Vietnamese doctor turns umbilical cord into source of 6 billion stem cells

Associate Professor, Doctor Phan Toan Thang is honored by the world as the father of the method of stem cell transplantation from umbilical cord to heal wounds caused by burns, diabetes and many other diseases.

Dr. Phan Toan Thang has just been honored by Singapore's The Straits Times as the father of research on stem cells from umbilical cord membranes and has become the co-founder of the $700 million biotechnology company Cellresearch Corp in Singapore.

Dr. Thang graduated from the Military Medical Academy in 1991 and started his career at the Vietnam National Institute of Burns. "At that time, I didn't have time or money to do meaningless things. So, I just focused on working and studying hard, learning Russian and English," Dr. Thang said. In 1995, the doctor received a scholarship from Oxford University, England. It was this opportunity that helped him become a successful scientist in Singapore.

While at Oxford University, he met a Singaporean who became a bridge for him to meet Professor Lee Seng Teik, head of plastic surgery at the Singapore General Hospital's Burn Unit. Professor Lee offered Dr Thang a job in his team to heal wounds and create new skin cells in 1997. "We had to take skin cells from the unburned area of ​​the patient, multiply them in the lab, and then return them to the patient. The whole process was very expensive because sometimes the cells took a long time to multiply. We could only do this with a few patients," he said.

About a year later, Dr. Thang met Dr. Ivor Lim and Gavin Tan, who would later co-found Cellresearch Corp. Together, they studied the process of scar formation. This research earned him awards in 2001 and 2002 for identifying a function of the skin surface that contributes to scar formation.

Dr. Phan Toan Thang is collecting umbilical cord blood samples.

In 2002, around the same time that Cellresearch Corp was founded, Dr. Thang moved to work at the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University, USA. During his two years of research there, he discovered a way to separate stem cells from the placenta to treat liver damage. In 2004, Dr. Thang returned to Singapore, deciding to continue researching the placenta and umbilical cord. At that time, the world's medical industry had advanced to using stem cells in umbilical cord blood, helping patients treat diseases such as leukemia and many other cancers and blood disorders.

Dr. Thang's research received support from Mr. Gavin Tan, CEO of Cellresearch Corp. Mr. Tan then brought Dr. Thang two experimental jars. One contained the placenta and the other contained the umbilical cord of his wife after giving birth. Dr. Thang worked with the jar containing the placenta first but failed because he noticed that the placenta was bloody and spoiled. "I looked at the next jar, which contained a very clean umbilical cord, not stained with blood, white in color, floating in the preservation medium."

He worked tirelessly and had a lot of trouble perfecting the medium for preserving umbilical cords. Finally, a suitable medium was created with a combination of sugars and proteins. This exclusive formula kept the umbilical cord tissue alive and disinfected at the right level. "At that time, I lived in the lab. I turned off my phone and my wife used to go crazy about it," Dr. Thang said with a laugh.

Creating stem cells from the umbilical cord is a new direction that has brought Dr. Thang's name to new heights. Cells from the umbilical cord membrane can provide an unlimited amount of stem cells. From there, they can form skin, bones and even other organs in the body, such as the cornea, which has high potential for application in healing burns and many other diseases. "At that time, no one cared about the skin. They only focused on cancer and heart problems. We worked quietly and succeeded," Dr. Thang said.

Dr. Thang is currently an Associate Professor of Surgery at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore and co-owner of Cellresearch Corp. He has turned umbilical cords, once considered medical waste, into a potential source of 6 billion stem cells that can become skin, bone, corneas, and many other body parts.

In its more than 10 years of operation, Cellresearch Corp has owned 39 global patents. These patents include the extraction of stem cells from umbilical cord membranes, their cultivation and preservation in stem cell banks, and many other treatment applications.

The application of stem cells to treat wounds is being carried out under the approval of the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA). The cells are produced in Denver and clinical trials on humans are expected to take place early next year. "Non-healing wounds are a huge burden on health. They are linked to diabetes, stroke, heart disease and the aging process," said Dr. Thang. This new technology is important because it can help patients get skin grafts at a more affordable price.

Commenting on the study, Dr Por Yong Chen from the College of Surgeons, Singapore, said the FDA approval would put Singapore in a strong position. "Wound healing is a big market, especially for diabetic patients. This is a major breakthrough, and we will try to achieve the same," Dr Chen said.

Despite his impressive achievements in scientific research, Dr. Thang is quite modest. He believes that part of his success comes from opportunities and luck. "There were many challenges and it was not easy, but fortunately, we were successful in the end," Dr. Thang said.

According to VNE

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