Dr. Ian Rogers — The Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute

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Dr. Ian Rogers

ASSOCIATE SCIENTIST

An associate scientist in the Research Centre for Women’s and Infants’ Health at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Dr. Ian Rogers focuses on developing the regenerative capacity of umbilical cord and adult stem cells for clinical use, and so making them a part of future standard of care. The applications of his research have the potential to improve our understanding, diagnosis and treatment of some of the most common diseases of our time, including diabetes and leukemia.

Dr. Rogers was involved with the establishment of Canada’s first, and largest, cord blood bank, first located at Mount Sinai Hospital and now managed by Insception Biosciences. Umbilical cord stem cells form the basis of several of his research programs. In one program, which is nearing the clinical trial stage, he is attempting to double or even triple the number of stem cells generated from one umbilical cord donation.

Since 2003, Dr. Rogers has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Dr. Rogers is also a founding scientist of Insception Biosciences, where he is a consultant and a member of its board of directors.

Dr. Rogers is also a member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) and is on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Coalition for Regenerative Stem Cell Medicine (www.CRSCM.org) and the Parents Guide to Cord Blood (www.parentsguidecordblood.org)

Samuel Lunenfeld
Research Institute
Joseph & Wolf Lebovic Health Complex
600 University Avenue
Toronto Ontario M5G 1X5

Tel.: 416-586-4800 ext.4122
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Aug 05, 2009 11:15 AM

At a Glance

Stem cell therapies for leukemia, diabetes, peripheral vascular disease; investigation of fetal disease
Dr. Rogers studies hematopoietic stem cells and their use in regenerative medicine.
Umbilical Cord Blood can be used as a source of blood stem cells in bone marrow transplants and in some instances are superior to the stem cells found in bone marrow aspirates.

Major Research Activities
In a collaboration with the Lunenfeld’s stem cell pioneer Dr. Andras Nagy, Dr. Rogers is working to develop induced pluripotent stem cells – which have the ability to develop into many different types of cells - from cord blood cells. Increasing the regenerative capacity of cord blood cells would extend their healing power beyond the blood diseases for which they are used currently. In a collaboration with Dr. David Harris at University of Arizona, he is exploring the use of umbilical cord blood to generate retinas and cartilage.

Dr. Rogers’ work has the potential to alleviate the suffering of people with diabetes. One project investigates the use of stem cells to treat Type 1 diabetes and some of the complications of Type 2 diabetes. Another project involves using stem cells to regenerate blood vessels to counteract the poor circulation that often leads people with Type 2 diabetes to undergo amputation.

Recent Publications

1. D. Giuffrida, I.M. Rogers, A. Nagy, A.E. Calogero, T.J. Brown, R.F. Casper, Human Embryonic Stem Cells secrete soluble factors able to inhibit cancer cell growth (2009) Proliferation (in press).

2. Chua SJ, Bielecki R, Wong CJ, Yamanaka N, Rogers IM, Casper RF. Neural progenitors, neurons and oligodendrocytes from human umbilical cord blood cells in a serum-free, feeder-free cell culture. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Feb 6;379(2):217-21. Epub 2008 Dec 25.

3. Ian Rogers, Nobuko Yamanaka, Marci Greenwald and Robert Casper (2008). A simplified procedure for hematopoietic stem cell expansion using a serum-free, feeder cell-free culture system. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant. Aug;14(8):927-37.

4. David Harris and Ian Rogers. (2007) Umbilical Cord Blood: A unique Source of Pluripotent Stem Cells for Regenerative Medicine, Accepted/in press; Current Stem Cell Research and Therapy.

5. Ian Rogers, Nobuko Yamanaka, Ryszard Belickei and Robert F Casper. Identification and characterization of a CD45positive cell with multipotential properties from human Umbilical Cord Blood. Experimental Cell Research. May 15, 2007, 313 (9) pp.1839.

► Lunenfeld Research Repository

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