Latest news with #Lipkins
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
BioRestorative Welcomes Serial Regenerative Medicine Entrepreneur, Company Builder and Leader, Sandy Lipkins, to BRTX Team
MELVILLE, N.Y., June 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. ('BioRestorative', 'BRTX' or the 'Company') (NASDAQ:BRTX), a clinical stage regenerative medicine innovator focused on stem cell-based therapies and products, announced today its hiring of Industry leader, Sandy Lipkins, to focus on technology commercialization and business development, effective June 9, 2025. In his role, Mr. Lipkins will be responsible for sourcing, structuring, negotiating and executing strategic alliances and licensing/co-development agreements for BioRestorative domestically and internationally, as well as providing new product and sales expertise to the Company. Mr. Lipkins has an accomplished record of business development success within the healthcare industry. He brings over 30 years of venture capital, finance, and sales experience, with deep expertise in the anti-aging and wellness sectors. His extensive work and network in stem cells, regenerative medicine, and tissue banking have helped drive the development of a number of cutting-edge therapies. In addition, Mr. Lipkin's executive experience in scaling, compounding and biologics manufacturing, as well as his proven ability to expand market reach, has been pivotal to company growth. Mr. Lipkins is passionate about promoting anti-aging, healthy lifestyle and bringing cutting-edge regenerative medicine to the critical masses, domestically and internationally. He has taken companies from incubation, to revenue generation and growth, to setting up for sale or other liquidity events. 'We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Sandy to BioRestorative Therapies. Sandy brings a powerful blend of venture capital expertise, entrepreneurial drive, and a deep commitment to the anti-aging and regenerative medicine space. His proven track record in building and scaling companies aligns perfectly with our mission. With his experience and expertise, we see tremendous potential for significant value creation as we advance our clinical pipeline and expand our commercial BioCosmeceuticals platform. I am confident Sandy will play a key role in driving our next phase of growth and innovation," said Lance Alstodt, Chief Executive Officer of BioRestorative. Mr. Lipkins stated, 'I am excited to join BRTX at such a pivotal time. The Company's dedication to cutting-edge science in both clinical development and consumer wellness is inspiring, and I see tremendous opportunity to build something truly impactful here. With a strong foundation already in place, I look forward to helping accelerate growth, expand the biocosmeceuticals platform, and bring transformative regenerative solutions to market — both at home in the U.S. and abroad in key international markets.' About BioRestorative Therapies, Inc. BioRestorative ( develops therapeutic products using cell and tissue protocols, primarily involving adult stem cells. As described below, our two core clinical development programs relate to the treatment of disc/spine disease and metabolic disorders, and we also operate a commercial BioCosmeceutical platform: • Disc/Spine Program (brtxDISC™): Our lead cell therapy candidate, BRTX-100, is a product formulated from autologous (or a person's own) cultured mesenchymal stem cells collected from the patient's bone marrow. We intend that the product will be used for the non-surgical treatment of painful lumbosacral disc disorders or as a complementary therapeutic to a surgical procedure. The BRTX-100 production process utilizes proprietary technology and involves collecting a patient's bone marrow, isolating and culturing stem cells from the bone marrow and cryopreserving the cells. In an outpatient procedure, BRTX-100 is to be injected by a physician into the patient's damaged disc. The treatment is intended for patients whose pain has not been alleviated by non-invasive procedures and who potentially face the prospect of surgery. We have commenced a Phase 2 clinical trial using BRTX-100 to treat chronic lower back pain arising from degenerative disc disease. We have also obtained U.S. Food and Drug Administration ('FDA') Investigational New Drug ('IND') clearance to evaluate BRTX-100 in the treatment of chronic cervical discogenic pain. • Metabolic Program (ThermoStem®): We are developing cell-based therapy candidates to target obesity and metabolic disorders using brown adipose (fat) derived stem cells ('BADSC') to generate brown adipose tissue ('BAT'), as well as exosomes secreted by BADSC. BAT is intended to mimic naturally occurring brown adipose depots that regulate metabolic homeostasis in humans. Initial preclinical research indicates that increased amounts of brown fat in animals may be responsible for additional caloric burning as well as reduced glucose and lipid levels. Researchers have found that people with higher levels of brown fat may have a reduced risk for obesity and diabetes. BADSC secreted exosomes may also impact weight loss. • BioCosmeceuticals: We operate a commercial BioCosmeceutical platform. Our current commercial product, formulated and manufactured using our cGMP ISO-7 certified clean room, is a cell-based secretome containing exosomes, proteins and growth factors. This proprietary biologic serum has been specifically engineered by us to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and bring forth other areas of cosmetic effectiveness. Moving forward, we also intend to explore the potential of expanding our commercial offering to include a broader family of cell-based biologic aesthetic products and therapeutics via IND-enabling studies, with the aim of pioneering FDA approvals in the emerging BioCosmeceuticals space. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors and other risks, including, without limitation, those set forth in the Company's latest Form 10-K, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligation to update such statements. CONTACT: Stephen KilmerInvestor RelationsDirect: (646) 274-3580Email: skilmer@ in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Yahoo
