Press release: EpiStem project announces consortium name change into IciStem
The
European project to investigate the potential for HIV cure by Stem Cell Transplantation
adopts a new name to better reflect the international expansion of its
activities
UTRECHT/BARCELONA, September 12th,
2016 - In response to the expanding international activities of the consortium,
EpiStem, the European Project to guide and investigate the potential for HIV
cure by Stem Cell Transplantation, announces its name change into IciStem, International Collaboration
to guide and investigate the
potential for HIV cure by Stem
Cell Transplantation.
Over
the last months patients from outside Europe have been included in the project.
Following the press conference during the recent AIDS Conference in Durban,
South Africa, the project receives a lot of international attention and exchange
of information with several institutes from outside Europe has been reinforced.
As of September 12th, 2016, EpiStem will
change its name into IciStem to better reflect the global nature of the project
and the broader health care commitment. In alignment with the
adoption of a new name, the website of the consortium is renamed into www.icistem.org.
About IciStem
Since 2014, IciStem investigates HIV infected patients who receive stem
cells from another person (Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation) in an
observational study. The patients all undergo this procedure because of
life-threatening hematological conditions. The project guides and investigates
the potential for HIV cure in these HIV-infected patients, aiming to understand the biological mechanisms leading to
reduction of viral reservoirs in the body and to identify potential cases of
HIV-1 eradication/remission. IciStem is not a clinical trial, but
systematically monitors the patients before and for extensive periods of time
after the stem cell transplantation.
Funding is obtained from amfAR Research Consortium on
HIV Eradication (ARCHE), a program from The Foundation for AIDS Research,
amfAR.
The project is co-led by Javier
Martinez-Picado, ICREA researcher from the IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute
(Barcelona, Spain), and Annemarie Wensing, clinical virologist from the University Medical Center Utrecht (Netherlands).
The IciStem investigators
form a consortium of hematologists, infectious disease specialists,
virologists, immunologists and blood/tissue bank specialists from France,
Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom who collaborate with
clinicians globally to enroll patients to study blood and tissue samples before
and after the stem cell transplantation.
Further information on the project can be received through
IciStem@umcutrecht.nl or at www.icistem.org.
