Biography:

Dr. Gocha Shatirishvili is Medical Director of family Cord Blood Bank Geocord, Tbilisi, Georgia and Chief Scientific Officer of Department for Cell Technologies and Therapy at Cancer Research Center, Tbilisi.

Dr. Shatirishvili has earned his doctoral degree at the Medical University Lubeck (Germany). Since 2000 his research interests focued on stem cell research and therapy. His 18 years long experience includes cord blood banking, cell therapy with autologous bone marrow stem cells (spinal cord injury, liver cirrhosis, heart failure, autism) and  cord blood stem cells (ongoing study on autism), immunotherapy with lymphokine activated NK cells and  DC vaccine against cancer. His research field includes hematopoietic stem cell expansion (cord blood), MSC expansion (from Wharton’s jelly and bone marrow). Dr. Shatirishvili has created program of Rare Disorders for The Ministry of Health of Georgia, he worked for Georgian Rare Diseases Office and was a Board member and expert of Alström Syndrome International (Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, USA).

Dr. Gocha Shatirishvili is a member of Georgian National Committee on Transplantation and Committee on Bioethics at State Medical University Tbilisi. He is a member of Cord Blood Association (Government and Global Affairs Committee, Geneva, IL, USA), Perinatal Stem Cell Society (USA) and American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) (USA). He participated in the many congresses and conferences worldwide, where he was speaker and discussed many aspects of stem cell therapy.

Professioanal Experience

– 2017 – Member of Government and Global Affairs Committee of Cord Blood Association

– 2014-present – Member of Board of Transplantation of Georgia

– 2010-present – Chief Scientists of Deparment for Cell Technology and Therapy at Cancer Research Center, Tbilisi

– 2010-present – Medical Director of cord blood bank “Geocord”

– 2008-2012 – Specialist of Georgian Rare Diseases Office

– 2008-present – Member of Biomedical Ethics Research Committee at the Tbilisi State Medical University

– 2007-2010 – Chief scientist of cord blood bank “Geocord”, Tbilisi

– 2000-2010 – Head of Stem Cell Laboratory, physician, German-Georgian
specialized Oncological Clinic, Tbilisi

– 2002-2005 – Member of National Council on Bioethics, Ministry of Health of Georgia

– 2000-present – Member and expert of Alström Syndrome International, Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, USA

– 2000-2003 – Main specialist for rare and genetic disorders, Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia, Compilation of Program for Rare Disorders

– 2000 – Physician, Endocrinological Clinic “Enmedic”, Tbilisi

– 1997-2000 – Work on Doctoral thesis: “Recombinant Noncytopathic Vaccinia Virus System for Hepatitis A Virus Replication Study” at Institute for Medical Molecular Biology at The Medical University of Lübeck

– 1997-2000 – Guest physician at Medical University of Lübeck (Medical Clinic I)

– 1996-1997 – Goethe Institute Tbilisi (graduation with Certificate)

– 1993-1997 – Physician, the Curative-Preventive Center N 1, Tbilisi

– 1991-1992 – Physician, Departments of Rheumatology, Cardiology, Gastroenterology,
Central Railway Clinic Tbilisi

– 1991 – Physician, Department of Nephrology, Central Republican Clinic, Tbilisi

– 1991 – Graduation from Tbilisi State Medical University with honor (The Red Diploma). Qualification: Physician

– 1985-1991 – Tbilisi State Medical University

– 1984 Finishing High school with honor (The Golden Medal)

– 1973-1984 The school N 102 in Tbilisi

Education/Qualifications

– 2009 – Certificate New Brunswick Scientific, Fibra Stage System Training, Edison, NJ, USA

– 2007 – State Certificate for Laboratory Medicine

– 2006 – Authentication of Doctor Degree by Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia

– 2000-  Degree Dr. med (Doktor der Medizin) of Medical University of Lübeck, Germany

– 1997-2000 – Scholar of Medical University of Lübeck, Germany and Dr. Arthur-
Pfungs-Stifung. Guest physician at Medical University of Lübeck (Medical Clinic I) and work on Doctoral thesis: “Recombinant Noncytopathic Vaccinia Virus System for Hepatitis A Virus Replication Study” at Institute for Medical Molecular Biology of Lübeck

– 1996-1997 – Goethe Institute Tbilisi (graduation with Certificate)

– 1991 – Graduation from Tbilisi State Medical University with honor (The Red Diploma). Qualification: Physician

– 1985-1991 – Tbilisi State Medical University

– 1984 – Finishing High school with honor (The Golden Medal)

– 1973-1984 – The school N 102 in Tbilisi

Participation at international Scientific Conferences

– 2017– FUTURE OF REGENERATIVE MEDICINE CONGRESS-Extending and
Improving Life with Perinatal,Adipose, and Bone Marrow Cellular Therapy, Teaneck, USA

– 2017 – Cord Blood World – Europe 2017 Congress, London, UK. Speaker and host of
roundtable discussion: Regulations for cell therapies including cord blood.

