BUILDING A HUMAN HEART IN 2020: A MESSAGE FROM DR. DORIS TAYLOR

As many of you know, Texans for Cures supports the groundbreaking work taking place at the Texas Heart Institute lead by Dr. James T. Willerson, President Emeritus and Dr. Doris Taylor, Director of Regenerative Medicine.

Dr. Taylor is on the verge of creating a prototype of a living, beating human heart that could one day be ready to be placed in the chest of someone on the cusp of death.

Texans for Cures is committing our fundraising efforts beginning now through December 2020 to Dr. Taylor’s world renowned lab.

As we approach the holidays and the season of giving, we are asking you to assist Dr. Taylor with her groundbreaking research.

I have included below an excerpt from Dr. Taylors paper that tells of a truly fantastic story. One that if you didn’t know any better you’d guess it came straight from a science fiction novel. But it didn’t. As Peter Diamandis, the author of Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think, said “The day before something is truly a breakthrough, it’s a crazy idea.” Your generosity towards this groundbreaking advancement will ultimately change the way heart disease is treated forever.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions…
David L. Bales, Chairman (512) 797-2703 Bales@TexansForCures.org

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WE ARE COMMITTED TO CURING THE NUMBER ONE KILLER WORLDWIDE – HEART DISEASE. BY BUILDING A HUMAN HEART IN THE LABORATORY – WE ARE CREATING THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE TODAY.

WE ARE COMMITTED TO CURING THE NUMBER ONE KILLER WORLDWIDE – HEART DISEASE. BY BUILDING A HUMAN HEART IN THE LABORATORY – WE ARE CREATING THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE TODAY. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO MAKE SURE THIS WORK CONTINUES?

BUILDING A HUMAN HEART IN 2019: A MESSAGE FROM DR. DORIS TAYLOR

Full Transcript Found Here: BUILDING A HUMAN HEART IN 2019: A MESSAGE FROM DR. DORIS TAYLOR

When my twin brother and I were born in California, the doctors told my mother that we would not survive. We did, but my brother suffered throughout his life. Six years later my father died after a short illness and we moved to the Deep South. For me, quality of life and why I am here questions then haunted me as a little girl growing up. Watching the world from my Mississippi point of view, where important things were happening, I dreamed of changing the world for people who were sick, especially for those who suffered every day. 
 
My career as a scientist has been punctuated by a long line of superiors, colleagues, and grant makers saying, “no, never going to happen” or “you and your ideas are crazy.” As someone who has had to watch others struggle to survive, I’ve learned to trust myself, to trust my instincts, and, most importantly, to trust my crazy ideas. Despite hitting walls of “no,” I achieved things that were unimaginable at the time—the 1st heart cell therapy experiments in 1998, a few years later the 1st experiments to show stem cells in heart disease differed in men and women, and in 2008 the crazy idea that something as simple as a type of dishwashing soap could take away all of the material in a heart or other organ and basically leave the plumbing and skeleton behind. That was an idea that changed the future of transplantation science.
 

Today the only definitive cure for heart failure is a heart transplant. Yet, as a transplant surgeon once put it succinctly, “In our line of work, someone has to die for someone else to live.” I and others have refused to accept this as “hard” fact. The truth is that there will never be enough people who die to provide pristine organs to meet the ever-increasing demand for transplantable organs. I’m proud to belong to Texas Heart Institute (THI) in Houston, Texas, “the home of heart,” founded by the great Dr. Denton Cooley, who said, shortly before he died: “If you are a ship out in the ocean and someone throws you a life preserver, you don’t look at it to see if it has been approved by the federal government.”

From Dr. Cooley’s first human heart transplant in the US, to the conceptualization of the total artificial mechanical heart and Bud Frazier’s left ventricular assist device (LVAD) revolution, to our groundbreaking bioartificial heart —THI has pushed the boundaries of the possible before it was a catch phrase. 

Dr. Doris Taylor: Building a Human Heart

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In fact, heart transplant and LVADs, the therapies that can extend lives for people who are at the end of that road, would not exist today without individual citizens stepping up to fund such “high risk”’ research endeavors. The next “crazy idea,” the next first – a human heart built in the lab from a patient’s own cells – is no different.
 
