Olympic swimmer Jason Lezak makes a splash for stem cell research

Claire

New member
Olympic swimmer Jason Lezak makes a splash for stem cell research

Jason Lezak, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, is supporting stem cell research for tendon and ligament injuries.

By Megan Thielking @meggophone

March 16, 2016


Scientists seeking $4.5 million to study a new kind of stem cell therapy for tendon and ligament injuries find out on Wednesday if their proposal will receive funding, and they’ve got an unlikely cheerleader standing on the sidelines: US Olympic gold medalist swimmer Jason Lezak.

Lezak, who has won four gold medals in the Olympics, penned one of three published letters of support for the grant application, joining the likes of orthopedic surgeons Dr. Cato Laurencin of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and Dr. Brett Owens of Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School. (The identity of the grant applicant has not been made public.)

“I think stem cells are an interesting potential treatment option, but I do not hear about much stem cell research to treat sports injuries,” Lezak told STAT.


Lezak acknowledged that he’s not an expert on the science behind stem cells, but has seen firsthand how tendon and ligament injuries can knock athletes out of commission for months at a time.

“That can have a real negative impact on your career,” Lezak said. “Athletes are always looking to recover faster and stronger.”

In some cases, Lezak said, he’s seen fellow athletes seek that speedy recovery by trying stem cell therapies that haven’t been approved by federal regulators.

That motivated Lezak to throw his weight behind this particular grant, which proposes to use a surgical technique involving ultrasound to introduce genes that recruit stem cells to the site of torn ligaments and tendons.

And though the application had been rejected by reviewers for California’s stem cell agency, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, it’ll get a second chance at securing funding on Wednesday when the agency’s governing board meets near San Francisco to discuss this grant application, along with another once-rejected $8 million proposal from the Scripps Research Institute’s Jeanne Loring to develop a stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease.


The board can either approve or override the funding decisions already made by its panel of reviewers.

That gives Lezak hope that there will one day be safe, effective stem cell therapies to address ligament and tendon injuries, for which he points out there’s certainly a market in the athletic world.

“Many people would be interested in these treatments,” he said.
 

barbara

Pioneer Founding member
I have read many accounts of successful treatment for sports injuries using one's own stem cells. It's nice to have an Olympian support research, but he sounds like he isn't aware of any of the already published studies that have been done. Instead, he mentions treatments that are not approved by the FDA. Sounds like the same old mantra put out by the naysayers who have impeded progress in the U.S. for years.
 

Claire

New member
Dr. Centeno and his colleagues at the Centeno-Schultz clinic have been treating pro athletes and Olympic athletes for over a decade. One can locate the clinic info with a quick Google search. Evidently, this fellow is unaware of the Regenexx treatment options and its successes with elite athletes.
 
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