Medical Tourism Magazine had the distinct privilege of interviewing Dr. Chad Prodromos, founder of the Prodromos Stem Cell Institute and a globally respected authority in regenerative medicine. With a background in academic orthopaedics and a groundbreaking career that spans decades of published research and clinical innovation, Dr. Prodromos has become a trusted leader in the evolving field of stem cell therapy. In this exclusive Q&A, he shares insights on why patients from around the world—including elite athletes—seek his care, the medical conditions he and his team treat, and the rigorous research that underpins his institute’s success. Below are the full questions and answers from our conversation.
Why are people from around the world come to receive Stem Cell treatment from you?
A. RESEARCH: Very few other centers in our hemisphere engage in meaningful clinical research and publish in journals as we do. Many patients tell us they appreciate our efforts and the fact that we are generating actual clinical data to quote to tell to them. In the last two years alone, we have published 13 papers in good peer reviewed, usually PubMed indexed, journals. And we have many more in preparation and in peer review. Every patient we treat is part of a clinical trial. 20 years ago I founded a 501C3 non-profit research foundation, the foundation for regenerative medicine that carries out this research. We have three full-time researchers: two bio engineers and one cell biologist. I fund this foundation with proceeds from our treatment. It is extraordinarily expensive and time consuming, but I feel it is absolutely necessary to do since we are at the cutting edge of stem cell research and treatment and there is a paucity of data. I have been in academic medicine for my entire career and am used to practicing this way but it can be daunting for those without a background in this area. And patients tell me that my background comforts them that our work is legitimate.
After my Bachelor’s degree from Princeton, I obtained my MD from John Hopkins and published a paper there as a medical student. When serving my orthopaedic residency at Rush I won both the Rush Surgical Sciences Aware and The Berkeheisre research award. Following Rush I was selected for the sportsmedicne fellowship at the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. While there I performed another research study – on the glenoid labrum of the shoulder – that was published in our most prestigious Orthoaedic Journal: the Journal of bone and Joint Surgery. As Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics at Rush University in Chicago I pioneered new techniques on the ACL, causing my peers to select me to put together the first comprehensive textbook on the ACL for Orthopaedic surgeons in 2008 – 86 chapters. It became a standard in the field and I was asked to put together a second edition in 2017 – this time with 145 chapters. All this time I continued to publish orthopaedic papers in top journals. As I became more interested in regenerative medicine I decreased my orthopaedic surgery workload and began working more and publishing in the area of regenerative medicine through my foundation and in 2014 stepped back entirely from Rush to focus there.
B. OUR STEM CELLS: We use stem cells from vitro biopharma in Golden Colorado. They are produced with the highest standards, exceeding those required by the FDA, and have been repeatedly approved by the FDA for use in humans. Cells that are not properly prepared can result in complications including death. We have never had a serious adverse event nor have they with these cells. Cells produced outside the US do not have these safeguards. They may be perfectly fine but problems have occurred and it is just hugely important to know that there is oversight and the quality of the cells we use is assured.
C. WORD OF MOUTH: Most of our patients are referred by other patients. We have an expert concierge team and patients appreciate their care.
D. THE QUALITY OF OUR DOCTORS: I am a board certified American trained orthopaedic surgeon, the only one using cultured stem cells of which I am aware. There are huge advantages when dealing with joint problems in being trained in this area. We also use Ken Candido MD: arguably the finest pain doctor in the world, a Professor in 3 departments at the university of Illinois, author of more than 200 papers and a former academic medical center anesthesia chairman. I use him to do all our pain injections in the back and elsewhere. We treat many back and neck patients and his technical skills are vitally important for the fluoroscopically guided injections he does. He also performs other complex injections – for example ultra sound guided injections to damaged nerves.
E. OUR CLINIC: Our clinic, medical surgical associates has outstanding nurses, a state of the art operating room and imaging and a fully equipped icu for admission. A brand new hospital, summit hospital, is scheduled to open in 60 days and will be the finest in the region. And it is owned and run by a surgeon who is aColumbia medical school graduate.
Why do the top athletes from the NFL come to you for treatment?
To the best of my knowledge I am the only American trained orthopaedic surgeon using cultured stem cells. It is a huge advantage when dealing with athletic musculoskeletal injuries to have this training. It enables precise diagnosis, customized treatment, and close follow up with post treatment fitness regimens.
Athletes come to us from word of mouth from other players and often their agents.
Also, unlike some other centers athletes are able to be treated in a single day and leave. Many other clinics use a one week regimen which adds nothing to outcomes.
What are some of the conditions that your Stem Cell treatment can really help? What conditions do you hope to be able to treat in the future?
