Great news received during National Dysphagia Awareness Month: UC Davis in Sacramento, CA released their 2016 Annual Newsletter this week which included the announcement of much anticipated, fantastic news regarding FDA approval to launch their human tongue stem cell clinical trial to determine the safety of the treatment in 20 people. Click Here to read the UC Davis newsletter.
Dr. Peter Belafsky and his research team at UC Davis started this project over five years ago. The NFOSD, whose mission is in part to support research initiatives, became involved in the fundraising efforts which raised over $40,000 in under 3 months. The NFOSD is grateful to the the fundraisers and the donors who dedicated their time and money to make this research idea a reality. To learn more about this initiative at its beginning, read an interview conducted with Dr. Belafsky’s team: Click Here.
By summer of 2013, the research team moved the investigation to the lab hypothesizing that by increasing muscle mass in a human tongue via adult human stem cell infusion, the tongue would become stronger and improve the swallowing function. To review the steps that were completed during this portion of the initiative: Click Here. The upcoming study period for this Phase 1 open label clinical trial will span the next 2 years. The NFOSD will share more results as they are available.
Advancing the treatment of swallowing disorders in our lifetime is the mission of the NFOSD. We do this by providing patient support, promoting education, raising awareness, and as mentioned above, supporting research. We need for your help to raise additional funding needed to carry out this research initiative and other investigations aimed at treating dysphagia. If you are willing and able to donate, we ask that you visit our donation site: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/NFOSD2016.
Congratulations to the UC Davis Team!