Dr. Steven James Kellner
The Lord of Blencogo
Head International Research and Development
Born in Switzerland during the posting of his British parents with the British Consulate General in Zurich, he went through his schooling in Switzerland and initially studied Veterinary medicine at the University of Zurich, obtaining his diploma as veterinary surgeon and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1982. His first PhD entitled “Parathyroid cell variants may be provoked during immersion fixation” was done in 1987 and earned him Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society FRMS. After studying Comparative Ophthalmology, resulting in a second PhD thesis and his Doctor title from the University of Zurich on “Mesodermal Goniodysgenesis in the Siberian Husky”, he started work at Dispersa AG, later Ciba Vision Ophthalmics and Novartis Ophthalmics as a medical consultant, drugs regulatory affair and later becoming Vice President and responsible head of Medical Affairs. During this time, he developed his first interests in stem cells, leading to research projects into adult mesenchymal stem cells from bone marrow and adipose tissue to treat ophthalmic conditions such as AMD, Keratoconjunctivitis sicca and glaucoma. He then set up his own company, Med Cell Europe, where first treatment of stem cell transplants, GMP conform production methods and a whole range of research was performed. This lead to one of the first treatment and stem cell laboratories in Switzerland, several patents on the production of exosomes and paracrine substances by mesenchymal stem cells and the development of treatments with Dendritic Cells, the successful transformation of mesenchymal stem cells into dopamine and insulin producing cells. Dr Kellner is now founder and chief scientist of Mesencell Biotech, which focuses on autologous stem cell and dendritic cell treatments in the Middle East and Northern Africa, co-founder and chief scientist of Med Cell Bahamas with a government licence for stem cell treatments in the Bahamas, co-founder and chief scientist of Med Cell International in the USA and co-founder, board member and chief scientist of Med Cell plc responsible for worldwide research projects and clinical trials for diseases such as Alzheimer Disease, Parkinson Disease, Diabetes T1 and T2 and osteoarthritis. Apart from his main research focus into neurological disease (Alzheimer and Parkinson Disease and retinal disease) Dr Kellner mentors young biotech start-up companies and actively seeks and finds collaboration with other research institutes and local governments. Dr Kellner is also Editor in Chief of Journal of Stem Cell Research & Therapeutics and the Journal of Advance Research on Alzheimers & Parkinsons Disease (ARAP) and Editor of Archives in Neurology & Neuroscience.