everything that enters the body and this complicates the process of drug management, because of the many reactions that liver cells can have to different stimuli.

The goal of this research is to develop viable liver cells (hepatocytes) from embryonic stem cells to determine their value in the treatment of acute and chronic liver disease.  The research has two specific aims:

  1. Implantation of embryonic stem cells into animal models with differing degrees of liver disease to determine their efficacy in countering the disease.

  2. Develop protocols to improve the understanding of the manipulation, differentiation and characterisation of functional hepatocytes from embryonic stem cells.

Stem Cell treatment to treat corneal blindness

Prof. Bal Dhillon, Eye Pavilion and Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh

Prof. Bal Dhillon

Start Date:  Jan 2009
Duration: 3 years
Amount: £308,000

Limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) is a painful eye disease that prevents the cornea renewing itself and is characterised by reduced vision or blindness, ocular irritation and visual glare. Current treatments for LSCD include standard corneal transplantation as well as limbal tissue grafting but both methodologies have severe limitations in terms of success rates, the risk of tissue rejection, shortage of tissue supply and can lead to the damage of donors healthy eyes.

The aim of the project is to apply ex vivo limbal stem cells to address limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD).


London Regenerative Medicine Initiative:
Five PhD Studentships


Mason

Start Date:  September 2009
Duration:  4 years
Amount:  £1.081 Million

The translation of basic stem cell science into safe, effective and affordable therapies for patients is an undoubted research priority.  However, it is well recognised that there is a significant skills gap in this important area. To help address this issue in London, the UK Stem Cell Foundation (UKSCF) in association with the London Regenerative Medicine Network (LRMN) is sponsoring the London Regenerative Medicine Initiative (LRMI). Under the LRMI, a cohort of five doctoral training studentships are being co-funded under the EPSRC Industrial Doctoral Training Scheme leading to the award of an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) degree.

The LRMI doctorates involve advanced research and training at the following participating centres:

Prof. Martin Birchall - Royal Throat Nose and Ear Hospital/Royal Free
Hospital
Dr. Mark Lowdell - Cellular Therapeutics Laboratory, Royal Free Hospital
"Scale-up of tissue-engineered airways using adult mesenchymal stem cells"
(Dr, Ivan Wall/Dr. Farlan Veraitch)

Prof. Pete Coffey - The London Project to Cure Blindness
Mr. Lyndon da Cruz - Moorfields Eye Hospital
"Scale-up of human embryonic stem cell-based therapies for age-related macular degeneration"
(Prof. Chris Mason/Dr. Ivan Wall)

Prof. Paul Sharpe – King’s College London/Odontis Ltd
"BioTooth - Tooth tissue engineering"
(Dr. Paul Dalby/Dr. Ivan Wall)

Prof. Nagy Habib - Hammersmith Hospital Trust /OmniCyte Ltd.
"Scaling OmniCyte (adult stem cells) therapy for safe, effective and
affordable clinical use"
(Dr. Ivan Wall/Dr. Farlan Veraitch)

Dr. Anthony Mathur - Barts and the London NHS Hospital Trust
"Translation of bone-marrow derived therapies for routine clinical practice of cardiac disease"
(Dr. Ivan Wall/Dr. Farlan Veraitch)

The UK Stem Cell Foundation, 20 Park Crescent, London W1B 1AL, Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7670 5370, info@ukscf.org