Hazing can happen in the closest communities. Preventing it is harder than you'd think
Acceptance, rite of passage, and tradition continue fueling the age-old practice of hazing, making it prevalent on collegiate sports teams, among Greek life groups and at the high school level despite state and federal laws. This time, 11 teen varsity lacrosse players from Westhill High School in Syracuse, New York, are accused of plotting or participating in a prank late April – a staged kidnapping that unraveled quickly in what Onondaga County District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick called 'criminal activity' and 'hazing on steroids.' Now, one younger player is traumatized, and the older teammates were arrested and charged with unlawful imprisonment in the second degree, all while law enforcement officials try to keep up with the fallout as the tight-knit community attempts to make sense of it all. While hazing has come under intense scrutiny in recent years, incidents like the one in Syracuse are reminders of how vague the true scope of hazing nationwide remains and the need for more tangible hazing prevention practices, experts and advocates say. Advocacy groups, sports teams and college websites have their own definitions of what constitutes hazing but the underlying intent of the practice remains the same across the board. Hazing is an activity that 'humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers' an individual seeking to join – or participate in – a group, 'regardless of the person's willingness to participate,' according to advocacy group StopHazing. Hank Nuwer, a professor emeritus at Franklin College and adjunct professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who has written several books on hazing, estimates there has been at least one hazing death reported in the United States every year from 1959 to 2021. The only year without any reported deaths was 2022, with more reported in 2023, 2024 and so far this year, Nuwer said. Susan Lipkins, a psychologist and the author of 'Preventing Hazing,' said there may be a disconnect between what most people think hazing and rites of passage are, and what students are facing. 'And what's actually happening is a lot more violent,' Lipkins said. Hazing deaths have become 'more hazardous' and are 'spreading in terms of, it's not just White college boys, but it's girls and minorities,' too, Lipkins said. Lipkins said students have told her the patterns and timings of hazing incidents are formulaic in that they occur at the same time of year with the traditions being largely similar but they are increasing in severity each year. More than half of students in the United States are hazed before they enter college, according to a 2008 University of Maine study, which is considered the only one of its kind painting — not a complete— but partial picture of hazing on college campuses. Once those students were in college, 73% of those who joined fraternities and sororities experienced what they described as some form of hazing at least once, the study found. Alcohol consumption, humiliation, isolation, sleep deprivation and sex acts were common hazing practices across the different groups in which hazing occurs. Elizabeth Allan, a professor of higher education at the University of Maine who led the study and is now the director of the StopHazing Research Lab, said a new online survey is expected to be conducted and published in 2026. Allan and her research team hope to gain a deeper understanding of campus culture as they focus on more higher education institutions like historically Black colleges and universities, and include responses from campus staff, including deans of students, coaches, safety officers, Greek life advisers, and others, Allan told CNN. Hazing prevention can't be a one-size-fits-all approach and even getting students to open up about it is challenging, Allan said. So how do you get students to open up about hazing and self-report their experiences for the research? Allan says the key is to not ask directly. 'Instead you ask about certain behaviors,' she said. 'The behaviors would meet the definition, some, not all … some of the behaviors are positive group team-building behaviors that are non-hazing, but there are also many hazing behaviors that would meet the definition of hazing.' Getting students to report hazing is challenging because the practice thrives on the desire to connect with others, belonging, and secrecy through what Lipkins calls 'the code of silence.' When the code of silence is communicated directly, it directs members to remain tight-lipped about the group's activities, and it's also passed through stories of the past that create intimidation to make it clear to the people being hazed that if anything were to be revealed, it would result in trouble, according to Lipkins. For Allan, prevention can be custom-built by focusing on multiple fronts: public health strategies, skill-building techniques, research and of course, education and training as highlighted through a free, online workshop on StopHazing's site. 