Author Archives: Francisco Fernandez, MD

In type 1 diabetes (T1D), autoimmune destruction of pancreatic islet b cells reduces an individual’s ability to regulate blood glucose, ultimately resulting in poor blood circulation, heart disease, stroke, infection, kidney failure and often premature death. Every day millions of patients with T1D receive insulin injections to survive, but these injections do nothing to address […]

Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disease (COPD) is a progressive, incurable disease that affects at least 16 million people in the United States. As current treatments cannot cure COPD, many people with this condition seek alternative therapies such as stem cell therapy.  Current standard therapies including bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids and the phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor, roflumilast, show modest […]

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) can occur in men after radical prostatectomy (RP), referred to as postprostatectomy incontinence (PPI). PPI can cause significant distress and affect the quality of life. With the increased number of surgeries for prostate cancer, there has been a concomitant increase in PPI prevalence. The initial management of PPI includes lifestyle interventions, […]

Human stem cells have been coaxed to develop into skin-like structures in vitro. When engrafted onto mice, the structures produce hair, highlighting the potential of the approach for regenerative therapies.  A group of scientists, Lee et al. have generated hair follicles from human stem cells, which places us closer to generating a limitless supply of […]