Cord blood and cord tissue derived cell therapies for perinatal brain injuries

Sunday, April 27, 2025

2:00pm – 3:30pm HST

Location: Convention Center: 319

CE: 1.5

Selected By: CNS
Co-sponsored By: NBS, Neonatal

Chair(s)

Atul Malhotra, MD, PhD

Associate Professor
Monash University
Melbourne, Victoria, United States
Mohamed El-Dib, MD

Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Pediatric Newborn Medicine
Harvard Medical School - Brigham and Women's Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Disclosure(s):

Atul Malhotra, MD, PhD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Mohamed El-Dib, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Perinatal brain injuries are acquired during the fetal or neonatal period and can affect both term and preterm infants. They are often associated with hemorrhagic or ischemic events leading to acute or sub-acute injury of the developing brain. These injuries put the affected infants at high risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders, including the most common physical disability in childhood, cerebral palsy. There is an urgent unmet need to develop newer therapies for these conditions to mitigate their impact on neurodevelopment and long term outcomes.
Cord blood and cord tissue derived cell therapies harness the strong anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and other neuroprotective properties of stem and progenitor cells present in cord blood and cord tissue. They offer promise as they have been shown to have significant benefits in preclinical models of perinatal brain injury, and in early phase clinical trials. Options include autologous (from patient’s own cord blood/tissue) and allogeneic (from a healthy donor) cord blood and tissue derived cell products. Early phase trials of these therapies have been conducted paving the way for larger, efficacy trials. This includes the CORD-CELL RCT, the largest neonatal cell therapy trial to date.
This symposium will inform the attendees of the background, science and advances happening in this exciting field.
It will be of interest to trainees, basic scientists, neonatologists, general and developmental pediatricians, pediatric neurologists, rehabilitation physicians, hematologists and transplant physicians.

Learning Objectives:

Describe the likely mechanisms of action of cord blood and cord tissue derived cell therapy in neurological injury
Discuss the early phase studies of cord blood and cord tissue derived cell therapies conducted in infants with perinatal brain injuries
Discuss the current and future research studies required for cord blood and cord tissue derived cell therapy use in perinatal brain injuries

Presentations:

2:00pm – 2:25pm HST

Cord Blood and Cord Tissue Derived Cell Therapy for Preterm Brain Injury
Speaker: Atul Malhotra, MD, PhD – Monash University
2:25pm – 2:35pm HST

Introduction to Perinatal Brain Injuries – Pathophysiology and Impact
Speaker: Mohamed El-Dib, MD – Harvard Medical School - Brigham and Women's Hospital
2:35pm – 2:55pm HST

Mechanisms of Action of Cord Blood Derived Cell Therapy & the Bioreactor Hypothesis
Speaker: Charles S. Cox, Jr., MD (he/him/his) – Charles S Cox, Jr., MD
2:55pm – 3:20pm HST

Cord Blood and Cord Tissue Cell Therapy for Term Brain Injury
Speaker: Charles M. Cotten, MD, MHS (he/him/his) – Duke University
3:20pm – 3:30pm HST

Q & A