Cell Stem Cell is one of the “must-read” scientific journals for stem cell researchers worldwide. In the April 8 issue, Cell Stem Cell introduced a new section, called “Clinical Progress,” that will feature articles that present research advances m
The inaugural article in the new section was a paper by HSCI stem cell scientists Trista North, PhD, Wolfram Goessling, MD, PhD, and Leonard Zon, MD, and colleagues, about their earlier findings, which led to approval of a phase I clinical trial. The HSCI scientists found a derivative of an FDA-approved drug that triggered a four-fold increase in the number of blood stem cells in umbilical cord blood, an important source of blood stem cells for some patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy for cancer. The drug is now being evaluated in a clinical trial of cancer patients.