David Kent
Dr. David Kent is a Principal Investigator at the York Biomedical Research Institute (https://www.york.ac.uk/biology/research/infection-immunity/david-kent/). His laboratory's research focuses on the fundamental biology of blood stem cells and how changes in their regulation lead to cancers. David has a long history of public engagement and outreach including the creation of The Black Hole (https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/the-black-hole/) in 2009. He has been writing for Signals since 2010.
Posts by: David
Over the Christmas break, I finally got around to reading an article that has been in my “to read” pile for far too long. For anybody new to the regenerative medicine and cellular therapy fields, it is an absolutely fantastic resource to catch up on some of the biggest issues. “Lancet Commission: Stem cells and […]
As with all of my posts that relate to anything that might end up being a medical treatment, it is important to be very clear that I am a scientist and not a physician. My comments are my own opinion and based on my experience as a stem cell biologist over the last 10+ years. […]
Last month two papers created a pretty big wave in the blood stem cell field: Work from Harvard Medical School and Cornell University showed that functional human blood stem cells could be created from reprogrammed cells. While it is most certainly the closest that researchers have come to creating blood stem cells in large numbers […]
With the Toronto Blue Jays* off to a terrible start, I was almost dissuaded from reading anything about baseball, until I happened upon the following article: “Stem-cell therapy is poised to disrupt the Tommy John epidemic in baseball.” First, I had to do my standard “fake news” check by triangulating the sources, readings, etc., but […]
From science fiction novelists through to medical doctors and industry leaders, a huge amount of attention has been given to the idea of growing human organs for transplantation in large farm animals like pigs and sheep. The need for organs to transplant into patients is one driving motivation (~5000 patients waiting in Canada alone), but […]
Evaluating stem cell therapies: “Small trials and difficult statistics”
Over the Christmas break, I finally got around to reading an article that has been in my “to read” pile for far too long. For anybody new to the regenerative medicine and cellular therapy fields, it is an absolutely fantastic resource to catch up on some of the biggest issues. “Lancet Commission: Stem cells and […]