Suzanne T. Ildstad
Dr. Suzanne Ilstad first came into international notice with the baboon bone marrow transplant on an AIDS patient. She discovered what is known as facilitator cell technology that prevented bone marrow transplants from attacking the patient receiving the transplant. She has devised a way to engineer the bone marrow so it does not cause what is known as graft versus host disease. Graft versus host disease occurs after transplants when the donated cells attack the patient's liver, intestines and skin. Ildstad's technique circumvents the need for finding donors for leukemia patients whose bone marrow cells match exactly. Ildstad's non-lethal methods of conditioning a recipient for bone marrow transplantation was patented in 1999 (Patent Number 5876692).Her work with bone marrow transplants is used today to cure diseases ranging from diabetes to sickle cell anemia.
Isis Egyptian Goddess of Healing
References
Patently Female by Ethlie Ann Vare and Greg Ptacek (John Wiley, 2002) pp. 101-102.Web Sites
Bone Marrow Transplant SuccessesInstitute for Cellular Therapies
Suzanne T. Ildstad
Suzanne Ildstad Profile
Baboon Bone Marrow Transplant
Suzanne Ildstad
