A foundation established by New Zealand's first honorary
knight, Julian Robertson, has given $10.2 million to Duke
University in North Carolina in the United States to advance
the use of cord blood as a therapy.
Duke University has announced that the donation by The
Robertson Foundation will go to support the work of Dr Joanna
Kurtzberg, who will use some of the funding to move forward
with the a clinical trial clinical trial involving children
suffering from cerebral palsy.
Auckland six-year-old Maia Friedlander has had treatment at
the university after suffering a debilitating brain injury
when she was born without enough oxygen.
Her father had since reported an improvement in her condition
since being treated with her own stored umbilical cord blood.
Chancellor for health affairs and chief executive of the Duke
University Health System Dr Victor Dzau said the emerging
field of regenerative medicine had "great promise", and the
donation would accelerate the pace of Dr Kurtzberg's and
other Duke scientists' work in cell therapies.
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