Special Issue

Stem Cell Theranostics

Guest editors:

Kristopher Kilian, PhD
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
Email:
http://kilian.matse.illinois.edu/index.htm

Deok-Ho Kim, PhD
Department of Bioengineering
University of Washington
Email:
http://www.openwetware.org/wiki/Kim

Integrating diagnosis and therapy holds immense promise for the rapid treatment of disease. Stem cell-based therapies in particular have attracted significant interest as a method to treat numerous diseases due to optimal mechanisms of tissue homing and the spatiotemporal regulation of cytokine secretion to modulate pathological states. Using a patient’s own cells to treat disease reduces concerns over immunogenicity; however, significant challenges remain including: normalization of the cell population, engineering a desired phenotype and functional activity, and tracking the dissemination of the therapeutic cells. The emerging field of Stem Cell Theranostics involves concepts associated with the design of probes to track stem cell populations, monitor levels of biomarkers in tissue, and engineering cells in vitro for improved efficacy and monitoring dissemination and integration.

The goal of this themed issue on Stem Cell Theranostics is to invite leading experts in the fields of stem cell biology, regenerative medicine, diagnostics, and imaging, to discuss their most recent discoveries in associated topics, and to share their vision on the future development of this emerging field. Unsolicited submissions are also welcome.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

Nanoparticle Platforms for Cell Tracking
Imaging-Guided Cell Delivery Systems
In vitro and In vivo Stem Cell Engineering
Cell and Tissue Biosensors
Human stem cells for disease modeling and drug discovery

Both reviews and research articles will be considered. All invited and contributed manuscripts will undergo the standard peer-review procedure of the Journal “Theranostics”, and be scrutinized by the guest editors and at least two additional expert reviewers in the field. The manuscript submission DEADLINE is set for January 1st, 2017 and the first decision will be made within 6 weeks from submission, after the peer-review process.

Manuscripts for the special issue can be directly submitted online at http://www.thno.org/ms/submit?subgroup=stemcellth (mark "Stem Cell Theranostics Special Issue" in the "Suggested reviewers" field to identify the paper).
Detailed formatting instructions, in particular, the formatting of references, can be found in http://www.thno.org/ms/author.

All inquiries should be sent to the guest editor(s) at the above email address.