21 September 2009
Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories (MISCL) will hosttheir annual Stem Cell Awareness Day online on Wednesday, 23 September 2009.
The webinar is open to the public with the aim of explaining current stem cell treatments as well as the future of stem cell research.
The speakers, information sessions and Q&A forums will be beamed live across the internet on Thursday, 23 September 2009 and will also be available online following the day's events.
The international event will coincide with Stem Cell Awareness Day in the US and international guest speakers will be beamed live from the Californian Regenerative Medicine Institute, whose President is Monash University Emeritis Professor, Alan Trounson.
MISCL director, Richard Boyd said the decision to move the awareness day from a location at the Monash Clayton campus to online was to ensure more people could access the information.
"Stem cell treatments could potentially effect millions of Australians, Hence there is a pressing need for wide-reaching education of their benefits and hurdles that need to be overcome. We realised that confining the presentations to Melbourne meant people around the country were essentially missing out on information and direct access to the scientists and researchers at the forefront nationally and internationally of stem cell research," Professor Boyd said.
"The day is about providing essential information to people. It offers them tangible hope of cures for diseases explains the huge inroads into research and achievements in the field in our scientific communities. There are also many myths floating around out there and we hope to dispel these so people achieve a good understanding of where stem research is at in 2009."
Professor Boyd said Stem Cell Awareness Day will also answer those basic questions of what are stem cells, what can and can't they do, what are the ethical issues, what are the latest clinical advances, can I bank my own stem cells and those of my children?
Professor Graham Jenkin, one of Australia's leading stem cell researchers and deputy director of MISCL, will present some of the latest research into stem cell repair of lung tissue damage affecting babies that are born prematurely, by his team at Monash University.
"We have developed a method of cellular therapy for lung diseases or conditions that involve the administration of stem cells isolated from the human amnion tissue from full term babies, which are routinely discarded after the birth of the baby," Professor Jenkin said.
"Such a source translates to an abundant and easily accessible tissue with minimal ethical and legal issues associated with its usage. The tissue also has a degree of immune privilege that makes it more suitable for transplantation."
To log on to the Stem Cell Awareness Day webinar visit: www.stemcellawarenessday.com
For more information or to arrange an interview with the webinar speakers contact Samantha Blair, Media and Communications on +61 3 9903 4841 or 0439 013 951.
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