Allograft Possibilities

Our inspiring float rider representative for the Donate Life Rose Parade float, Manuel Salazar, has been a hit with media around Colorado. Leading up to and following his participation in the Rose Parade, Manuel was featured by FOX 31, Aurora Sentinel, Aurora 8, Broomfield Enterprise and 9News, which you can see below.

Science is Ever-Changing

I am continually invigorated by modern science that finds new ways to use donated human tissue to treat a host of medical conditions. I am very proud to have some of this pioneering innovation happening right here at AlloSource.

Last month, we shared two important new products with the world’s leaders in spinal care at the North American Spine Society (NASS) conference. These products, AlloStem Stem Cell Bone Growth Substitute and AlloWrap Natural Wound Cover, will provide new solutions for surgeons to form bone and cover wounds. You can read more about AlloStem further in the newsletter and on our blog. Read more

In this edition I want to share with you some exciting news regarding our accomplishments in developing and commercializing bone allografts containing adult mesenchymal stem cells.

A little more than a year ago we undertook the development of an adult stem cell technology platform with the goal of combining it with allografts to produce products with enhanced tissue regeneration capabilities.  We took a road less traveled with respect to the source of the cells.  Traditionally the focus has been on using bone marrow derived cells.  But limitations in quantity and recovery difficulties resulted in our choosing adipose tissue (fat in everyday parlance) as the source of cells. Read more

At AlloSource we are lucky to be inspired by the donor families and patients whose lives we touch and whose stories provide us with the ultimate meaning to our work. We are also blessed to live and work in areas of the country that provide inspiring vistas and landscapes. Many of us spend our personal time and even some of our window-gazing at work being inspired by these panoramas. We asked employees to capture images of the scenes that inspire them, and we received hundreds of photos. We hope these images inspire you, too.

Dillon Reservoir in Dillon, CO

Photo by: Sharon Tung, Purchasing Manager

The Times They are a Changin’
This rings true for me on a daily basis.  I use all kinds of alternative communication methods to stay in touch with friends and colleagues around the country instead of using a landline phone.  I can no longer keep up with remembering the names of all the children born to AlloSource employees in a given year.  And after raising three boys, my wife Cyndy and I are actually on the final countdown to being empty nesters.  Life is all about change!

Change is constant, and for those of us in the tissue donation and processing industry, the last 18 months have meant a wide scale re-tooling of how we do business. For the first time in my nine years at AlloSource, we have seen enough of a significant increase in available tissue donors that our supply actually outweighs the demand. This increase in donors is a strong testament to the work of our organ recovery agencies that help donor families in their time of need and encourage others to pass on their gifts. Read more