Northwestern University Stem Cell Therapy Clinic Closes Abruptly

A Chicago-based center that has long operated a clinical trial program for stem cell therapies, has stopped recruiting further patients as its chief, Richard Burt, leaves for a research sabbatical.

Katarina Zimmer

| 5 min read

northwestern memorial hospital hsct hematopoietic stem cell clinical trial multiple sclerosis ms selma blair richard burt

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A pioneering stem cell clinical trial program in the US is closing up shop, a surprise move for what had appeared to be a successful endeavor at testing hematopoietic stem cell transplantations (HSCT) for autoimmune and other diseases. Northwestern Medicine’s immunotherapy and autoimmune diseases program, based at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in downtown Chicago, will no longer accept new patients for clinical trials, a spokesperson for Northwestern Memorial HealthCare confirmed this week (September 5).

The center specializes in conducting hematopoietic stem cell transplantations (HSCT), whereby stem cells are intravenously infused into a patient whose bone marrow or immune system is defective due to disease. The stem cells are obtained from a patient’s own bone marrow or peripheral blood, or that of another person. Patients are typically treated there as part of clinical studies testing the use of HSCT for autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS), and ...

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Katarina Zimmer
After a year teaching an algorithm to differentiate between the echolocation calls of different bat species, Katarina decided she was simply too greedy to focus on one field. Following an internship with The Scientist in 2017, she has been happily freelancing for a number of publications, covering everything from climate change to oncology.
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