Sanford Research to be featured at Vatican conference
Sanford Health CEO Kelby Krabbenhoft, philanthropist T. Denny Sanford and four research scientists will be among the speakers at a major international conference this week in Vatican City, presenting on stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine as well as philanthropy.
Pope Francis is scheduled to appear, pending world events. Vice President Joe Biden is listed as a speaker.
The Cellular Horizons conference Thursday through Saturday will address the progress of regenerative medicine and its cultural impact. It was created by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture and New York-based Stem for Life Foundation.
According to information about the event, “This exclusive international event will gather the world’s leading cell therapy scientists, physicians, patients, ethicists and leaders of faith, government and philanthropy to discuss the latest cellular therapy breakthroughs and hope for the future.”
The conference will focus on pediatric cancers and rare genetic diseases, as well as diseases that occur with aging.
“It’s a tremendous honor for Sanford Health to have been selected to be a key part of this global conference, and it puts our talented experts on the world stage,” said Cindy Morrison, executive vice president for marketing and public policy at Sanford Health. “It’s a unique and exciting time in medicine that is full of breakthroughs and advancements, many of which Sanford has been involved in.”
According to the agenda, Dr. David Pearce, the president of Sanford Research, and Dr. Jill Weimer, director of the Children’s Health Research Center at Sanford Research, will present on panels discussing therapies being developed for type 1 diabetes and rare genetic diseases.
Sanford’s Dr. Eckhard Alt and Dr. Philip Schoettle will present how to isolate stem cells, repair them and use them to fix damaged tissue.
Krabbenhoft and T. Denny Sanford will be part of a panel on philanthropy.
According to conference organizers, the intent is to:
•Explore how science, technology and communication will allow for personalized medical solutions for individual patients and help remove inefficiencies, thereby reducing costs and improving individual care.
•Foster open dialogue among researchers, medical practitioners, religious leaders, political figures and innovators to explore the social and cultural effects of these new treatment modalities.
•Unite people of all races, religious beliefs, cultural and economic backgrounds in a global conversation about the healing potential of cell therapy for chronic diseases and aging as well as convey the importance of delivering approved therapies around the world to people suffering from debilitating medical conditions.
Pope Francis, who “strongly believes in dialogue between faith and science,” supports the initiative, according to a statement about the event.
“His Holiness stressed the importance and the need to raise awareness about the conditions of all who are suffering, especially those affected by cancer and rare diseases, and support advancement of regenerative medicine and cell therapies,” it said. “As he has stated, ‘Service to the sick might always be better accomplished.’ ”
Sanford has announced progress in recent months in its effort to cure type 1 diabetes.
Sanford, in collaboration with Caladrius Biosciences Inc., has started a clinical trial known as The Sanford Project: T-Rex Study to investigate whether a child’s own cells can fight type 1 diabetes.
Researchers are focusing specifically on children’s Treg cells, which may help stop the immune system’s attack on the body’s insulin-producing beta cells. The Treg cells will be collected from the participants’ blood, grown in a lab to make more of them and returned back into their blood circulation.
Researchers are testing whether these expanded Treg cells can rebalance the immune system and stop the attack on beta cells.
This trial is the first for this therapy in the United States to enroll adolescents.
More information on the project is expected to be shared at Cellular Horizons.
The conference is the third event of its kind in a seven-year collaboration of Stem for Life Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to raising global awareness of the therapeutic potential of cell therapies, the Pontifical Council for Culture and its Science and Faith Foundation’s Project STOQ, or Science, Theology and the Ontological Quest.
“Scientific research has increased the possibilities for maintaining health, preventing illness and treating the sick,” said Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture. “The new field of regenerative medicine holds great promise to alleviate the pain and suffering for hundreds of millions of people around the world. We must unite to discover and advance such new therapies and find ways to bring them to all those in need.”