In recent years, the medical technology for stem cells, cell therapy, and gene therapy has been rapidly advancing. The introduction of cell and gene therapy in the treatment of various diseases has become a standard treatment. It is also effectively used in diseases in which existing treatments are ineffective, such as corneal diseases, certain cancers, and severe genetic disease. The usage of this technology is also likely to increase more and more. In addition to being the direct treatment, knowledge is also used in other medical services such as prognosis or the methods to choose the right and more effective treatment.
However, the introduction of this new technology into services for Thai patients must be done by a specific agency, staffed with doctors, scientists, specialists. The agency must also be equipped with a standardized laboratory and advanced scientific instruments.
Since the pre-existing infrastructure was unable to support the hospital in one of its important missions, aiming to develop the medical technology of the country to be on par with the international, the clinical Excellence Center for Stem Cell and Cell Therapy was established as an agency to focus on developing and appropriately applying this advanced technology to Thai patients. In turn, this provides Thai patients of all economic levels with access to this advanced medical technology.
Achievements / the pride of the Excellence Center in 2020
- Corneal disc therapy is carried out using stem cells from the Clinical Excellence Center for Stem cell and Cell Therapy. The treatment is accredited by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists of Thailand and to be proposed to the Medical Council as a standard treatment in the country.
- Develop technology to find cancer treatment suitable for specific patients by culturing three-dimensional cancer cells (organoid) from biopsies of patients with colon cancer, liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, and bile duct cancer. Then, the drug and medication are tested through a high-throughput drug screening platform. The preliminary results are satisfactory. Hence, the technology is now under development in collaboration with the Comprehensive Cancer Center to be open for service for the public.
- Develop a method using induced pluripotent stem cells to generate platelet NK cells which is then genetically modified to reduce HLA-class I to be for non-specific person use. It is now being progressed to the advanced off-the-shelf medical production.
Vision
The Clinical Excellence Center for Stem cell and Cell Therapy is the country’s key agency to develop knowledge of stem cell, cell therapy, and gene therapy to apply to Thai patients with academic principles. It is effective, safe, and has the potential to create advanced medical products for use in the country, reducing the cost of importing expensive technology from abroad in order to provide access to treatment to patients of all economies. It is deemed to be an exemplary high-tech medical service center in the country.
ภาระหน้าที่
- To be the source of cell production for standard treatment and clinical trials of evidence-based and critical diseases and to also be the center of the development of new cell therapy and gene therapy
- To be the source of services for the analysis, separation, and culture of cancer cells of patients for diagnosis, prognosis, and drug response search of appropriate treatment for a specific person.
- To be a source of high-value medical product development in cell and gene therapy to help reduce the cost of treatment for patients.
- To be an academic source for distributing accurate knowledge to doctors and the general public.
- To be an international research center.
Services
The Clinical Excellence Center for Stem cell and Cell Therapy provides cell transplantation services for patients in collaboration with other Clinical centers.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Nipaj Isara Sena Na Ayudhya
The Head of Excellence Center for Stem cell and Cell Therapy
