Category: Faculty 2010

Dr. Kiessling is Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation. She holds bachelor’s degrees in nursing and chemistry, a master’s degree in organic chemistry and a doctorate in biochemistry/biophysics from Oregon State University. (download CV PDF)

Her postdoctoral research explored relationships between viruses and cancer at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and University of California, San Diego. The work in San Diego led to the controversial discovery of reverse transcriptase in normal human cells in 1979 (Kiessling & Goulian). Prior to this discovery, it had been assumed that reverse transcriptase was an enzyme found only in retroviruses. To understand the normal biologic role of reverse transcriptase, Dr. Kiessling began to study eggs and early cleaving embryos.

Dual interests in virology and reproductive biology led to research in semen transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and the creation of the first laboratory for Human In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) in Oregon in the early 1980’s. Harvard Medical School recruited Dr. Kiessling in 1985, where she continues her research today.

The need to conduct biomedical research in areas not funded by the federal government led to the incorporation of the Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation. The Foundation’s Special Program of Assisted Reproduction (SPAR) has helped more than 80 couples affected by HIV disease have safe, healthy babies. Because of this success, more than two-dozen fertility centers throughout the country have implemented the SPAR program, allowing couples to seek care closer to home.

The techniques developed for SPAR have now been extended to other diseases of the male genitourinary tract, such as prostatitis and bladder infections. Expertise in human egg biology led Dr. Kiessling to develop the country’s first human egg donor program for stem cell research in 2000. It remains a research focus today.

Dr. Kiessling has published more than 100 scientific papers and given more than 60 lectures to audiences around the world. Her writings can be found in publications such as Nature, Lancet, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science and Connecticut Law Review, and she has been the focus of articles in The Boston Globe and Newsweek. In 2003, Dr. Kiessling wrote Human Embryonic Stem Cells: An Introduction to the Science and Therapeutic Potential, the first textbook on the controversial topic.

Professor, GRA Eminent Scholar and Director of the Regenerative Bioscience Center at University of Georgia and CSO, Aruna Biomedical Inc.

Dr. Steven Stice has over 16 years of research and development experience in biotechnology and is a co-founder of five biotechnology companies.  He was named one of the 100 Most Influential Georgians by Georgia Trend magazine.  He produced the first cloned rabbit in 1987 and the first cloned transgenic calves in 1998 (George and Charlie).  In 1997 his group produced the first genetically modified embryonic stem cell derived pigs and cattle.  This research led to publications in Science and Nature journals, national news coverage (CBS, NBC, ABC and CNN) and the first US patents on cloning animals and cattle embryonic stem cells.  In 2001, Dr. Stice announced the first cloned animal (calf) from an animal that was dead for 48 hours.  In 2005, his stem cell group published the first work on deriving motor neurons from stem cells.  Motor neurons are damaged lost during the progression of several diseases such as ALS and spinal muscular atrophy.  Throughout his career he has published and lectured on cloning and stem cell technologies.  Prior to joining the University of Georgia, Dr. Stice was a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Advanced Cell Technology, a company developing cloning and stem cell technology.

Currently, Dr. Stice is a Professor and Director of the Regenerative Bioscience Center and has a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar endowed Chair at the University of Georgia.  His research focuses on developing innovative stem cell technologies for curing diseases.  He co-founded CytoGenesis, Inc., which was later purchased by BresaGen.  Dr. Stice helped BresaGen develop three human embryonic stem cell lines approved for NIH funding.

He was named one of the top forty entrepreneurs under forty years old in Georgia (2000) and received the AGR grand president’s award for leadership and AGR Brother of the Century Award and outstanding Young Alumni Award from the University of Illinois.  University of Georgia Research Foundation named Dr. Stice inventor of the year in 2005.

Dr. Stice received a B.S. in agricultural science at the University of Illinois in 1983.  He then attended Iowa State University and completed a M.S. degree in 1985.  Next, Dr. Stice went to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst for a Ph.D. program and graduated in 1989.

University of Georgia Center for Drug Discovery

Founding Director, Professor II, The Richard H. Shindell Chair in Neuroscience

2012 News: New York Daily News Interview About the First Multi-Center Clinical Trials in China
At about 20 centres in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, stem cells are injected into patients’ damaged spines to help regenerate nerves, while lithium is used to promote the growth of the nerve fibres.