'It's not really focused on 'thou shall not haze,' it's more, how do we think about the groups we're in and the relationships we have with our teammates or with our fraternity brothers or with our band mates?,' she said. Lipkins, on the other hand, remains skeptical of any effective prevention methods. She said there's a lot of emphasis placed on focusing on student education, when it should really be on the adults and the systems and methods in which the students are educated. 'They (the adults) may write the policy, but in most cases, they're not actually enacting the policies,' she said. 'So I would say we have to start from the superintendent all the way down to any part of the school system, so that the bus driver is reporting … the school resource officer, the athletic trainer, the people cleaning up the mess that the kids are leaving.' Advocates and experts hope new research on hazing coupled with a newly enacted national law requiring colleges to share annual hazing statistics and reports will paint a clearer picture and prevent hazing. In December, former President Joe Biden signed the 'Stop Campus Hazing Act' into legislation, an amendment to The Clery Act, which says colleges must maintain and disclose campus crime statistics and security information. The Stop Campus Hazing Act requires colleges to post their hazing policy on its website and share which campus organizations have violated it – giving prospective students and their families a more informed look at groups they're interested in, outline how to report incidents and compile an annual report showing what organizations were found in violation of the school's policy, the act states. Here's a timeline of how the act is expected to be implemented, according to the Clery Center: January 1, 2025: Institutions should begin collecting hazing statistics to include in the annual security report. June 23, 2025: Hazing policies must be in place. July 1, 2025: Institutions must have a process for documenting violations of the institution's standards of conduct relating to hazing. December 23, 2025: The Campus Hazing Transparency Report, which includes the violations that institutions begin documenting in July, must be publicly available. The Campus Hazing Transparency Report must be updated at least two times a year. October 1, 2026: Hazing statistics will first be included in the 2026 annual security report (2025 statistics). At least 44 states have enacted anti-hazing legislation but their scope varies by state, according to data compiled by StopHazing. New Jersey, for example, has one of the strictest hazing laws in the country. Public and non-public middle schools, high schools, and colleges are required to adopt anti-hazing policies and penalties, and the state classifies hazing as a third-degree crime if it results in death or serious bodily injury. Jolayne Houtz wishes more information about hazing incidents at schools was publicly available when her son was in college. Her son, Sam Martinez, died in November 2019 of alcohol poisoning while he was a pledge of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity at Washington State University, according to the Whitman County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. 'I worried about things like parties and alcohol and adjusting to life away from home a lot, and I didn't really think about hazing,' Houtz told CNN. 'And Sam paid for that with his life.' Martinez and another pledge were ordered to finish a half-gallon of rum between them, and Martinez's blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.372 after his death, almost five times the legal limit, his family previously said in a statement. Some former members of the fraternity were sentenced to several days in jail for providing alcohol at an initiation event to a minor, and Washington State University removed official recognition of the fraternity until May 2026. In January, the Washington State Court of Appeals ruled that the university bears responsibility for Martinez's alcohol-related death, marking the first time a university has been held accountable for a hazing-related fatality in the state of Washington, CNN affiliate KING reported at the time. CNN has reached out to Washington State University for comment. When her son said he was interested in joining the fraternity, Houtz said she searched online for information about it and only found positive things. 'All I found were the accolades and the talk about community service and the brand new fraternity house that they had just renovated,' she said. Houtz, who lobbied for state laws against hazing and the Stop Campus Hazing Act, along with others developed a database that lists hazing incidents in the US and said more efforts are needed to make sure families have access to information and prevention tools. 'If I'd known even a 10th of what I learned later, Sam would never have joined that that fraternity and maybe not that university, so I feel like anything that we can do to put data and information into the hands of parents and students will help protect them and prevent another tragedy like the one that we experienced,' Houtz said.
