Elisabeth Semple, Scientific Director with Cells for Life, has been working with cord blood since the mid 90s. Considering the first cord blood transplant took place in Paris in 1988, it\u2019s fair to say Elisabeth has followed the evolution of cord blood banking closely since its very early days.<\/p>\n
Her career in cord blood began in Europe, where cord blood processing was a key part of her role. \u201cAt the company I worked for, I was the only one who had experience in blood products, and [cord blood processing] was so similar. So I took that on, and I really enjoyed it. Cord blood is very fascinating because it\u2019s a stem cell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elisabeth eventually moved to Canada, where she continued her work in various roles. She first began working with Cells for Life in 2006 in a consultant role, and then joined the company in 2009.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of my role as Scientific Director is to keep abreast and updated on what\u2019s happening in the field, and express this in layman\u2019s terms so people can understand what\u2019s happening,\u201d she says. \u201cI also make sure day-to-day operations and processing is up to the industry\u2019s latest quality standards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elisabeth says her primary goal with Cells for Life is to have a product that will engraft and save somebody\u2019s life. This means the quality must be first-rate, to ensure the engraft will work when it is transplanted. She emphasizes that everything at Cells for Life is geared towards following the gold standard in quality.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never lose sight of the end product and end use of what you\u2019re doing,\u201d she says. \u201cOur whole quality system and whole approach to our clients is focused on that goal. What we have at the end must be a viable, potent product that would help somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cells for Life has been around for a long time \u2013 it\u2019s one of the oldest cord blood banks in Canada. Our staff has over 20-years of experience with storing and freezing cells and using the equipment. \u201cThis experiences gives our clients a lot of assurance that we\u2019re going to do our best to make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cord blood banking is a valuable form of life insurance for families. \u201cYou never know what is going to happen in life,\u201d Elisabeth points out. Having experienced tragedy in her own family, Elisabeth understands the desire to do everything you can to protect the ones you love.<\/p>\n
\u201cI say to my friends \u2013 you have fire insurance on your house. You don\u2019t think it will ever burn down, but you have it just in case, because if it does happen it\u2019s a disaster. And you want to do everything you can to protect your family from that risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cord blood is another tool in the box for transplant physicians, Elisabeth explains. Clinical research suggests cord blood stem cells hold potential to offer therapy in an ever-growing list of diseases and disorders, such as Cerebral Palsy, Type 1 Diabetes and Spinal Cord Injury. Currently, cord blood stem cells are being used to treat over 80 different diseases.<\/p>\n
The possibilities really are endless. \u201cWhat\u2019s fascinating now is the new uses in regenerative medicine \u2013 especially in brain injury,\u201d says Elisabeth. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a little bit of data, which is encouraging, but we haven\u2019t seen a lot. The more that comes out, the better we\u2019ll know \u2013 but so far it looks promising.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fact remains cord blood is too precious to waste, and when families bank their baby\u2019s cord blood they can rest assured their family is protected in so many ways.<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, helping families is exactly what inspires Elisabeth to do the work she does. \u201cWe can save lives and improve the quality of life for people, and that\u2019s why you get into healthcare in the first place,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s really coming through our work here at Cells for Life as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Elisabeth Semple, Scientific Director with Cells for Life, has been working with cord blood since the mid 90s. Considering the first cord blood transplant took place in Paris in 1988, it\u2019s fair to say Elisabeth has followed the evolution of cord blood banking closely since its very early days. Her career in cord blood began […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n