Many lung diseases remain without cure and result in substantial morbidity and mortality. A new potential therapeutic approach is suggested by recent developments in stem cell biology and in cell therapy strategies. However lung is a complex anatomic and physiologic organ and there are significant barriers to applying cell-based therapies.
To be reviewed will be the role of endogenous lung progenitor cells in injury repair and recent attempts to affect repair with administration of exogenous stem and progenitor cells obtained from bone marrow and from cord blood. Novel approaches to grow functional lung tissue ex vivo will also be examined.
Finally, the ability to modulate inflammatory and immune responses in the lung by administration of exogenous stem cells will be discussed. This is the most promising strategy to date and has already led to the first clinical trial in the US evaluating cell-based therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(emphysema).
Biography
Dr. Weiss finished his Ph.D. in Pharmacology in 1987 and subsequently received his M.D. (1988) from the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine/City University of New York. He performed internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical Center followed by Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Washington. Dr. Weiss was subsequently on faculty at the University of Washington before recruitment to the University of Vermont in 2001. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division of the Department of Medicine at the University of Vermont College of Medicine as well as in the Cell and Molecular Biology (CMB) Graduate Program.