A Monthly Article by Ann A. Kiessling, PhD
The State of the Stem Cell
January 27, 2010 |
Ann A. Kiessling, PhD
Too many choices?
As we enter a new decade of this new millennium, stem cell science is in a state of confusion.
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Can stem cells cure HIV?
January 19, 2010 |
Ann A. Kiessling, PhD
A promising new case report of stem cell therapy for leukemia re-opens the possibility of curing HIV infection with stem cell transplantation.
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Latest events and happenings
Leading experts in basic science and clinical care discuss barriers to a
November 3, 2009 |
Shepherd Center
To identify and address these barriers, leading experts in neuroscience and stem cells recently came together for the one-day workshop at the University of Georgia.
“The concept of this workshop grew out of a need for better communication between stem cells scientists, who dared to use the term ‘cure’ for spinal cord injury, and care providers, who are worried about raising ‘false hopes’ and setting unrealistic goals for people with spinal cord injury,” says Ann Kiessling, Ph.D.,
associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and director of the Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation, which organized the second annual gathering in cooperation with Shepherd Center. “Both groups clearly have the patient’s best interest at heart, but were not hearing each other’s concerns.”
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The Moral Status of the Embryo
June 30, 2007 |
Harvard Magazine
Is a blastocyst—an early-stage human embryo—a person? As part of the University’s efforts to encourage public dialogue about stem-cell research, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI), in conjunction with Harvard Divinity School (HDS) and the Boston Theological Institute, sponsored a March 14 forum, “Religious Perspectives on Stem-Cell Research,” which centered on this fundamental question. Moderated by Philip Clayton, a visiting professor of science and religion, the forum featured four panelists representing the three Abrahamic faiths: Eric Cohen, executive director of the Tikvah fund (a foundation devoted to Jewish ideas and culture) and a consultant to the President’s Council on Bioethics; Omar Sultan Haque, a Muslim theologian currently studying at HDS and Harvard Medical School (HMS); professor John Davis of the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, an evangelical Christian theologian ordained in the Presbyterian church; and the Reverend Doctor Llewellyn Smith, B.D. ’67, of Andover Newton Theological School, a Congregational minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC). (HSCI faculty members M. William Lensch and Jerome Ritz attended as well to provide scientific input and clarification.)
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