Stem cells can treat a wide variety of disorders. I will list some here
A.BACK AND NECK PAIN. Our one year success rate is about the same as for surgery, but in our published series, we had no complications, the procedure is quick without severe pain and patients are usually recovered in 5 days. No sedation is needed it is performed under local but with sophisticated X-ray (fluoroscopy) guidance.
B. ARTHRITIS OF ALL JOINTS: We have excellent success in treating even severe bone on bone arthritis of the knee, shoulder, ankle, and wrist. Our results in the hip are good but only for early arthritis. It is very rare for one of our stem cell injected osteoarthritic patients to go on to need joint replacement. Put another way we are able to avoid joint surgery of any kind in over 90% of these patients (again excepting the hip) that we treat. In particular we have never had a shoulder arthritic patient need joint replacement surgery, and very rarely a knee patient
C. AUTISM: We have had consistent success treating autism. Repeat treatment has generally resulted in further improvement. We have recently begun combining stem cell and exosome treatment and have seen dramatic improvements in autistic behavior. And repeat treatment generally produces incrementally improved results.
D. ALS: In an incredibly exciting treatment breakthrough using exosomes, we have been able to not only arrest, but for the first time ever anywhere, bring about improvement in strength, breathing, swallowing and other parameters in 13 of 14 patients so far treated in a clinical trial at no charge. Heretofore the best that approved drugs had been able to do was slightly slow the rate of decline of the patient, but not actually improve symptoms. At this writing we have some patients treated five months ago who are continuing to improve with subsequent treatments. We are in urgent discussions with the FDA to accelerate approval for treatment in the US.
E. PARKINSON’S DISEASE: As with ALS we have had consistent success, about 75% of treated patients, in partially reversing their disease. And, as with ALS, repeat treatment has generally produced incremental gains. This not only includes motor, gait, speech and tremor symptoms, but also restoration of the sense of taste and smell which is lost in most PD patients. Some patients are 1 year out in follow up and still doing well, including discontinuing medications.
F. LEWY BODY DEMENTIA: As with ALS there has heretofore been no effective treatment. In the patients we have treated we have seen definite substantial improvement in both motor and cognitive symptoms.
G. COGNITIVE DECLINE: Most patients who come to us with cognitive decline – as opposed to alzheimer’s - improve significantly,
H. ESSENTIAL TREMOR: All of our treated patients have had significant improvement with near elimination of tremor and head bob often seen
I. MS: success in most, but not all patients, in improving energy and strength and decreasing cramping pain.
J. LONG COVID/LYME DISEASE: We have seen consistent success with these vexing disorders. Problems have included severe gut problems, fatigue, hypertension and others.
K. RHEUMATOID ARTHRTIIS: this disabling autoimmune disorder generally responds to intravenous stem cell infusion, and in the case of RA, also stem cell joint injections.
L. ANTI-AGING: Our research has shown improvement in DNA methylation and telomere length as well as mitotic index (which correlates with decreased incidence of cancer) in most patients. In addition EEG studies have shown brain waves also consistent with youthfulness. Our findings represent the only objective evidence in existence to my knowledge concerning the success of stem cells for anti-aging.
M. HAIR THICKENING: most patients are able to achieve significantly thicker hair with a combination of scalp and IV treatment.
N. SPORTS MEDICINE: As mentioned above we have had excellent success with some of the world’s best athletes in restoring and maintaining health.
O. TRIGEMINAL NEURALGIA: we had recent success with completely eliminating the problem after 25 years of suffering and also allowing the patient to come off all medicines
P. PERIPHERAL NERVE INJURY: similarly we achieved restoration of sensation and 50% reversal of paralysis in the leg of a patient disabled by it for 24 years before treatment.
Q. TINNITUS: While we cannot predict success, we have had striking elimination of tinnitus after many years of suffering in several patients.
Why Do Patients Have To Go To Antigua Or Athens Greece For Treatment. What Is Legal In The Usa
The only bona fide legal stem cell treatment in the USA is bone marrow aspirate from your pelvic bone withdrawn, centrifuged and injected back in. A good study has shown it to be equivalent to Platelet rich plasma injection but at higher cost. And it is invasive.
We are forced to treat offshore because regulations introduced in 2005 which forced stem cells to adhere to the same standard used for biologic drugs, which is double blind randomized placebo controlled studies. The studies cost about $19 million beyond the reach of any to fund them except for pharmaceutical companies. Pharmaceutical companies generally have no interest because biologic regenerative medicine products like themselves are difficult to patent therefore, they cannot really get a return on their investment if they do perform studies.
Why do you think we're seeing better results than in some cases any other type of modern medicine?
Stem cells are nature’s way of healing us. It would be surprising if it were not successful. But it’s use falls out of the paradigm of our health care system which is centered around patentable drugs. Because stem cells cannot be easily monetized they have lacked the support that would have elevated their status.
