Islet Sciences Announces Creation of Scientific Advisory Board with Dr. Paul Johnson and Dr. Jonathan Lakey Along with Four Additional Inaugural Members
NEW YORK, March 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Islet Sciences, Inc., (OTC.BB: ISLT) a biotechnology company engaged in the research, development and commercialization of patented technologies in the field of transplantation therapy for patients with diabetes, today named six inaugural members to its Scientific Advisory Board: Dr. Paul Johnson, Dr. Jonathan Lakey, Dr. Steven Paraskevas, Dr. Miguel Riella, Dr. Christian Mende and Dr. Jerry Nadler.
"Clearly this esteemed group of Doctors will be integral in our growth strategy," said John Steel, Chairman and CEO of Islet Sciences. "The expertise and contacts this group brings along with their deep knowledge in the field of diabetes therapies and islet transplantation as well as their active membership with other nationally recognized associations will be of enormous benefit to the company moving forward. I look forward to their counsel and expertise in driving the success of Islet Sciences."
Dr. Paul Johnson, Director of Oxford Islet Transplant Programme and Professor of Paediatric Surgery, University of Oxford. Professor Johnson also currently serves as President of the International Pancreas and Islet Transplant Association (IPITA). Paul Johnson qualified in medicine from the University of Leicester and subsequently trained in General Surgery in Leicester and Derby, followed by higher surgical training in Paediatric Surgery in Oxford, Melbourne, and Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Between 1993 and 1996 he was a Research Fellow in the Department of Surgery at the University of Leicester, where he undertook a project on the Isolation of Human Islets of Langerhans for Pancreatic Islet Transplantation. This led to a Doctorate and started his ongoing interest in the fields of Islet Isolation and Islet Transplantation. He was awarded a Hunterian Professorship from the Royal College of Surgeons of England for this research in 1998. In 2002, Professor Johnson was appointed Director of the Islet Transplant Programme in Oxford. He is currently Deputy-Head of the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, and Clinical Tutor at St. Edmund Hall, University of Oxford. Other responsibilities include being Chair of the Research Committee of the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons, sitting on the Research Advisory Board of the Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation (DRWF), and serving as an Editorial Consultant for the Journal of Paediatric Surgery. He has an active research group and his research interests include ways of optimizing the current methods used for islet isolation with particular reference to pancreatic structure and collagenase.
Dr. Jonathan Lakey, who will serve as Chairman of the Advisory Board, is the Director of Research and Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of California, Irvine, and recently accepted the position of Director of the Clinical Islet Program. He has had a long history in cell and tissue transplantation with a focus on diabetes and islet transplantation. His contributions and partnership with Dr. James Shapiro led towards the improvement of islet isolation techniques and the development of the "Edmonton Protocol" for patients with Type 1 diabetes, a recognized major advancement in the treatment of diabetes. He has been awarded research grants and awards for diabetes and transplantation research from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR), Canadian Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International (JDFI). He is widely published and is sought after as a speaker in the field of diabetes islet transplantation and regulatory standards of cell and tissue transplantation. He recently published a book on islet isolation.
Among his proudest achievements, Dr. Lakey and his team have successfully trained over 40 islet transplant centers worldwide in replicating the Edmonton Protocol, resulting in diabetic patients being freed from exogenous insulin injections.
Dr. Steven Paraskevas is currently Director of the Pancreas and Islet Transplant Program and the Human Islet Isolation Laboratory as well as a surgeon specializing in pancreas and kidney transplantation at McGill University Health Centre. His current research focuses on mechanisms of cell survival during ischemia and the effect of metabolic and inflammatory stress on engraftment of human islets. He is a Councilor-at-large of the Canadian Society of Transplantation and Chair of the Cell Transplant Committee of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.
Dr. Paraskevas obtained a BA in Biology at Harvard University in 1988, and obtained his MD and completed General Surgery Residency at McGill. During that time, he also studied mechanisms of cell death in transplanted human islets, completing a PhD in Experimental Surgery at McGill in 2003. Based on this work, he also earned the Scientific Trainee Award of the Canadian Diabetes Association in 1997.
Dr. Miguel Riella has established the Islet Cell Laboratory for cell transplant in diabetic patients as part of the new RDH Research Center (Renal, Diabetes and Hypertension Research Center) in Curitiba, Brazil. His main focus and interest has been on dialysis, particularly peritoneal dialysis and nutrition in uremia. He is a graduate of Federal University of Parana in Curitiba, Brazil and received his post-graduate training in the United States, first in Internal Medicine, residency at Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC and then a Research Renal Fellowship at the University of Washington. Dr. Riella is a member of the executive committee of the International Society of Nephrology and is the Chairman of the new ISN-Interventional Nephrology Committee.
Dr. Jerry L. Nadler is Professor and Chairman of Internal Medicine, the Harry H. Mansbach Endowed Chair in Internal Medicine and Director of the Strelitz Diabetes Center at Eastern Virginia Medical School. He is also the Scientific Founder of Diakine developing therapies for type 1 and type 2 diabetes and related complications. Currently, Dr. Nadler serves as a Pfizer Visiting Professor in Diabetes. Dr. Nadler has been a member of a Special Advisory Committee on Type I Diabetes with the National Institutes of Health Diabetes Institute and was the Associate Director of the NIH-funded Diabetes Endocrinology Research Center at the University of Virginia. Dr. Nadler has research funding from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation and the Iacocca Foundation. He is a standing member of the ADA and NIH grant review committees.
Dr. Christian Mende is clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American Society of Hypertension, Nutrition, and Nephrology. He is board certified in nephrology, internal medicine and clinical hypertension. Dr. Mende has been widely published in scientific journals such as the American Journal of Nephrology, the Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Kidney International.
Dr. Mende attended the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and completed his internal medicine residency in Tucson, Arizona. He received postgraduate training as a National Institutes of Health fellow in nephrology, at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, and Harvard Medical School.
About Islet Sciences, Inc.
Islet Sciences is a development-stage biotechnology company with patented technologies focused on transplantation therapy for people with insulin-dependent diabetes. The Company's transplantation technology includes methods for the culturing, isolation, maturation, and immunoprotection (microencapsulation) of islet cells. The Company's mission includes the introduction of commercial products with applications to cell-based replacement therapy in the healthcare marketplace.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements for Islet Sciences reflect current expectations, as of the date of this press release, and involve certain risks and uncertainties. Forward looking statements include statements herein with respect to the companies' successful execution of their perspective business strategies, including with respect to the successful development of cell therapeutics, including with respect to Islet Sciences as well as the future of the cell therapeutics industry. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward- looking statements as a result of various factors. Factors that could cause future results to materially differ from the recent results or those projected in forward-looking statements on September 30, 2011 and for Islet include the risks described in the One E-Commerce Corporation Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 30, 2011. The companies' further development is highly dependent on future medical and research developments and market acceptance, which is outside their control.
Investor Contact:
Jeff Ramson
ProActive Capital Resources Group
(646) 863-6893
jramson@proactivecrg.com
SOURCE Islet Sciences, Inc.