RFK Jr. , stem cells for autism, & more clinics including one selling sheep cell injections

by rss feed | Jun 24, 2026 | Autism, News Feeds, RFK Jr. stem cells, Tracy Slepcevic

Are stem cells for autism promising? The answer so far is a clear “no”. Even a Duke team that was for a time very upbeat about the potential of umbilical cord cell therapy for autism seems to have lost that enthusiasm. For example, they stopped their EAP...

Weekly reads: autism genetics, TET2 & Alzheimer’s, jawoids, FDA rejects Capricor bid, adult human neurogenesis

by rss feed | Jul 13, 2025 | Autism, Health Flexing, News Feeds, weekly reads

Autism genetics is a fascinating area. Genomic variants certainly play some roles in some forms of the condition, but they haven’t been easy to pin down convincingly. A recent Nature Genetics paper,  Decomposition of phenotypic heterogeneity in autism reveals...

Recommended reads: police act on phony autism cure, Aspen starts Parkinson’s trial, reprogramming to iBlastoids

by rss feed | Apr 21, 2024 | Autism, News Feeds, stem cells for autism, weekly reads

People often ask me about stem cells for autism or even their hope of an autism cure. I’ve explained that there is no new treatment for autism based on stem cells. There aren’t even mildly encouraging data. Note that it can be hurtful to the community to...

Why did Duke autism team halt its troubling pay-for-play program?

by rss feed | Apr 17, 2023 | Autism, Cryo-cell, Duke Autism Center, News Feeds

Almost two years ago I publicly called on the FDA to freeze the unproven cord cell expanded access program (EAP) at the Duke Autism Center. Duke has been infusing kids with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with unproven cord cells and requiring large payments for this....

Questions remain after Stem Cells Translational Medicine retracts clinic pub

by rss feed | Dec 2, 2021 | Autism, Neil Riordan, News Feeds, Stem Cells Translational Medicine

I’ve been concerned that the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine has been publishing some iffy papers from unproven stem cell clinics recently including from a Panama stem cell clinic called the Stem Cell Institute. Back in 2019, I took the unusual step of...

Vice tackles dicey Cryo-Cell Duke mega-million peds clinic plan

by rss feed | Oct 12, 2021 | Autism, cord blood, Cryo-cell, Duke, Duke autism, News Feeds

When I first learned about the multi-$10 million cord cell clinic deal between Duke and Cryo-Cell I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Duke’s involved in this? The problem: marketing unproven cells for kids Yes, this wasn’t some stem cell clinic...