You are probably the most transparent doctor in Stem Cell publishing research, clinical trials all the data. Why is this so important?
It is absolutely essential that patients know everything I know regarding likely efficacy, and risks, although there are virtually no risks to treatment. It is the only way that truly informed consent can be achieved.
Why should patients come to you for Stem Cell treatment, and why should they avoid going to some of the other Stem Cell clinics out there? What should patients be watching out for?
I think patients should go with their gut and find a doctor they trust, whether or not it is us. However I think our clinic has several advantages.
First, As described above, the quality of the cells is paramount. The cells we use from vitro biopharma are arguably the best in the world. The fact that they have been repeatedly approved by the FDA is incredibly important validation of their safety and quality. Cells offshore on the other hand may be of high quality, but without this oversight there is no good way to know. And while neither we nor vitro biopharma have ever had any serious adverse events problems, complications including death and infections have occurred elsewhere where the cell quality is not as certain.
Second, as described above we have qualified American trained specialists performing the procedures. This includes myself a board certified orthopaedic surgeon performing the joint injections, and Dr Ken Candido, a world renowned pain specialist performing the spine and other specialized injections. While there are exceptions, most other offshore clinics do not have this level of expertise.
Third, we are very honest as to the limitations of our treatment. If the treatment is unlikely to work we will not proceed. Many other clinics are not selective in this way. And beyond that we tell all patients what the scientific literature and our own experience has been so that they can decide on a fully informed basis. We believe it is important for patients to be fully comfortable with coming for stem cell treatment. And we tell patients that if they are uncertain, we would recommend that they not enter into our care.
Many patients don't realize that other Stem Cell clinics don't publish research. Don't publish clinical trials or fake that they do. What are the risks of patients just going to any Stem Cell doctor or clinic?
The key is following up ALL of your patients, which we do. Unless you do you really cannot evaluate your results. It is easy to claim success when it doesn’t exist or to provide testimonials which may be paid for – which none of ours are. And I believe that the best clinics are those that are run by, and owned by doctors. We do not have investors and I turn down many requests from patients if I do not believe we can help.
I understand you are seeing effects on endogenous testosterone levels and strength.
Yes we are early in our study, but have seen definite large, sometimes also doubling, increases in testosterone, and interstitial growth factor which correlates with growth hormone. At the same many patients have noted quantifiable and enduring increases in strength after treatment. We ow test testosterone level in our patients before treatment. We have been testing only males but are now also testing females.
Are you active in the longevity space?
Yes we have a first in world study of 60 patients, showing the effects of stem cell infusions on longevity, including telomere length, DNA methylation, and mitotic index (an index of cancer susceptibility). Most of our patients are improved in one or more of these parameters as measured 6 months after treatment as compared to before treatment. In addition dr Tim Royer, the world renowned neuropsychologist who performs our EEGs is finding significantly more youthful brains in patients after treatment as compared to before. The more youthful parameters include increased theta waves which normally decrease with age even as sleep quality does. We are seeing increased theta waves in most, and most patients also reporty improved sleep after treatment. We also partner with some of the best functional medicine doctors in the United states who provide remote genomic testing, microbiome consultation, cancer screening and more.
How about wellness:?
Yes we offer state of the art wellness services in Athens, and will be opening a center in Antigua next week, with IV, peptide, and full spa facilities. We believe that combined with our stem cell work and the incredible natural beauty of the island, that Antigua will soon be among the world’s premiere wellness destinations.
Where do you see the future of Stem Cell treatment going?
Now that RK Jr has been put in charge, I think the future is extraordinarily bright for making proven stem cell treatment available to those who need it as he has stated a desire to increase access in a a controlled responsible way. I am working with him to modernize regulations to increase stem cell access but still protect the public from danger and scams. And regarding clinical advances, I believe that spinal cord injury paralysis, burns, stroke and other disorders usually treated in hospitals are going to see huge improvements in results. And I believe that autoimmune and neurocognitive disorders treatments will continue to improve and perhaps be eradicated. Stem cells have also shown some tumor suppressive activity, an area that now we avoid due to possible risks. I think going forward though stem cells will likely be a significant tool in cancer treatment. And using existing technology diabetes will very likely be largely eliminated through stem cell treatment, which is already starting to happen in some centers in the far east.
Where may patients see you for stem cell treatment?
We treat now in Antigua every other month and in Athens Greece every 3rd or 4th month. We are looking to open a clinic in east asia as well.
How should interested persons connect with you?
A first step is to peruse our website at thepsci.com. I would encourage all to sign up for our free monthly e mailed newsletter. Interested person can then call our team at 847-699-6810 or e mail at care@thepsci.com. Zara, our team leader, or one of the other staff will be happy to aswer questions at no charge. For those seriously considering stem cell or exosome treatment a call will be arranged with myself to further explore.
