1. Introduction: Stem cell basics
Reading material: https://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/1.htm
2. Case studies:
1. Learning objectives: Stem cells in clinical medicine
Topic for discussion: Hemopoietic stem cells: From Bench to bedside
(Discussion boundaries)
a. Bone Marrow Transplantation
b. What are stem cells?
c. Cord blood banking and transplantation
d. Hematological Cancers/anemiasand stem cells
2. Learning objective: Adult stem cells
Topic for discussion: The stem cell biologist or the clinician- Are stem cells ahead of time?
(Discussion boundaries)
a. What are the different kind of stem cells? Features of each type
b. Which type of cells you think is suitable for therapy? Or is it one size fits all? Justify
your answer.
c. Choose one disease amongst the following: Parkinson’s disease/Dilated
cardiomyopathy/Superficial burns and wound healing. Most conventional therapies
have failed to treat patients suffering from the above-mentioned disorders.
Can stem cells be used as an option of treatment for these patients? Which cell type
would you choose and why? What would be the possible mechanism of action of
stem cells?
Reading material: Are Clinical Trials With Mesenchymal Stem/ Progenitor Cells too Far Ahead
of the Science? Lessons From Experimental Hematology: Prockop 2014
3. Food for thought- Stem cells : Tools for the scientist?
Idea: Drug discovery and personalized medicine using stem cells
Reading material:Open Science Meets Stem Cells: A New Drug Discovery Approach for
Neurodegenerative Disorders.Front Neurosci. 2018 Feb 6;12:47. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00047.
eCollection 2018.
Global Challenges in Stem Cell Research and the Many Roads Ahead. Sipp 2011