The StemCell Bra interview with Howard Leonhardt

Remember the electric StemCell Bra?

This innovation is hoped by the creators to grow bigger breasts for women via the power of electricity and stem cells.

Could this work? How would it work? Is it safe? Are there clinical trials ongoing? Who is the team and what is the rationale behind this technology?

I’ve emailed with Howard Leonhardt of the StemCell Bra company about their product and he has kindly answered these questions and many more below.

Note that Mr. Leonhardt is a prolific inventor who has been the driving force behind countless patents, technologies, and companies. He has had particularly powerful impact in the area of cardiovascular disease.

Here is our email conversation of sorts.

On the origin of the technology:

The Stem Cell Bra is a spin out of the stem cell recruiting heart pacemaker company MyoStim Pacers www.myostimpacers.com.

Regarding the safety of the technology and clinical trials:

We are raising funds right now to complete the final pre-clinical studies for both Stem Cell Bra and MyoStim Pacer to move them to clinical trials.  The technology is clearly not proven out yet as the disclaimer states.   We have more than a dozen years of data in animals on individual components of the therapy.

We are very concerned about the risk of stimulating cancer formation in women prone to this.  The pre-clinical and clinical studies will be carefully conducted to validate safety.

The proposed molecular basis of the technology: 

The main mechanism of action of the stem cell bra is to stimulate SDF-1 expression in tissues.  SDF-1 is well documented to be a homing signal for stem cells.   Leonhardt Ventures sponsored 7 years of pre-clinical research on SDF-1 at Cleveland Clinic, The University of Florida and The University of Jordan.  This led to the first FDA authorization to enter clinical trials for a combination SDF-1 and stem cell therapy.  A 2nd mechanism is improved blood flow via the Kanno electrical stimulation program – published in Circulation – see below.

Background on the team behind the StemCell Bra:

Our team at Leonhardt Ventures has brought numerous products through clinical trials onto market including, cardiovascular balloon catheters, the TALENT (Taheri-Leonhardt Stent Graft) and the first percutaneous heart valve.   We were the first to initiate a clinical study for stem cell repair of hearts without surgery in May of 2001.  We have now created an alliance here in Los Angeles with Al Mann’s Core Manufacturing team which has also brought numerous products from concept through clinical trials to wide spread clinical use including one of the first pacemakers with Pacesetters Systems, the first insulin pump, the first implantable pain relief pump and the Advanced Bionics active implantables.  We have created a new product development with this team – Stem Cell Pump.

Principal Investigator and collaborations:

For the Stem Cell Bra pre-clinical and clinical studies we have chosen Dr. Joel Aronowitz at Cedars Sinai UCLA as the Principal Investigator.  He is the most experienced in the USA in applying stem cells for breast reconstruction following cancer.  We are also collaborating once again with Dr. Marc Penn from Cleveland Clinic the leading SDF-1 scientist and Dr. Eric Duckers at The University of Utrecht.

Stem Cell Bra is collaborating with BioCell Therapies in Minneapolis that has developed a kit to help doctors implement fat graft and stem cell harvest and injection methods for breast reconstruction.  It is envisioned that the two therapeutic methods may be used together in the future – see Dr. Aronowitz’s ABC News video on this subject.

The idea behind electric organ regeneration:

The original concept of utilizing electrical stimulation for organ regeneration was developed by Dr. Robert Becker and published in this book, THE BODY ELECTRIC.