The Stem Cells and Immunotherapy course (STI-1103) of the Advanced Stem Cell Education Program is designed to enhance the knowledge of healthcare professionals on current clinical hematopoietic stem cell therapies to treat both genetic and acquired diseases.

Hematopoietic stem cells give rise to all the blood cells. They are usually extracted from from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation involves the intravenous infusion of autologous or allogeneic stem cells to restablish hematopoietic function in patients whose bone marrow or immune system is damaged or defective. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantations are often performed to eliminate a bone marrow infiltrative process, such as leukemia, or to correct congenital immunodeficiency disorders. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation allows patients with cancer to receive higher doses of chemotherapy than the bone marrow can usually tolerate; bone marrow function is then salvaged by replacing the marrow with previously harvested stem cells.

In this subspecialty course of the Advanced Stem Cell Education Program, lecturers will discuss autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, stem cell immunotherapy for cancer treatment, the basics of cancer development, the role of environmental and genetic factors on the initiation of cancer, major signaling pathways of the immune system, the latest research and treatments utilizing stem cells therapy, and the research being conducted in areas of stem cell isolation and transplantation. As with all subspecialty courses, ASTEP includes a stem cell essentials package which includes: ten biology of stem cells lectures, and three lectures based on the regulation of stem cell therapies in addition to the topic specific lectures of this course.

Course Code: STI-1103

• Classes Start: Self-paced open enrollment
• Estimated effort: 6-7 weeks of material, 4-5 hours/week
• 5 topic quizzes, Final Exam
• 25 lectures | Approx. 1 hour per lecture
• Physician CME eligible: Yes
• 33.5 CME AMA PRA Category 1 Credits
• Program includes digital streaming of lectures and PDF resources
• Learn instantly with any computer or laptop with a strong internet connection

Prerequisites:

Some background in biology is helpful. This course may contain discussion of unlabeled and/or investigational uses of agents not approved by the FDA. Please consult the prescribing information for each product.