The need for customized stem cell therapies for specific conditions will be a major issue in the coming decades. This unique book by experts in the field reviews the subject as it stands today. Its coverage includes: basic and applied stem cell research and history; sources of adult stem cells; a comparison of difficulties in derivation, and the applications of embryonic and adult stem cells. Specific topics dealt with include advantages and problems associated with stem cell / matrix interactions and stem cell differentiation, difficulties using stem cells for clinical application, stem cell based tissue engineering - myth or reality, stem cells and immunity, natural biological matrices versus synthetic (biocompatibility and integration), stem cell delivery, labeling, imaging and tracking, bioreactors: 2D and 3D cell culturing for in-vitro studies and for stem cell implantation, ethical and safety issues and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP).
Raphael Gorodetsky is Professor at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem. He heads a multi-focus research group at Hadassah Hospital that investigates issues in tissue regeneration and adult stem cell isolation, expansion, differentiation and implantation. He is also the Co-founder and Chief Scientist of Hapto Biotech Israel, Ltd, a start up company at Hadassah Hospital that has now merged with Forticell Biosciences NY. Professor Gorodetsky received his B.Sc. in Biology, M.Sc. in Physiology, Neurobiology Physiology & Medical Physics, and PhD in Biophysics and Biomedical Studies from the Hebrew University at Hadassah. He then held a post doctoral research position in Experimental Radiobiology at the UCLA Medical Center. His work there centred on the effects of radiation on normal tissue regeneration and wound healing. He is also the author of more than 85 peer reviewed manuscripts and a number of book chapters. He holds numerous patents in different fields and has been invited to lecture at many leading international conferences. Dr Richard Schõfer is a specialist in internal and transfusion medicine. He is a scientist at the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University, Cambridge, USA. He also heads the Mesenchymal Stem Cell Laboratory of the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Transfusion Medicine at the University Hospital T³bingen in Germany. His work there centres on tissue regeneration and adult stem cell isolation, expansion, differentiation and transplantation. He is also head of an interdisciplinary working group on Molecular Stem Cell Imaging (MSCI).