Imagine a world where a patient who needs a heart transplant can go to a lab and provide a sample of their cells. A facility led by experts in cell biology and tissue engineering would exponentially grow the patient’s cells to the tune of billions. Using the technique developed by my lab, they would create a “ghost heart” from a human-sized pig heart, reseed it with the patient’s cells, and then grow and mature the heart in an artificial body, a bioreactor. The patient then would receive a heart transplant that his or her body accepts, saving their life and eliminating the need for lifelong anti-rejection drugs.
 
This next critical step however will only be accomplished through private donations. We’re at the point of creating a prototype of a living, beating human heart that could one day be ready to be placed in the chest of someone on the cusp of death. A heart that could give a normal life to this person without the need for a lifetime of organ rejection drugs. Our whole heart engineering has moved from a crazy idea, to one that is within sight of becoming reality. The only thing standing in the way is the immediate need for resources to keep this effort alive.
 
I’m reaching out to you to ask if you can help me find $500,000 through a single gift or smaller donations to keep this effort alive for 3 months. I’ve attached a one-page scientific summary and a technical scope that describes our accomplishments in more technical language and will be happy to send you a PBS NOVA episode called Transplanting Hope where you see both the heartbreaking unmet need for organs and the hope of our technology. 
 
I appreciate your taking the time to consider this request. I know it’s not every day that someone asks you to invest in proving a scientific breakthrough where the outcome is not guaranteed, but this is the way the marvels of modern medicine, especially in the realm of stem cell science and transplantation, have become lifesaving realities.
 
Upon receiving this funding, in 6 to 8 months, we will accomplish a breakthrough: Building a human pediatric-sized beating heart in the laboratory; keeping it alive for 2 months; and reporting these findings nationally and internationally. You can become part of our team!

Dr Doris Taylor, Texas Heart Institute

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Ghost Heart Lab

Summit’s A Hit: First Ever Regenerative Medicine Registry May Be Reality.

Blockchain Startup Boid Partners With Texans For Cures

Texans For Cures is proud to be asked by Boid to be their charity of choice as they launch their new venture.

Boid’s mission is to democratize the adoption of distributed computing and blockchain technologies by allowing anyone to contribute with their devices spare computing resources, generating rewards for themselves or their preferred charity in a social and cooperative community.

John Heeter, the Founder and CTO of Boid notes:

We are thrilled to have Texans for Cures as our first charitable recipient of the Boid project. David and his team at Texans for Cures are funding clinical trials for cutting edge regenerative and stem cell research. Boid is proud to be part of this effort to help so many.

Blockchain startup Boid partners with Texans for Cures, a 501(c)3 non-profit, based in Austin, Texas, supporting Regenerative Medicine and funding clinical trials. 

Press Release Aug 15, 2018

WE ARE TEXANS FOR CURES

VISION

We hope to see a world free of cancer, heart disease, and other terminal illnesses. By supporting the research of doctors we truly believe in, we are on the cusp of changing the world.

MISSION

Texans for Cures strives to fund clinical trials that are going to eventually find the cure to cancer and other terminal illnesses.

MOTTO

We’re fighting for cures deep in the hearts and minds of Texans. We hope to help Texas become the leading state in regenerative medicine and immunology.

The Hearts & Minds Campaign 2018

Our 2018 campaign, “Hearts and Minds” is dedicated to funding the research of Dr. Doris Taylor and the clinical trial for pediatric cancer of Dr. William Decker.

 

 

Texans for Cures is dedicated to funding FDA approved Phase 1 clinical trials. We advocate for regenerative medicine, stem cell research and immunotherapy to accelerate cures for those suffering from the disease.

 

Contributions to our campaign can be made here: Hearts and Minds

Understand The Potential And Limitations Of Stem Cells As Treatments.

Stem cell treatment may hold the keys to curing heart disease, cancer, and spinal injuries. They have the potential to develop into many different cell types and serve as a repair system.

As a result, they hold great potential as replacement cells and tissues to treat a myriad of diseases, conditions, and disabilities including Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal cord injury, burns, heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis.

The public generally has little knowledge of these new therapies, and often aren’t familiar with where to turn for objective and valid information. Or where to find detailed information about the treatment and the science that supports it, the expected outcome and the risks.

There is still a lot to learn about stem cells, however, and their current applications as treatments are sometimes exaggerated by the media and other parties who do not fully understand the science and current limitations, and also by “clinics” looking to capitalize on the hype by selling treatments to chronically ill or seriously injured patients.

An independent, non-profit was set up to promote professional and public education in all areas of stem cell research and application. The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) is a membership-based organization with 4,000 members across 55 countries.

