Seven months after a bill to create a regional stem cell therapy hub at The University of Kansas Medical Center took effect, two doctors from the center say it is enrolling patients in clinical trials and they are beginning their work.



David Prentice and Buddhadeb Dawn expressed excitement Monday about what the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center has been able to accomplish in a short time and what possibilities it holds for the future.



"Kansas can be the leader in providing adult stem cell treatments and information to physicians and patients around the world," Dawn said.



Prentice said the center, which limits itself to research on adult stem cells, will foster "ethical, noncontroversial" treatments for patients with multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries, heart damage, stroke and juvenile diabetes.



At the same time he said it will serve to educate schoolchildren on the promise of adult stem cells and act as a "hub" for regional research.



“Potentially, physicians from across the region could be sending samples," Prentice told the Senate Ways and Means Committee that approved millions in start-up funds for the center last year.



Sen. Jeff Melcher, R-Leawood, said he was heartened by news of the center beginning work, but somewhat concerned about it monetizing that work.



He noted that the 15 members of the center's advisory board are academics and legislators, with no one from the business community.



“I see kind of a void in that I don’t see the people that it would take to product-ize this," Melcher said. "The sales and marketing expertise, the product development.”



Dawn said the medical center has some in-house experts who can help with that and that it also will be working with specific companies in some of its clinical trials.



But he said Melcher was correct about the advisory board lacking business experience.



“That can be corrected in the future,” Dawn said.



Dawn also discussed the Inaugural Midwest Conference on Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine, which was held Nov. 23, 2013, at Crown Center in Kansas City, Mo.



The conference drew 150 people from the medical field. Speakers included Gov. Sam Brownback along with 17 other panelists.



Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, R-Shawnee, chair of the Public Health and Welfare Committee and a driving force behind the stem cell center, shared her own observations from the conference Monday.



"I listened to many of the conversations going on between our own scientists and some of our own scientists from KU and K-State were so excited to speak to each other about what they were doing in their own fields," Pilcher-Cook said. "It gave them that opportunity to do that networking within our own universities.”



Prentice said the new facility was one of the few medical centers nationwide doing clinical trials on people with adult stem cell therapies and other centers were still in the research phase.



"The Kansas center is already on the path to becoming a focal point for adult stem cell therapies, trials, and collaboration, as well as for education and training," he said.



Sen. David Haley, D-Kansas City, asked if there was any other federal grant money coming in for this project.



Dawn said they had not requested federal money at this time. Members from the Midwest center added that although the federal government gives out money for certain medical centers, no funds have been provided specifically for stem cell therapies.



For fiscal year 2014, the center budgeted $1.2 million for salaries, construction of the office, supplies, educational and projected expenses.



The projected fiscal year budget for 2015 is $754,500.



ryanmccarthy41111@gmail.com



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