Stem cell symposium at St. Luke's Medical Center

MANILA, Philippines -  The St. Luke’s Medical Center announces the First International Conference on Stem Cell Therapy to be held on April 7 and 8 at the Henry Sy Auditorium, fifth floor St. Luke’s Global City, in Taguig.

Stem Cell technology and its applications to many diseases afflicting humankind are at the forefront of scientific innovations that provide great promise to revolutionize healthcare in the post-modern era.

St. Luke’s is one of the pioneers in Stem Cell Therapy. The success in the repair of ocular surface damage is already documented scientifically. The same is true in the treatment of leukemia and lymphoma.

The potential for stem cell therapies is great for solid tumors, neurological diseases like Lou Gehrig’s disease, Parkinsonism and other degenerative diseases, spinal cord injury, coronary artery disease and loss of blood supply to the extremities, diabetes, cerebral palsy and others. The aim of the conference is to bring the experts in this field to the Philippines so that we will have first-hand information from those who have devoted a great part of their professional life toward the development of Stem Cell and its use. What can stem cell do and what is the present state of affairs in its clinical application will be tackled.

 The panel of foreign and local speakers and the topics on day one are: “Overview of Cell Therapy” by Paola Ricciardi-Castagnoli, PhD, A STAR, Singapore; “Molecular Markers in Blood Stem Cells” by Ma. Luisa D. Enriquez, PhD, St. Luke’s Medical Center-QC, Philippines, De La Salle University; “Stem Cells for Cancer Therapy” by Dan Kaufman, MD, PhD, University of Minnesota, USA.

 For clinical topics, “Stem Cell Transplantation for Hematological Malignancies” by Francis Lopez, MD, St. Luke’s Medical Center-GC, Philippines; “Stem Cell Therapy for Ocular Disorders” by Jessica Abaño, MD, St. Luke’s Medical Center-QC&GC, Philippines.

For day two’s clinical topics, “Critical Limb Ischemia” by Keith Webster, PhD, FAHA, University of Miami, USA; “Stem Cell Therapy for Neurodegenerative Diseases” by Seung Hyun Kim, MD, PhD, Hanyang University, Korea; “Stem Cell Therapy for Heart Diseases” by Piero Anversa, MD, FAHA, Harvard University, USA.

A panel discussion on the current states of stem cell therapy as well as the future directions will be held.

A lay forum will also be held on April 8 at 4 p.m. The press and the public are invited.

Registration fees are as follows: For local consultants, P2,000 (early bird — until march 31) and P2,500 (regular fee); for local residents/fellows/others, P1,200 (early bird) and P1,500 (regular fee); for scientists/researchers/students, P1,200 (early bird) and P1,500 (regular fee), and for foreign delegates, $150 (early bird) and $180.

For information, call Joanne at 723-9574, fax 724-1766, e-mail ics@st.luke.com.ph, or visit www.ics.stluke.com.ph/stemcell.