CNN
03-05-2025
- CNN
Hazing can happen in the closest communities. Preventing it is harder than you'd think
Acceptance, rite of passage, and tradition continue fueling the age-old practice of hazing, making it prevalent on collegiate sports teams, among Greek life groups and at the high school level despite state and federal laws. This time, 11 teen varsity lacrosse players from Westhill High School in Syracuse, New York, are accused of plotting or participating in a prank late April – a staged kidnapping that unraveled quickly in what Onondaga County District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick called 'criminal activity' and 'hazing on steroids.' Now, one younger player is traumatized, and the older teammates were arrested and charged with unlawful imprisonment in the second degree, all while law enforcement officials try to keep up with the fallout as the tight-knit community attempts to make sense of it all. While hazing has come under intense scrutiny in recent years, incidents like the one in Syracuse are reminders of how vague the true scope of hazing nationwide remains and the need for more tangible hazing prevention practices, experts and advocates say. Advocacy groups, sports teams and college websites have their own definitions of what constitutes hazing but the underlying intent of the practice remains the same across the board. Hazing is an activity that 'humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers' an individual seeking to join – or participate in – a group, 'regardless of the person's willingness to participate,' according to advocacy group StopHazing. Hank Nuwer, a professor emeritus at Franklin College and adjunct professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks who has written several books on hazing, estimates there has been at least one hazing death reported in the United States every year from 1959 to 2021. The only year without any reported deaths was 2022, with more reported in 2023, 2024 and so far this year, Nuwer said. Susan Lipkins, a psychologist and the author of 'Preventing Hazing,' said there may be a disconnect between what most people think hazing and rites of passage are, and what students are facing. 'And what's actually happening is a lot more violent,' Lipkins said. Hazing deaths have become 'more hazardous' and are 'spreading in terms of, it's not just White college boys, but it's girls and minorities,' too, Lipkins said. Lipkins said students have told her the patterns and timings of hazing incidents are formulaic in that they occur at the same time of year with the traditions being largely similar but they are increasing in severity each year. More than half of students in the United States are hazed before they enter college, according to a 2008 University of Maine study, which is considered the only one of its kind painting — not a complete— but partial picture of hazing on college campuses. Once those students were in college, 73% of those who joined fraternities and sororities experienced what they described as some form of hazing at least once, the study found. Alcohol consumption, humiliation, isolation, sleep deprivation and sex acts were common hazing practices across the different groups in which hazing occurs. Elizabeth Allan, a professor of higher education at the University of Maine who led the study and is now the director of the StopHazing Research Lab, said a new online survey is expected to be conducted and published in 2026. Allan and her research team hope to gain a deeper understanding of campus culture as they focus on more higher education institutions like historically Black colleges and universities, and include responses from campus staff, including deans of students, coaches, safety officers, Greek life advisers, and others, Allan told CNN. Hazing prevention can't be a one-size-fits-all approach and even getting students to open up about it is challenging, Allan said. So how do you get students to open up about hazing and self-report their experiences for the research? Allan says the key is to not ask directly. 'Instead you ask about certain behaviors,' she said. 'The behaviors would meet the definition, some, not all … some of the behaviors are positive group team-building behaviors that are non-hazing, but there are also many hazing behaviors that would meet the definition of hazing.' Getting students to report hazing is challenging because the practice thrives on the desire to connect with others, belonging, and secrecy through what Lipkins calls 'the code of silence.' When the code of silence is communicated directly, it directs members to remain tight-lipped about the group's activities, and it's also passed through stories of the past that create intimidation to make it clear to the people being hazed that if anything were to be revealed, it would result in trouble, according to Lipkins. For Allan, prevention can be custom-built by focusing on multiple fronts: public health strategies, skill-building techniques, research and of course, education and training as highlighted through a free, online workshop on StopHazing's site. 