U of S scientists work towards clinical trial for Parkinson's treatment

Scientists at the University of Saskatchewan have partnered with a Harvard Medical School affiliate to work on a promising treatment for Parkinson’s disease.
 
The research involves using adult stem cells from the patient’s blood or skin rather than from fetal cells. The cells are then transplanted into the brain as dopamine neurons to restore the cells lost from the disease.  
 
Dr. Ivar Mendez, who leads the Saskatchewan Brain Repair Program at the U of S has been working with Harvard Professor and neurobiologist Dr. Ole Isacson on a cell-based therapy for Parkinson’s for more than a decade.
 
“We have the experience and expertise in the surgical technique of safely being able to implant these cells into the human brain,” said Mendez, who began transplanting cells that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine into patients in the late 1990s.
 
All 10 patients implanted with these cells improved significantly.  The two teams signed an agreement Monday to work together to set up clinical trials.