Newborn Possibilities Fund Awards Grant to Georgia Health Sciences University Foundation to Support Groundbreaking Pediatric Research

/PRNewswire/ -- The Newborn Possibilities Fund, a grantmaking program established by Cord Blood Registry (CBR), today announced it will provide its first-ever grant to the Georgia Health Sciences University Foundation. The university's medical center is conducting the first FDA-regulated clinical trial evaluating cord blood stem cells as a medical intervention for cerebral palsy. The grant will provide financial support to help curb travel and other expenses for families with a child participating in the trial.

The study will include 40 children, ages 1 to 12 and will begin with a neurological exam. Then, half of the study participants will receive an infusion of their own cord blood while the other half receives a placebo. Three months later, the children will be evaluated without physicians knowing which group received the stem cell infusion. Afterward, children who didn't get their cord blood initially will receive an infusion. Children in the study will return three and six months later for evaluation, where researchers will assess their motor skills and neurological development.

"This is a very well-designed clinical study that will provide new insights into the potential of cord blood stem cells to help children recover from nerve tissue damage to the brain," said Heather Brown, vice president of scientific and medical affairs at CBR. "However, the study design requires a family to make trips at their own expense to the study center. The goal of The Newborn Possibilities Fund is to remove financial barriers that may prevent eligible children from participating in this cutting-edge research and receiving investigational treatments that may improve their quality of life."

The Newborn Possibilities Fund (NPF) was created to help advance clinical research investigating the use of a child's own cord blood stem cells as a treatment for conditions like cerebral palsy and traumatic brain injury. The NPF directs financial grants to non-profit organizations to help cover the cost of travel for families who have the chance to participate in FDA-regulated trials. The Fund is administered by Tides, a public charity, on behalf of CBR.

Patients who meet the inclusion criteria and are enrolled in the trial at Georgia Health Sciences University will be notified of the Newborn Possibilities Fund and have the opportunity to receive funds to use toward the cost of travel to Augusta, Georgia for the cord blood infusion procedure and required follow up visits.

"The hope for stem cells, really from the beginning, is that they might serve as some type of replacement for cells in the nervous system that have been destroyed or never developed properly," said Dr. James Carroll, professor and chief of pediatric neurology at Georgia Health Sciences University and principal investigator on the study. "The main goal of our research is to try to help improve the lives of children with cerebral palsy and find out if the method we're using is going to help these children in the future."

A growing body of research in animals has shown that infused stem cells help to initiate repair and induce healing in the brain. While the Georgia Health Sciences University is the first controlled clinical trial to be conducted, anecdotal reports from previous studies have shown marked improvement in children with cerebral palsy about three months after an initial infusion of cord blood, which led Dr. Carroll to design his trial.

Through generous donations, the Newborn Possibilities Fund hopes to provide financial support for additional trials already underway at leading research universities across the country. For more information on the program or to donate, please visit www.newbornpossibilities.com/donate.asp

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House, Senate Put Forth Legislation to Renew Funding, Bolster Nation's Bone Marrow and Umbilical Cord Program

/PRNewswire/ -- The National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP) today applauded the introduction of the "Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Reauthorization Act of 2010." Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Richard Burr (R-NC), Jack Reed (D-RI), John Ensign (R-NV), and Al Franken (D-MN) introduced the act in the U.S. Senate as S. 3751 on Thursday, Aug. 5. Last evening, Reps. C.W. Bill Young (R-FL) and Doris Matsui (D-CA) introduced the companion legislation, (H.R. 6081), in the House. This legislation seeks to reauthorize the C.W. Bill Young Cell Transplantation Program (National Program) and the National Cord Blood Inventory (NCBI). These programs must be reauthorized before the NCBI sunsets.

Last year 12,000 patients searched the national registry, publicly known as the Be The Match Registry®, for a marrow donor or umbilical cord blood unit. Congressional support of the National Program and the NCBI is critical to ensure all patients have access to transplant.

"I am pleased with the introduction of this legislation and continued bipartisan support," said Jeffrey W. Chell, M.D., chief executive officer of the NMDP. "The reauthorization will provide us with the opportunity to continue our efforts to increase the number of adult donors and umbilical cord blood units available through the National Program."

Since its inception in the mid-1980s, the NMDP has operated the National Program awarded via a competitive bid process administered by the Health Services Resources Administration (HSRA). Every day, the National Program helps thousands of patients with leukemia, certain lymphomas, and other life-threatening diseases find a matching donor or umbilical cord blood unit. For many of these patients, a transplant may be the best or only hope for a cure. To date, the NMDP has facilitated more than 40,000 transplants. This accomplishment would not have been possible without the ongoing, sustained support of Congress and its efforts to increase unrelated marrow and cord blood transplants in the United States.

The proposed legislation demonstrates the continued federal commitment to these programs and recognizes the importance of providing patients and physicians with a single point of access to marrow and cord blood units that can be used for transplant. It also addresses the importance of building a diverse registry of marrow donors and cord blood units. Additionally, the legislation includes modifications necessary to continue the successful work of these programs.

The NMDP applauds the hard work and dedication of Congress to produce a bipartisan and fiscally responsible bill that will assist the NMDP in advancing its life-saving mission. The NMDP looks forward to working with Congress, and its network partners in the transplant community including, physicians, cord blood banks, donors, patients, and their families, to gain additional support for continued success of cellular transplantation.

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