LKCMedicine Vice-Dean for Research presented at ACTRIS Cell Therapy lecture series

On 17 June, President’s Chair in Translational Neuroscience and LKCMedicine Vice-Dean for Research, Professor Lim Kah Leong, delivered a lecture titled “Regenerative medicine for Parkinson’s Disease”. Organised by the Advanced Cell Therapy and Research Institute, Singapore (ACTRIS), as part of the ACTRIS’ Cell Therapy Lecture Series, it was attended by over 100 participants from various institutions. Hosted by Ms Estella Ng, a representative from ACTRIS Education and Training, Prof Lim shared a short history of treating Parkinson’s Disease (PD) which began with proof-of-concept studies in the 1970s that showed support for cell-based therapy. Following that were several high-profile clinical trials using foetal mesencephalic tissue as a source for transplantation, which gave mixed results. Investigators then turned to induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS) technology to derive dopaminergic neurons for grafting. Notably, human trials for PD with iPS-derived cells are currently ongoing in Japan. Prof Lim also provided attendees with an update on how Singapore’s efforts in this area may affect the future of regenerative medicine. To tackle neurosensory disorders, Prof Lim proposed a multi-institutional effort which leverages on human umbilical cord lining-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (CLiPS) as a universal source of cells for regenerative therapy. The lecture was followed by a lively Q&A session where Prof Lim fielded questions by the attendees.