Our Laboratory and Scientific Director, Dr. H. Yang, is a renowned stem cell cryopreservation scientist. For nearly 20 years, he was an active researcher in the Stem Cell Laboratory of the Canadian Blood Services, which is associated with the University of Alberta's cryobiology group, publishing numerous articles in the field of stem cell cryopreservation and umbilical cord blood banking.

Since 1986, Dr.Yang has cryopreserved over one thousand samples of patient bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cells for transplantation without any failure of engraftment because of the quality of cryopreserved stem cells. Since the cryopreservation technique of cord blood is the same as that of bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cells, 20 years of experience is extremely valuable in the cryopreservation of cord blood.

In 1995, Dr. Yang established the Alberta Cord Blood Bank's processing laboratory, the first public cord blood bank in Canada. He directed the processing laboratory for nearly 10 years and gained extensive experience in all aspects of cord blood banking for transplantation.

With over 20 years of experience in stem cell banking and research on cryopreservation of stem cells, Dr. Yang has directed Progenics since 2004 and has made it a unique facility to bank cord blood in Canada.

Dr. Yang has firmly established himself as an internationally respected authority in cord blood banking and stem cell cryopreservation with his research on separating cord blood stem cells efficiently^1,2 , protecting cord blood stem cells from freezing damage^3,4 , assessment of viability of post-thaw stem cells^4,5 , and the correlation of post thaw viability and transplant outcomes ^5,6

References

1. Yang H, Acker JP, Abley D et al. High-efficiency volume reduction of cord blood using pentastarch. Bone Marrow Transplantation (2001) 27:457-461.
2. Yang H, Mayerhofer S, Osuna J, Pidgorna A, Rosario M, Shuen P. Significance of efficient processing technique to family cord blood banks. Cytotherapy (2009) 11:18 (Abstract).
3. Yang H, Acker JP, Hannon J et al. Damage and protection of umbilical cord blood cells during cryopreservation. Cytotherapy (2001) 3:377-386.
4. Yang H, Zhao H, Acker JP, Liu Z, Akabutu J, McGann LE. Effect of dimethyl sulfoxide on post-thaw viability assessment of CD45⁺ and CD34⁺ cells of umbilical cord blood and mobilized peripheral blood. Cryobiology. (2005) 51:165-175.
5. Yang H, Acker JP, Cabuhat M et al. Effects of incubation temperature and time after thawing on viability assessment of peripheral hematopoietic progenitor cells cryopreserved for transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplantation (2003) 32:1021-1026.
6. Yang H, Acker JP, Cabuhat M et al. Association of post-thaw viable CD34⁺ cells and CFU-GM with time to hematopoietic engraftment. Bone Marrow Transplantation (2005) 35:881-887.