 

What Is The ISSCR

https://www.closerlookatstemcells.org/about-isscr/

The ISSCR helps close the gap between research and the reality of new therapies. We support stem cell research and engage researchers, industry and the public through:

 

1. Stem cell meetings and online programs that facilitate learning, networking and collaboration
2. Public education and outreach, making stem cell science accessible and generating awareness of and interest in ongoing research
3. Our position as a centralized and leading voice for the stem cell field, developing and promoting professional standards and guidelines and contributing to policy discussions.

 

Below are a couple of links to important information provided by the ISSCR to help patients and their families make informed decisions about stem cell treatments and their health.

 

                  

 

Delbert McClinton Headlines 4th Annual Houston Blues Festival Fund Raiser

Putting together a successful fund raiser is never easy. Putting together an event with such lofty goals as raising $150,000 for regenerative medicine trials is even tougher. With so many good causes worthy of donations, so many fun-runs, black tie affairs, and golf tournaments, it’s hard to have your message heard above the din.

David Bales, Chairman for Texans For Cures, is familiar with such challenges all too well. But when the stars align and everybody comes together for a great cause, it makes it all worth while. The Houston Blues Festival is one such event.

This coming June 9th, 2018 marks the 4th Annual Houston Blues Festival. It’s a collaborative event, hosted by two local non-profits. The Gulf Coast Blues Association and Texans For Cures. Although the event is in its fourth year, this is their second year together to bring this event to the Houston music scene.

Delbert McClinton

Music events along the scale of the Houston Blues Festival needs musicians with plenty of name recognition and star power, and landing a headliner such as Delbert McClinton was especially sweet. Having someone of Delbert’s popularity goes along way to draw attention when donations are so critical to the success of the event.

Through a fortunate stroke of luck or happen chance, these two non-profits got together by way of the Texas Blues grapevine. Bales had engaged the successful and popular blues artist Malford Milligan to perform for an event in 2017, but Milligan at the time needed a band to back his vocals. Milligan reached out to the Houston Blues Festival Chairman, Mike Karm to fill in, and the introductions were made.

Texans for Cures has partnered with numerous groups in our 10 years of patient advocacy. The Gulf Coast Blues Association represents the epitome of what TFC is looking for when working with other non-profit organizations.
Their goal of promoting the blues while assisting to heal children and veterans through the power of music is a beautiful mission.
We couldn’t be more excited to partner within GCBA for the 4th Annual GCBA Houston Blues Festival!
David Bales, Texans For Cures Chairman 

If past events are any indication, the 2018 Houston Blues Festival promises to deliver. This dream blues festival brings together some of the best Texas blues bands that are keeping the blues alive today, like the multi – Grammy Award winner Delbert McClinton.

 Through hard work, the 1st Annual GCBA Houston Blues Festival became a reality in January 2015. Our first year was a sell out. A Festival has been produced in each of the following years, increasing in size each time with much success.
 GCBA and Texans for Cures partnered on the 3rd Annual GCBA Houston Blues Festival 2017 with a sold-out event.  And the rest is history.  When things are meant to be, they happen.  All it takes is good people, hard work and the dream to make it happen.
Leslie Karm, Secretary-Treasurer Gulf Coast Blues Association GCBA

The event is being held at the Redneck Country Club in Stafford. This famed venue is known for it’s relaxed atmosphere, above average food made from scratch, and is known to feature nationally recognized musicians such as Willie Nelson, Charlie Daniels and others.

Did I mention it was a fund raiser?

Here is your chance to have an impact and enjoy a great day of music.

SPONSORSHIP BRINGS YOU GREAT EXPOSURE AND IT’S FOR A GREAT CAUSE!

Proceeds from the music festival will be used to help fund the Texans For Cures Hearts and Minds Campaign, funding the research of Dr. Doris A. Taylor at the Texas Heart Institute and Dr. William Decker at Baylor College of Medicine. Proceeds will also be going to Gulf Coast Blues Association, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, that helps transform the lives of individuals, including youths and veterans, through the power of music.

Sponsorship is Affordable:

Since the annual music event has such a large following, sponsorship is a great way to get your business out there and be seen by a large audience. There are multiple tiers available, sponsorship levels affordable for the corporation down to the husband and wife team!

The Media Exposure Works:

Sponsoring an event like the 4th Annual GCBA Houston Blues Festival with a headliner like Delbert McClinton is a winner. As with previous events, it’s always a packed crowd.

