Stem Cell Therapy- THE LEADING LIGHT,THE VISIONARY

Dr Alok SHARMA and his role in Stem CellTherapy- THE LEADING LIGHT,THE VISIONARY

Dr Alok Sharma is not only a neurosurgeon, he is a neuroscientist too.Way back in he year 1996, when all neurosurgeons were doing the traditional stabilization of the spine in a spinal cord injury patient, his thoughts went deeper than the superficial stabilization. He saw the pain and helplessness in the eyes of a quadriplegic left to waste away.He realised that even if the vertebral column is stabilized,the spinal cord is damaged and is not functional. That’s when he started researching deeper and came across stem cells and stem cell therapy as a possible tool for the regeneration of the severed spine!

He travelled overseas to study the science of stem cells, to understand the potential and research the intricacies of the stem cells and regenerative science.

He worked on foetal stem cells and embryonic stem cells in the USA labs.However, in view of the political upheavals and controversy surrounding the embryonic stem cells,he started reviewing other types of stem cells.He found that adult stem cells appear to be the most promising of all types of stem cells.

Once back in India, as the professor of neurosurgery in the one of the largest Municipal corporation hospital LTGMCand H ,he converted unused laboratory space into a stem cell laboratory to start work on adult stem cells. He worked on various types of regenerative cells such as Olfactory ensheathing cells and finally found bone marrow derived stem cells to be most accessible,pluripotent and amiable for use in transplantation medicine.His earliest experiment were on laboratory rats. Once safety was established he treated the first subacute spinal cord injury patient with the his own bone marrow derived stem cells. These cells were injected into the spinal cord around the area of injury,during the spine stabilization process. This was one of his earliest successes, way back in 2007. This individual slowly improved, was is able to walk with minimal support, has got married and has a 2 years old daughter too!!!!