BioRestorative Therapies Hires Chief Medical Advisor

BioRestorative Therapies Inc. (BRT), a life sciences company focused on adult stem cell-based therapies for various personal medical applications, has hired Gregory Lutz, M.D. as chief medical advisor for Spine Medicine.

Lutz will be responsible for advancing the Company’s brtxDISC (disc implanted stem cells) program, including preparing the company’s Investigational New Drug/Investigational Device Exemption application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He will also be charged with leading efforts to design the trial protocol, identify trial sites and assist in the selection of a contract research organization to conduct the studies. Lutz also will interact on the company’s behalf with the FDA and the investment community.

The brtxDISC program is a non-surgical, minimally invasive stem cell procedure designed for relief from disc disease such as bulging and herniated discs, which may offer relief from lower back pain, buttock and leg pain, or numbness and tingling in legs or feet.

Lutz is associate professor of clinical rehabilitation medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York City, N.Y., and an attending physician at the Hospital for Special Surgery. In 1997, Lutz founded the physiatry department at the Hospital for Special Surgery and became its first physiatrist-in-chief. He is currently the physiatrist-in-chief emeritus for the Hospital for Special Surgery and is a member of the board of trustees. He is also the consulting physician to the National Hockey League Players’ Association.

He has more than 35 peer-reviewed articles to his credit, many of which involve research on lumbar pain and herniated discs.

“We are delighted to be able to work with Dr. Lutz, who is a leader in the field of physical medicine & rehabilitation, and a specialist in treating spine disease,” said Mark Weinreb, CEO of BRT. “We expect that his leadership role as chief medical advisor for the program and his considerable experience in this field will assist the company in receiving the approvals needed to start clinical trials and offer our non-surgical treatment for repairing injured painful discs to millions of sufferers.”

“I have spent many years treating patients suffering from back problems and working on regenerative medical therapies, but there are limited non-surgical, efficacious alternatives,” said Lutz. “BioRestorative’s brtxDISC program represents a potential breakthrough treatment and I am very excited to begin my association with the company.”

Lutz received his medical degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and was awarded the Margaret M. Kenrick achievement award in physical medicine & rehabilitation. He pursued his specialty training in physical medicine & rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Following his residency he completed an Orthopedic Sports Medicine Fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Lutz has been in practice at the Hospital for Special Surgery since 1993.