– 2017 – V EUROPEAN CONGRESS ON ASTHMA & COPD, IX GEORGIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS ON ALLERGY, ASTHMA & IMMUNOLOGY. Speech: Stem cell transplantation for the treatment of HCV infection related liver cirrhosis, Tbilisi, Georgia

– 2016 -Cord Blood World – Europe 2016 Congress, London, UK

– 2015 – Tbilisi First International Cell Therapy Symposium, Tbilisi (speaker: Expansion of Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cells-our Experience)

– 2014 – The EFI Training and Educational Meeting, Yerevan

– 2011 – The EFI Training and Educational Meeting, Yerevan

– 2011 – World Cord Blood Congress III, Rome

– 2003 – Congress of Alstrom Syndrome Conference of Italy, Padua (speaker: stem cell usage in Alstrom Syndrome Patient with liver cirrhosis)

– 2001 – Conference, organized by The European Commission (DG Research),: Stem cells: therapies for the future? Brussels, Belgium

– 2001 – Alstrom Syndrome UK Meeting, Brixham, UK

– 2001 – Alstrom Syndrome International Conference, Morrisburg, Canada

– 1999 – Annual Meeting of the German Society of Humangenetics together with Austrian Society of Human genetics (ÖGH) and the Swiss Society of Medical Genetics, Lübeck, Germany

Publications

1. Kusov Y, Shatirishvili G, Dzagurov G, Gauss-Muller. A new G-tailing method for the determination of the poly(A)tail length applied to Hepatitis A virus RNA. Nucleic Acids Resaerch, 2001, Vol. 29, No.12, e57.

2. Kusov Y, Shatirishvili G, Klinger M, Gauss-Muller V. virus from full-size cDNA or from two cDNAs, both by themselves unable to complete the virus life cycle.
Virus Res 2002 Oct;89(1): 75-88.

3. Marshall JD, Bronson RT, Collin GB, Nordstrom AD, Maffei P, Paisey RB, Carey C, Macdermott S, Russell-Eggitt I, Shea SE, Davis J, Beck S, Shatirishvili G, Mihai CM, Hoeltzenbein M, Pozzan GB, Hopkinson I, Sicolo N, Naggert JK, Nishina PM. New Alstrom syndrome phenotypes based on the evaluation of 182 cases.
Arch Intern Med. 2005 Mar 28;165(6):675-83.

4. Gocha Shatirishvili. Alström Syndrome Patient with Liver Cirrhosis (Complicated with Portal Hypertension), His Management and Fetal Cell Transplantation. 3rd Alström Syndrome International Scientific Congress. Padua, Italy. March 7-8, 2003.

5. Kusov Y, Gosert R, Dzagurov G, Shatirishvili G, Gerhardt M, Gauss-Müller V. Hepatitis A Virus Genome Modified at its 3′ Terminus. In: Focus on Genome Research. Editor> Clyde R. Williams, pp 1-37. Nova Publishers, New York. 2004.

6. K Mardaleishvili , G Shatirishvili , G Loladze , V Khatelishvili , K Dundua. Establishing of the first private autologous cord blood bank in Georgia at the german-georgian specialized oncological clinic. Georgian Med News. 2007 Mar ; (144):41-2.

7. Kakabadze Z, Gupta S, Pileggi A, Molano RD, Ricordi C, Shatirishvili G, Loladze G, Mardaleishvili K, Kakabadze M, Berishvili E. Correction of diabetes mellitus by transplanting minimal mass of syngeneic islets into vascularized small intestinal segment. Am J Transplant. 2013 Oct;13(10):2550-7

8. Shatirishvili G., Mardaleishvili K., Loladze G. Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Expansion: Preclinical Studies and Clinical Trials. Review. CellR4 2014; 2 (5): e1209

9. Kakabadze Z, Kipshidze N, Mardaleishvili K, Chutkerashvili G, Chelishvili I, Harders A, Loladze G, Shatirishvili G, Kipshidze N, Chakhunashvili D, Chutkerashvili K. Phase 1 Trial of Autologous Bone Marrow Stem Cell Transplantation in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury.
Stem Cells Int. 2016;2016:6768274.

10. Kusov, Yuri; (Institute of Medical Molecular Biology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck,
Germany); Gosert, Rainer; (Institute for Medical Microbiology, Department of Virology, Basel,
Switzerland) Dzagurov, Georgy; Shatirishvili, Gocha; Gerhardt, Moritz; Gauss-Müller,
Verena; Hepatitis A Virus Genome Modified at its 3′ Terminus. Chapter in Book Focus on Genome Research Books, pp. 1-37, Nova Science Publisher, 2004