Edward Wirth III

As Chief Medical Officer for Aspen Neuroscience, Ed is leading the company’s upcoming clinical programs studying its first autologous cell therapy candidates to treat Parkinson’s Disease. With more than 25 years of experience in surgical applications and clinical trials in the cell therapy space, Ed is one of the neurological field’s foremost experts in translating regenerative cell science into clinical programs.

After receiving his MD/PhD from the University of Florida, he remained to conduct postdoctoral research and subsequently joined the faculty. His work at Univ. of Florida included leading the team that performed the first human embryonic spinal cord transplant in the U.S. This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility and safety of implanting embryonic spinal cord cells into patients with post-traumatic syringomyelia (a complication of spinal cord injury).

Next, at Geron Corporation, Ed led the world’s first clinical trial of a human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived product as Medical Director for Regenerative Medicine. He then led the scientific team as Chief Science Officer at InVivo Therapeutics Corporation, before serving as Asterias’ Chief Translational Officer from 2013-2015 and Chief Medical Officer from 2015-2019. At Asterias he led the expansion and completion of the former Geron clinical trial, which demonstrated the initial clinical safety and activity of OPC1 (formerly GRNOPC1 & AST-OPC1), which contains hESC-derived oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), in patients with subacute spinal cord injuries. He next served as Chief Medical Officer at Lineage Cell Therapeutics (formerly BioTime), which acquired Asterias in March 2019.