'It's not really focused on 'thou shall not haze,' it's more, how do we think about the groups we're in and the relationships we have with our teammates or with our fraternity brothers or with our band mates?,' she said. Lipkins, on the other hand, remains skeptical of any effective prevention methods. She said there's a lot of emphasis placed on focusing on student education, when it should really be on the adults and the systems and methods in which the students are educated. 'They (the adults) may write the policy, but in most cases, they're not actually enacting the policies,' she said. 'So I would say we have to start from the superintendent all the way down to any part of the school system, so that the bus driver is reporting … the school resource officer, the athletic trainer, the people cleaning up the mess that the kids are leaving.' Advocates and experts hope new research on hazing coupled with a newly enacted national law requiring colleges to share annual hazing statistics and reports will paint a clearer picture and prevent hazing. In December, former President Joe Biden signed the 'Stop Campus Hazing Act' into legislation, an amendment to The Clery Act, which says colleges must maintain and disclose campus crime statistics and security information. The Stop Campus Hazing Act requires colleges to post their hazing policy on its website and share which campus organizations have violated it – giving prospective students and their families a more informed look at groups they're interested in, outline how to report incidents and compile an annual report showing what organizations were found in violation of the school's policy, the act states. Here's a timeline of how the act is expected to be implemented, according to the Clery Center: January 1, 2025: Institutions should begin collecting hazing statistics to include in the annual security report. June 23, 2025: Hazing policies must be in place. July 1, 2025: Institutions must have a process for documenting violations of the institution's standards of conduct relating to hazing. December 23, 2025: The Campus Hazing Transparency Report, which includes the violations that institutions begin documenting in July, must be publicly available. The Campus Hazing Transparency Report must be updated at least two times a year. October 1, 2026: Hazing statistics will first be included in the 2026 annual security report (2025 statistics). At least 44 states have enacted anti-hazing legislation but their scope varies by state, according to data compiled by StopHazing. New Jersey, for example, has one of the strictest hazing laws in the country. Public and non-public middle schools, high schools, and colleges are required to adopt anti-hazing policies and penalties, and the state classifies hazing as a third-degree crime if it results in death or serious bodily injury. Jolayne Houtz wishes more information about hazing incidents at schools was publicly available when her son was in college. Her son, Sam Martinez, died in November 2019 of alcohol poisoning while he was a pledge of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity at Washington State University, according to the Whitman County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. 'I worried about things like parties and alcohol and adjusting to life away from home a lot, and I didn't really think about hazing,' Houtz told CNN. 'And Sam paid for that with his life.' Martinez and another pledge were ordered to finish a half-gallon of rum between them, and Martinez's blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.372 after his death, almost five times the legal limit, his family previously said in a statement. Some former members of the fraternity were sentenced to several days in jail for providing alcohol at an initiation event to a minor, and Washington State University removed official recognition of the fraternity until May 2026. In January, the Washington State Court of Appeals ruled that the university bears responsibility for Martinez's alcohol-related death, marking the first time a university has been held accountable for a hazing-related fatality in the state of Washington, CNN affiliate KING reported at the time. CNN has reached out to Washington State University for comment. When her son said he was interested in joining the fraternity, Houtz said she searched online for information about it and only found positive things. 'All I found were the accolades and the talk about community service and the brand new fraternity house that they had just renovated,' she said. Houtz, who lobbied for state laws against hazing and the Stop Campus Hazing Act, along with others developed a database that lists hazing incidents in the US and said more efforts are needed to make sure families have access to information and prevention tools. 'If I'd known even a 10th of what I learned later, Sam would never have joined that that fraternity and maybe not that university, so I feel like anything that we can do to put data and information into the hands of parents and students will help protect them and prevent another tragedy like the one that we experienced,' Houtz said.