Give Back to the Community:

Sponsoring this event is great because you get to establish goodwill and show the community that you’re a reliable partner that’s willing to support all things local. A way of giving back to the community and thanking them for their support.

The Best Venue to Hand Out Freebies:

What better place to distribute company freebies than at an event at the Redneck Country Club?

Texans For Cures Engagement In US Policy Making

Texans for Cures first day of advocacy proved to be very productive.

We were joined by Beth Roxland, an Associate of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU School of Medicine and a Senior Legal and Health Policy Consultant to law firms, academic medical centers, and research entities.

Together with myself, Jack Frazee and Beth Roxland, we set out to communicate the importance of sound policy when it comes to patient safety.

Jack, Beth, David

The “Right To Try” movement is rooted in the idea that the patient should be given back control to determine their own medical treatment.

It’s advocates believes the FDA should not be dictating what research drugs are available to terminally ill patients. The “Right To Try” legislation would give patients access to medications or therapies that have not passed the rigors of clinical trials. It would remove FDA oversight authority and allow the states to fashion their own programs.

Texans For Cures feels that the law could harm patients and there would be no adequate standards to insure public safety.

We are asking the legislators to help in fighting the misguided movement to insure a clinical trial process that insures those drugs made available to public are safe and not experimental. We have seen too many cases where these experimental drugs were administered when irreversible damage occurred and even death.

People don’t realize once these types of therapies are administered, there is no going back. You don’t wait for the drug to wear off. Your body’s physiology is irrevocable changed forever.

Here is a Round-Up of our days events. Each member’s staff seemed receptive to our concerns about patient protections and we look forward to working with Senator Johnson’s office to try and improve the bill.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett  

Senator Chuck Schumer

Senator Lamar Alexander

Senator Ron Johnson

Senator Richard Blumenthal

We all want to thank Jack Frazee and Beth Roxland for their tireless efforts today which will surely continue all week!

Thanks to all of you following our efforts and stay tuned!!!

 

Texas Regenerative Medicine Summit in Austin Fall of 2017
The Summit will be Chaired by Dr. Doris Taylor and will feature Legislative and Scientific Panels and other key members instrumental in HB 810, which passed this session. Leading scientists statewide will also participate.
If your company desires to have a voice at this Summit, we encourage you to contact us at texansforcures.org or call David L. Bales at 512.797.2703 / bales@texansforcures.org.

 

Texans For Cures Goes To Washington

David L. Bales, Chairman of Texans for Cures and Jack Frazee, the newest member of TFC’s Advisory Council and resident Right to Try expert headed to D.C.

TFC will continue protecting patients and responsible researchers from poorly written Right to Try legislation which can open the door for medical fraud and abuse by unsavory characters.

TFC’s success in Texas has fueled our desire to stop upcoming legislation in the United States Congress. There exists a potential to pass poor legislation that will re-create here in the US, the atmosphere that currently exists in other countries.

Clinics with no track records, with low percentages of success rates, taking money from desperate families for unproven therapies.

We begin our advocacy and education at 9 AM EST tomorrow when we meet with Representative Lloyd Doggett, followed by a meeting with Senator Chuck Schumer and then the Senate’s author, Ron Johnson.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson
(Photo: Jim Matthews/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

We feel the same arguments we recently made in Texas should serve us well with these members.

85th Texas Legislative Session – Protecting Patients and Responsible Research!
Mary Scala, Texans For Cures – June 14 2017

Texans for Cures, with incredible support from many of you, helped quash HB 3236 (patient pay) and HB 661 (patient access to unproven biological drugs and devices). And, with the leadership of Senators Schwertner, Taylor, and Watson, and State Rep. Garnet Coleman, added patient protections which greatly improved HB 810. As originally written, this bill would have made Texas the true, “Wild West” and created a situation where unscrupulous stem cell operators could thrive.

Stay tuned and wish us well! This will be another battle and we intend to win!

Jack Frazell and David Bales

 

Texas Regenerative Medicine Summit in Austin Fall of 2017
The Summit will be Chaired by Dr. Doris Taylor and will feature Legislative and Scientific Panels and other key members instrumental in HB 810, which passed this session. Leading scientists statewide will also participate.
If your company desires to have a voice at this Summit, we encourage you to contact us at texansforcures.org or call David L. Bales at 512.797.2703 / bales@texansforcures.org.