Dr. Wise Young, founding director of the W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience and a professor at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is recognized as one of the world’s outstanding neuroscientists. He obtained a bachelor of arts degree from Reed College, a doctorate from the University of Iowa and a medical degree from Stanford University. After a surgery internship at New York University and Bellevue Medical Center, he joined the neurosurgery department at NYU. In 1984, he became director of neurosurgery research. In 1997, as part of Rutgers’ commitment to the future, Dr. Young was recruited to establish and direct a world-class center for collaborative neuroscience.

Dr. Young was part of the team that discovered and established high-dose methylprednisolone (MP) as the first effective therapy for spinal cord injuries. This 1990 work upended concepts that spinal cord injuries were permanent, refocused research, and opened new vistas of hope. This team also played a major role in Andy Blight’s signal work on 4-aminopyridine (4-AP), which shows significant promise for increasing nerve conductivity.

Dr. Young developed the first standardized rat spinal cord injury model used worldwide for testing therapies, formed the first consortium funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to test promising therapies, and helped establish several widely accepted clinical outcome measures in spinal cord injury research.

Dr. Young founded and served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Neurotrauma. He organized the National and International Neurotrauma Societies as forums for scientists to share discoveries and collaborate on spinal cord injury and brain research. He serves or has served on advisory committees for the NIH, the National Academy of Sciences, and NICHD, and has served on advisory boards for many spinal cord injury organizations.

Well-known as a leader in spinal cord injury research, Dr. Young has appeared on “20/20” with Barbara Walters and Christopher Reeve, “48 Hours,” “Today,” “Eye-to-Eye,” Fox News and CNN’s news magazine with Jeff Greenfield. His work has been featured in a Life magazine special edition, USA Today, and innumerable other news, talk and print presentations throughout the world. His honors include: NIH Jacob Javits Neuroscience Award (1985-1992), Wakeman Award (1991), Tall Texan of the Year Award (1997), ‘Cure’ Award (1998), Trustees Award for Excellence in Research (2001), Asian American Achievement Award (2002), Douglass Medal for work with the advancement of young women in the sciences (2003), and Elizabeth M. Boggs Award for service to the disability community (2004). In August 2001, TIME Magazine named Dr. Young as ‘America’s Best’ in the field of spinal cord injury research. In 2005 he was the first researcher elected to the Spinal Cord Injury Hall of Fame. Dr. Young was appointed to the Richard H. Schindell Chair in Neuroscience in 2006 by the Rutgers University Board of Governors.

Dr. Edward Wirth served for 7 years as Medical Director, Regenerative Medicine at Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) and most recently as Chief Science Officer at InVivo Therapeutic. While at Geron he led efforts to initiate human clinical trials of Geron’s application of human progenitor cells to spinal cord injury. Prior to his work with Geron Corporation, Dr. Wirth held appointments at Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center and at the University of Chicago.

From 1997 to 2002, Dr. Wirth led the team at the University of Florida that performed the first human embryonic spinal cord tissue transplants in the U.S., demonstrating the feasibility and safety of implanting embryonic spinal cord cells into patients. Dr. Wirth received a Ph.D. in neuroscience and an M.D. from the University of Florida, and earned a B.A. in physics from Rollins College in Winter Park, FL.

Presented, “Control of teratoma after embryonic stem cell transplant” at the 2010 The International Conference of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Taiwan.

Presented, “Purification and characterization of transplantable somatic cell types from human embryonic stem cells: A neural paradigms” at the 2010 The International Conference of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Taiwan.

Presented, “Current Stem Cell Clinical Trials of Neurological Diseases in the World”at the 2010 The International Conference of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Taiwan.

Presented, “Transplantation of Size-Sieved Stem Cells Compositing with Fibrin Glue After MCAO in Conscious Rat” at the 2010 The International Conference of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Taiwan.

Presented, “Transplantation of bone marrow stem cells” at the 2010 The International Conference of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Taiwan.

Presented, “Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells support prolonged expansion of human embryonic stem cells without tumorigenesis” at the 2010 The International Conference of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Taiwan.