Duke To Explore Cord Blood As Autism And Stroke Treatment.

Duke Medicine has been awarded $15 million to support an innovative research program that explores the use of umbilical cord blood cells to treat autism, stroke, cerebral palsy and related brain disorders.

The award from The Marcus Foundation, an Atlanta-based philanthropic organization, will fund the first two years of a planned five-year, $41 million project by Joanne Kurtzberg, MD, chief scientific and medical officer of Duke’s Robertson Cell and Translational Therapy Program, and Geraldine Dawson, PhD, director of the Duke Center for Autism Diagnosis and Treatment.

“Joanne Kurtzberg has done groundbreaking work on cord blood transplantation at Duke, and Geri Dawson brings an enormous wealth of knowledge and experience of autism,” said Victor Dzau, MD, chancellor for health affairs and president and CEO of Duke University Health System. “This research holds the promise of truly transformational discovery.”

Read more: The Durham News