About Us

About Us

The Institute of Personalized Molecular Medicine (IPMM) is a unit of The Medical City focused on the delivery of personalized molecular medicine treatments. The backbone of the IPMM is Regenerative Medicine, a revolutionary field involving the engineering of cells and other biomaterials to restore or replace organ function lost or impaired due to disease, injury or aging, and ultimately improving the quality of life.

Although not limited to just using stem cells, the use of stem cells is central in the therapies given at IPMM. A stem cell is a special kind of cell that has a unique capacity to renew itself and to give rise to specialized cell types. Most organ systems of the body have a resident pool of somatic, tissue-specific stem cells (endogenous stem cells or stem cell originating from our own body) for regeneration and repair. However, in many cases of traumatic injury or disease, the quantity and potency of endogenous stem cell populations are insufficient to regenerate compromised tissues. In these cases, exogenous (those derived externally from an outside source) or non-tissue-specific stem and progenitor cell sources can be used for tissue repair and regeneration. Numerous studies have demonstrated that mobilization of endogenous stem cells or exogenous administration of a number of stem cell populations to injured tissues has resulted in structural regeneration of tissue as well as functional improvement. During the past decade, scientists discovered that a certain class of stem cells – adult stem cells, could be used in different clinical scenarios.

The leading theory of tissue repair and regeneration by adult stem cells is that the mechanism of action is based upon the innate functions of the stem cells: the injected stem cells home to the injured area, and release trophic factors that hasten endogenous repair. These secreted bio-active products can suppress the local immune system, enhance angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels), reduce levels of free radicals, inhibit fibrosis (scarring) and apoptosis (cell death), and stimulate recruitment, retention, proliferation and differentiation of tissue-residing stem cells.

The use of adult stem cells presents a promising and novel tool for cell therapy for many serious diseases and injuries. While stem cell-based treatments have been established as a clinical standard of care for some conditions, such as hematopoietic stem cell transplants for leukemia, and stem cell transplants for primary immunodeficiency diseases, the potential of stem cell-based therapies has expanded in recent years due to advances in stem cell research. Adult stem cells have been tested and proven effective in preclinical studies for many disorders such as myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, stroke, neurodegenerative diseases (in particular for those that are fatal and difficult to treat, such as Huntington's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), meniscus injury, limb ischemia, and graft-versus-host disease. Adult stem cells have been tested and have shown some benefit for many disorders such as myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, stroke, neurodegenerative diseases (in particular for those that are fatal and difficult to treat, such as Huntington's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), meniscus injury, limb ischemia, and graft-versus-host disease. Also, given their ability to modulate host immune response, they have been proposed as a potential cellular treatment to combat autoimmune diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, autoimmune encephalomyelitis, systemic sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis. In the treatment of cancer, recent progress in cellular immunology and tumor-host interactions have led to the development of effective immune-based therapies. This includes the use of “cancer vaccines” or dendritic cell therapy (DCT). DCT uses the inherent function of dendritic cells as antigen presenting cells for tumor-specific immune response. They participate in activation of the immune system to kill cancer cells and generate therapeutic immunity against cancer.

Diseases that IPMM can address are the following:

Oncology (Cancer of the breast, lung, liver, colon, ovarian, kidney, prostate, multiple myeloma, leukemia, head and neck)

Neurology (Parkinson’s, Dystonia, Alzheimer’s, Spinal Cord and Nerve injuries)

Cardiology (Non-ischemic Cardiomyopathy, Postmyocardial infarction)

Endocrinology (Diabetes, Diabetic Complications, Metabolic Disorders)

Hepatology (Cirrhosis, Hepatitis)

Nephrology (Acute and Chronic Renal Diseases)

Orthopedics (Bone and Cartilage Regeneration, Osteoporosis)

Ophthalmology (Cornea Damage, Retinal Diseases)

Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (Burns, Trauma)

Wellness and Aesthetics

The Medical City’s IPMM houses an out-patient clinic with consultation and treatment facilities, as well as state-of-the-art in-patient rooms not found anywhere else in the country.

 

Services

1. Molecular Profiling

The tests are used to identify genes and other biomarkers of disease to predict a patient’s response to treatments including drug and other therapies. This is usually used for diseases such as cancer.

2. Individualized Chemotherapy (for cancer)

The most effective chemotherapeutic agents will be selected and administered by a Medical Oncologist or Hematologist based on the result of molecular profiling.

3. Targeted Biotherapy

This makes use of biomolecules specifically selected to interfere with the growth of a patient’s cancer cells and possibly decrease drug resistance that may result from chemotherapy.

4. Adoptive Immunotherapy

It is a form of personalized cancer therapy that involves the use and activation of the patient’s own immune system and administration of immune cells with anti-cancer activity.

Dendritic Cell Therapy – employs specialized immune cells found in the blood stream to recognize the patient’s own cancer cells, seek these out and destroy them.

5. Stem Cell Transplant and Administration

Conventional Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplants involves the infusion of cells, without being engineered, into the patient to permit the administration of potentially lethal doses of therapy to induce remission and cure tumors.

Anti-leukemic Stem Cell Transplants involves the infusion of cells that have been engineered to kill leukemic cells.

Stromal Cell Therapy uses processed stromal cells, which are generally harvested from the bone marrow, to preserve, repair or enhance functions of the target organ. Stromal cells can be used for different diseases processes (e.g. Autoimmune, neurodegenerative, cardiac, respiratory diseases, etc.).

6. Umbilical Cord Services

These comprise the collection, processing, expansion and storage of the whole umbilical cord and cord blood as a rich source of stem cells and other biomaterials.

Our Team

The IPMM team is composed of specialists from different fields. The team includes medical specialists in Immunology, Oncology, Hematology, Neurology, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Dermatology, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Orthopedic, Rehabilitation Medicine, etc., and are supported by specialized nurses, basic scientists and laboratory technicians. This multidisciplinary team is involved in every facet of the patient’s care.