Holding an MD from St. Louis University School of Medicine, Dr. Richard Burt is a professor of medicine at Northwestern University, Chicago. Dr. Richard Burt is a co-author of several publications on stem cell therapy, including “Effect of Nonmyeloablative Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation vs Continued Disease-Modifying Therapy on Disease Progression in Patients with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis - A Randomized Clinical Trial.”
A subcategory of the body repair system which replaces some dead or damaged cells, stem cells are unspecialized cells that have the potential to develop into different cell types. Stem cell therapy is the use of stem cells for treating diseases or injuries. It has already been used for treating various conditions, including some cancers. Currently, researchers are investigating the efficacy of stem cell therapy in treating multiple sclerosis, a disease characterized by damage to the protective sheath called myelin in the brain due to attack by the immune system, which can result in disability.
The most studied stem cell therapy for multiple sclerosis is autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT). Found in bone marrow and peripheral blood, hematopoietic stem cells are present in adults. AHSCT aims to reboot a patient's immune system back to proper function, thus stopping it from attacking myelin in the brain. The procedure involves collecting hematopoietic stem cells from the patient's blood, wiping clean the patient's existing immune system through chemical treatment, and restoring the immune system with the extracted stem cells.
Dr Burt pioneered the field of HSCT for multiple sclerosis and has emphasized a safer non-myeloablative approach to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. As Dr Burt teaches , the effect and toxicity is from the conditioning regimen (a 5 day infusion of drugs to knock down the immune system) --and not from the stem cells that are merely a supportive blood transfusion to shorten the interval of post conditioning regimen cytopenias. Dr Burt completed the first randomized trial of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for multiple sclerosis, that was markedly positive for HSCT. For this work, Dr Burt was awarded in Washington DC, the prestigious "Distinguished Clinical Research Award: for 2019.
A subcategory of the body repair system which replaces some dead or damaged cells, stem cells are unspecialized cells that have the potential to develop into different cell types. Stem cell therapy is the use of stem cells for treating diseases or injuries. It has already been used for treating various conditions, including some cancers. Currently, researchers are investigating the efficacy of stem cell therapy in treating multiple sclerosis, a disease characterized by damage to the protective sheath called myelin in the brain due to attack by the immune system, which can result in disability.
The most studied stem cell therapy for multiple sclerosis is autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT). Found in bone marrow and peripheral blood, hematopoietic stem cells are present in adults. AHSCT aims to reboot a patient's immune system back to proper function, thus stopping it from attacking myelin in the brain. The procedure involves collecting hematopoietic stem cells from the patient's blood, wiping clean the patient's existing immune system through chemical treatment, and restoring the immune system with the extracted stem cells.
Dr Burt pioneered the field of HSCT for multiple sclerosis and has emphasized a safer non-myeloablative approach to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. As Dr Burt teaches , the effect and toxicity is from the conditioning regimen (a 5 day infusion of drugs to knock down the immune system) --and not from the stem cells that are merely a supportive blood transfusion to shorten the interval of post conditioning regimen cytopenias. Dr Burt completed the first randomized trial of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for multiple sclerosis, that was markedly positive for HSCT. For this work, Dr Burt was awarded in Washington DC, the prestigious "Distinguished Clinical Research Award: for 2019.
