DeLIVERing Cell Therapy — The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has awarded Dr. Sanjeev Gupta a four-year, $1.75 million renewal grant to continue his efforts to transplant liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSEC). These cells line cavities in the liver and secrete an important blood-clotting protein, factor VIII. Defects in factor VIII cause Hemophilia A, a disease affecting more than 1 million people worldwide. Dr. Gupta has already developed a method for transplanting normal LSECs that permanently cured Hemophilia A in a mouse model. He will use the grant renewal funds to apply his method to human LSECs as a possible permanent therapy or even cure for Hemophilia A. Treatment for Hemophilia A currently requires regular intravenous infusions of factor VIII. Dr. Gupta is professor of medicine and of pathology. He also holds the Eleazar & Feige Reicher Chair in Translational Medicine.
Posted on: Tuesday, December 03, 2013