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Our Research
The UKSCF has funded several projects that aim to translate stem cell research into future therapies with genuine patient benefits. These include:
- Spinal cord repair
- Multiple sclerosis
- Heart disease
- Liver disease
- Corneal blindness
- Hip revision surgery
- Bone and cartilage repair
We also support PhD Studentships through the London Regenerative Medicine Initiative.
New Research Projects
Help us raise funds for new stem cell research projects into:
- HIV and AIDS
- Cord blood
- Spinal cord repair clinical trial
- Liver disease
Funded Projects
Spinal Cord Repair
Repair of spinal cord injury using adult stem cells
Principal Investigator: Prof. Geoff Raisman, Institute of Neurology, LondonDuration: 2 rounds of funding over 4 years
Amount: £212,000 and £706,000
Professor Geoffrey Raisman’s project is based on the use of adult stem cells – olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) - which are present in the patient’s own upper nasal passages. Laboratory work has shown that transplants of OECs allow nerve fibres to regrow in the damaged spinal cord and protect nerve fibres behind the eye in glaucoma. In an initial clinical trial, the team has shown that this procedure is feasible and safe in spinal injured patients. The team now is looking to raise funds for its next five years’ work. This will enable the further improvements needed to identify the source of the optimal OECs in human tissues and to develop its current work on the prototype nanofibre biomaterials which will provide the bridge for transplanted OECs to repair human spinal injuries. This project will lead to knowledge needed to get patients out of wheelchairs and arrest the progression from glaucoma to blindness.
Donate to future work on this project
Multiple Sclerosis
The following three projects have been funded in collaboration with the MS Society.
Evaluation of the therapeutic potential of transplanting neural stem cells in optic neuritis
Principal Investigator: Prof. David Baker, Queen Mary University, London Duration: 3 years
Amount: £288,851
This project will evaluate the therapeutic potential of transplanting neural stem cells in optic neuritis, or inflammation of the optic nerve in the eye. This is a symptom of MS that leaves many people with visual impairment.
As the visual pathway is the most accessible part of the human central nervous system, it makes it easier to monitor potential repair. This project will investigate the efficacy of the syngeneic neural stem cells of optic neuritis in experimental models of MS. It will also investigate how to improve stem cell-based therapies by evaluating the most appropriate route and timing of cell administration, and the best approach to achieve functional and long-lasting integration of transplanted stem cells. This will provide a tool for a seamless translation of studies into the clinical setting.
Use of autologous mesenchymal stem cells to treat relapsing-remitting MS
Principal Investigator: Dr Paolo Muraro, Imperial College LondonDuration: 3 years
Amount: £525,478
Led by Dr Paolo Muraro at Imperial College London, this phase II clinical trial is part of an international collaboration involving 150 to 200 people with MS across Europe, America and Canada. Researchers at trial sites in Edinburgh and London are investigating the use of autologous mesenchymal stem cells (which come from the participants’ own bone marrow) as a form of immunotherapy to prevent and potentially reverse neurological deterioration in relapse-remitting MS. The trial will test whether stem cells can treat the active MS lesions of the participants, where damage is currently occurring on their brains.
At the end of the trial, the researchers will combine their information to get a much more accurate measure of the risks and benefits of using mesenchymal stem cells than they would by working on their own. By collaborating internationally, the time usually taken to collect, document and verify their findings will be significantly reduced.
Depending on the results of the trial, a larger, phase III clinical trial would be required to evaluate more fully the use of mesenchymal stem cells in a larger number of people, to assess the risks and benefits to participants and possibly to compare the effectiveness of the treatment with other standard therapies.
Study into the Characteristics and Interactions of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Patients with Progressive MSPrincipal Investigator: Prof. Cris Constantinescu, QMC, Nottingham
Duration: 3 years
Amount: £61,000
Led by Prof. Constantinescu at the University of Nottingham, this research aims to understand more about mesenchymal stem cells, which have the ability to modulate the immune system and have neuroprotective / neurorepair qualities. The project will look into the phenotypic characteristics, immune interactions and ultra-high field imaging of autologous mesenchymal stem cells. It will compare cells from people with progressive forms of MS with people without MS to help understand more about these cells in preparation for future clinical trials into effective treatments.
