Using Stem Cells to Model and Treat ALS

Dr. Clive Svendsen’s predoctoral training was at Harvard University and he received his PhD from the University of Cambridge in England. In 2000, he moved to the University of Wisconsin as Professor of Neurology and Anatomy and founded their Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center. In 2010, he moved to Los Angeles and founded the Cedars-Sinai Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute, which currently has over 30 faculty members. Dr. Svendsen maintains a large lab that focuses on using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells to model diseases including SMA, Parkinson’s Disease and ALS.He was the Sponsor for the first-ever clinical trial delivering stem cells engineered to release GDNF to the spinal cord of ALS patients, which met the trial endpoint of safety. He is also the Sponsor for an ongoing trial delivering these same cells to the motor cortex of ALS patients.