title: Baby STEPS: a giant leap for cell therapy in neonatal brain injury.
abstract: We advance Baby STEPS or Stem cell Therapeutics as an Emerging Paradigm in Stroke as a guide in facilitating the critical evaluation in the laboratory of the safety and efficacy of cell therapy for neonatal encephalopathy. The need to carefully consider the clinical relevance of the animal models in mimicking human neonatal brain injury, selection of the optimal stem cell donor, and the application of functional outcome assays in small and large animal models serve as the foundation for preclinical work and beginning to understand the mechanism of this cellular therapy. The preclinical studies will aid our formulation of a rigorous human clinical trial that encompasses not only efficacy testing but also monitoring of safety indices and demonstration of mechanisms of action. This schema forms the basis of Baby STEPS. Our goal is to resonate the urgent call to enhance the successful translation of cell therapy from the laboratory to the clinic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair, University of South Florida, College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida 33612, USA. cborlong@health.usf.edu
authors.forename: Cesar V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Borlongan
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Weiss
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000601:surgery; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D020925:Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain / Q000601:surgery; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009048:Motor Skills; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D020127:Recovery of Function; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013045:Species Specificity; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical; D016896:Treatment Outcome