Heart disease
Prof. John Martin and Prof. Anthony Mathur, University of London, in collaboration with Barts Hospital and the Heart Hospital London.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.
The trial is over half way through and the team has demonstrated that it can deliver stem cells earlier than anyone has done before (within 6 hours of a heart attack). It has had no unexpected complications related to this and has therefore demonstrated for the first time the safety and feasibility of injecting the cells into a patient so soon after a heart attack. The clinical value of the trial has now been recognised by other centres in the UK and in Europe and the team is in the process of initiating another 3 large hospitals to join the recruitment for this trial.
Liver disease
The treatment of Liver Disease employing Stem Cells
Prof John Iredale and Dave Hay, MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, University of EdinburghDuration: 2 years
Amount: £1.7 Million
The human liver metabolises everything that enters the body. The main cell type in the liver responsible for this diverse function is the hepatocyte. The goal of this research is to engineer and manufacture the large amounts of hepatocytes required for the treatment of human liver disease. The hepatocyte technology developed in Edinburgh is robust, scalable and ready to move toward the clinic. The team is interested in developing its technology as an extra-corporeal device, a strategy which has been shown clinically to support human liver function. While bio-artificial liver devices have been used successfully in the past, their widespread acceptance was limited due to the incorporation of animal products. Its future interest is therefore to generate the quantity of hepatocytes required to ‘fuel’ a bio-artificial liver device. The humanised bio-artificial liver will then be evaluated in the correct clinical context to determine its value in treating human liver disease. The research has three aims:
- Scale up of existing hepatocyte manufacture under conditions required for clinical grade manufacture.
- Develop stem cell derived bio-artificial liver devices and validate those in appropriate pre-clinical models.
- To generate the scientific evidence required to fund and begin human clinical trials.
Corneal blindness
Prof. Bal Dhillon, Eye Pavilion and Royal Infirmary, EdinburghDuration: 3 years
Amount: £308,000
Limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) is a painful eye disease that prevents the cornea renewing itself and can result in reduced vision or blindness, ocular irritation and visual glare. Current treatments for LSCD include standard corneal transplantation as well as limbal tissue grafting. However, both treatments 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 this project is to apply ex vivo limbal stem cells to address limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD) to see if they can halt or repair damage to the eye.
Hip revision surgery
Hip revision surgery employing stem cell technology
Prof. Gordon Blunn, University College London and the Royal National Orthopaedic HospitalDuration: 2 years
Amount: £138,000
Hip replacement is regarded as one of the most successful advances in modern orthopaedic surgery with over 50,000 hips implanted every year. These numbers are set to increase due to demographic and lifestyle changes in the population. Hip replacements last for approximately 15 years before they have to be revised due to the fixation with the bone becoming loose. This will increase 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. Giving large numbers of the patients’ own stem cells helps revive this bone and Prof Blunn’s research has shown that stem cells taken from the bone marrow can be expanded to high numbers in the lab. When these cells are used in revision hip surgery, they may increase bone and improve fixation of the second hip. 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. It is hoped that the degraded bone will become renewed and this will greatly reduce the number of further operations often required by patients in this situation.
Bone and cartilage repair
Bone and Cartilage repair employing stem cells
Prof Brendon Noble, MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of EdinburghDuration: 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.
PhD Studentships
Through the London Regenerative Medicine Initiative, UKSCF has funded 5 PhD studentships as part of a one-off project.
Prof Chris MasonDuration: 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)
New and Continuing Research Projects
Help us raise funds for new stem cell research projects into:
- HIV and AIDS
- Cord blood
- Spinal cord repair clinical trial
- Liver disease