Surfing for Stem Cells, Part 2 (Episode 113)
Guest: Alina Garbuzov
We’re back with round two of stem cells and their application to spinal cord injury with our tour guide, Alina Garbuzov. In this episode, we wrap up our overview of stem cell types, sources and potential uses in spinal cord injury. We also field some listener questions from part 1 and talk about the work that Alina is doing at the Mark Tuszynski Lab at UCSD.
We realized after the fact that these two conversations are vocabulary heavy and we mention many different nervous system cell types. Some we define and some we don’t. This would be a great time to download Kate Willette’s free ebook, “Don’t Call it a Miracle”. The index alone is a wonderful resource to look up most of these cells and concepts.
Don't forget to email us your thoughts and inquiries about this episode at curecast@u2fp.org. Thanks for listening!
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Bumper music: Dig a Hole by Freaque
Guest Bio
Alina Garbuzov (of San Diego, California) attended Brown University for her undergraduate degree, where she studied Neuroscience and Molecular Biology. After Brown, she moved to California to attend Stanford Graduate School. During her PhD studies she fell while rock climbing and fractured her L1 vertebra. Alina was able to re-start school and complete her dissertation in the field of stem cell biology and genetics. After her fall, she came to the realization that in order to keep doing science she needed to align her personal interest and her work focus. Her personal experience and the people she met through adaptive sports created a new, deep drive to contribute to a field with many promises, but still no therapy in the clinic. Alina started a post-doctoral position in the lab of Mark Tuszynski at the Center of Neural Repair at UCSD Medical School. She is bringing expertise in molecular biology, stem cell biology, and bioinformatics to a lab that specializes in stem-cell based treatment for SCI. She also hopes to contribute as a patient and to be a voice for the SCI community in this top research lab. She feels passionately about science communication and wants to help her community understand the latest science to drive smart decision-making both for personal health and for setting research goals.
Connect with Alina Garbuzov here:
- Website: Center for Neural Repair - Spinal Cord Injury
- Email: garbuzov@gmail.com
- Instagram: @smallrestlesshuman
Related Symposium Presentation
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Click to watch Dr. Alina Garbuzov's presentation at U2FP's 2019 Symposium in Cleveland, Ohio.
Related Articles
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An article by Dr. Garbuzov explaining why animal models (especially rodents) don't always translate well for human application.
Related CureCast Episodes
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A conversation with Arshak Alexanian about the possibilities of cellular reprogramming for SCI.
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This interview with Dr. Mohamad Bydon sheds light on mesenchymal stem cells, and their role in a Mayo Clinic study done a few years ago.
Related Resource
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A comprehensive introduction to the world of spinal cord injury research. It provides the basic information advocates need to push effectively for faster cures.
Download free ebook from Amazon.
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