Examples of Influence on Public Debate and Wide Engagement:
For over two years Professor Rasko has been the regular (approximately fortnightly) Biomedical Correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Commission Radio National Breakfast Program. Using this national platform he has raised awareness in diverse matters of biomedical importance with a regular focus on charlatans, pseudoscience and unproven therapies:
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rnafternoons/6224672
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/rnafternoons/science-fraud/6224544
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/mitochondrial-disease/7318904
In 2014 Professor Rasko appeared as an invited health professional on the nationally broadcast SBS One TV program celled Insight hosted by Jenny Brockie:
“Private clinics' peddling of unproven stem cell treatments is unsafe and unethical” by Professor Megan Munsie & Professor John Rasko published July 2017 on The Conversation online: http://theconversation.com/private-clinics-peddling-of-unproven-stem-cell-treatments-is-unsafe-and-unethical-80608 received considerable comments online - both in support “Thanks Megan and John for keeping us up to date on opportunistic medical shonkery”, as well as strenuous criticism from clinic operators “This article is inaccurate”.
The authors offered more information on recognised stem cell treatments from National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia and Stem Cells Australia, Choice Australia, EuroStemCell, International Society for Stem Cell Research, and International Society for Cellular Therapy.
The article published in 2017 in Science Translational Medicine arose from a successful funding application to the Brocher Foundation in 2015 from Professor Rasko. This led to a meeting later that year focussing on unproven stem cell therapies. Publicity from that work has been enormous, with wide international coverage in print, online radio and TV – including, Europe, Australia, Canada, USA and Russia. Some links to Professor Rasko’s coverage:
http://alberta.ctvnews.ca/video?binId=1.2002989
http://www.eurostemcell.org/stem-cell-tourism-experts-call-tighter-regulation
Relevant Ethics and Regulation Scholarly References over the last decade:
Cell and gene therapy in Australia. Martiniello-Wilks R and Rasko JEJ. Cytotherapy 2007; 9(3):209-221.
Potential use of gene transfer in athletic performance enhancement. Baoutina A, Alexander IE, Rasko JEJ, Emslie KR. Molecular Therapy, Oct 2007; 15(10):1751-66.
Developing strategies for detection of gene doping. Baoutina A, Alexander IE, Rasko JEJ, Emslie KR. Journal of Gene Medicine, Jan 2008; 10(1):3-20.
Cell therapy medical tourism: Time for action. Gunter KC, Caplan AL, Mason C, Salzman R, Janssen WE, Nichols K, Bouzas LF, Lanza F, Levine BL, Rasko JEJ, Shimosaka A, Horwitz E. Cytotherapy, Dec 2010; 12(8):965-968.
Will cell reprogramming resolve the embryonic stem cell controversy? A Narrative Review. Power C and Rasko JEJ. Annals of Internal Medicine, Jul 2011; 19;155(2):114-121.
Cellular therapy in the Asia-Pacific region. A guide for the future pathologist. Macpherson JL and Rasko JEJ. Pathology, Oct 2011; 43(6):616-626.
Promises and challenges of stem cell research for regenerative medicine. Power C and Rasko JEJ. Annals of Internal Medicine, Nov 2011;155(10):706-U91.
Clinical potential of gene therapy: towards meeting the demand. Macpherson JL, Rasko JEJ. Internal Medicine Journal, Mar 2014; 44(3):224-233.
Raising the standard: changes to the Australian code of Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) for human blood and blood components, human tissues and human cellular therapy products. Wright C, Velickovic Z, Brown R, Larsen S, Macpherson JL, Gibson J, Rasko JEJ. Pathology, Apr 2014; 46(3):177-183.
Positioning a scientific community on unproven cellular therapies: The 2015 International Society for Cellular Therapy Perspective. Dominici M, Nichols K, Srivastava A, Weiss DJ, Eldridge P, Cuende N, Deans RJ, Rasko JEJ, Levine AD, Turner L, Griffin DL, O'Donnell L, Forte M, Mason C, Wagena E, Janssen W, Nordon R, Wall D, Ho H-N, Ruiz MA, Wilton S, Horwitz EM, Gunter KC. Cytotherapy, Dec 2015, 17(12):1663-1666
Part 2: Making the “unproven” “proven”. Weiss DJ, Rasko JEJ, Cuende N, Ruiz MA, Ho H-N, Nordon R, Wilton S, Dominici M, Srivastava A. Cytotherapy, Jan 2016, 18(1):120-123
Science, ethics and communication remain essential for the success of cell-based therapies. Dominici M, Nichols K, Levine A, Rasko JEJ, Forte M, O’Donnell L, Koh M, Bollard CM, and Weiss DJ. Journal of Brain Circulation, July 2016 2(3):146-151
Global distribution of businesses marketing stem cell-based interventions. Berger I, Ahmad A, Bansal A, Kapoor T, Sipp D, Rasko JEJ. Cell Stem Cell, Aug 2016 19(2):158-162
Marketing of Unproven Stem Cell-Based Interventions: A Call to Action. Sipp D, Caulfield T, Kaye J, Barfoot J, Blackburn C, Chan S, De Luca M, Kent A, McCabe C, Munsie M, Sleeboom-Faulkner M, Sugarman J, van Zimmeren E, Zarzeczny A, Rasko JEJ. Science Translational Medicine, Feb 2017
Show drugs work before selling them. Sipp D, McCabe C, Rasko JEJ. Nature 2017 543:174-175, Comment March 2017 (9th March 2017; doi:10.1038/543174a)
Relevant Ethics Books
The ethics of inheritable genetic modification: a dividing line? Authors Rasko JEJ, O'Sullivan G, Ankeny R. Foreword by Peter Singer.
Publication date 2006/1/26. SN - 0521529735 Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Flesh Made New: The Unnatural History of Stem Cells. Authors John Rasko & Carl Power.
Publication date 2021. Publisher: HarperCollins
