Cellular Healing was officially founded in 2018, but its true journey began back in 1995 during Dr. Loniewski's fellowship in adult reconstruction at the University of Chicago. As fate would have it, he was accidentally placed in a lab alongside researchers who were looking at the use of platelet rich plasma with metal dental implants. This action sparked his interest in using this approach for common orthopedic conditions.
From the University of Chicago, he was hired as a consultant for some early biologic device developments with companies including Biomet, Lilly and Bionicare. Dr. Loniewski helped write some early research proposals and papers examining the effects of platelet rich plasma and the outcomes of total knee replacements, as well as micro-fracture arthroscopic procedures. The results of these studies convinced him that cells which lie within each of our own bodies have the innate ability to help our bodies heal themselves. This belief led to the use of platelet rich plasma or bone marrow concentrate on over 4,000 patients over a 10 year period, with exceptionally low infection and revision rates.
Dr. Loniewski expanded his knowledge and experience regarding cell based therapies with the introduction of adipose derived stem cell therapies in 2012; he was one of the first physicians in the Midwest to utilize this therapy for osteoarthritis of the hip and knee. Even so, he continued looking for ways to improve these remarkable results, and moved onto bone marrow derived stem cell therapy after noticing a ‘flattening effect” of adipose derived therapies.
Dr. Loniewski was hired as a consultant for both Celling Biologics in Austin, TX, and Ave Maria Biotechnology in Seattle, WA. Here, he set out to come up with methods to not only improve the functional results of bone marrow derived stem cell therapies, but to discover improved techniques to pre-condition patients and improve harvesting and delivery. Dr. Loniewski spent time with some of the leading experts in stem cell therapy and was able to integrate techniques learned from everywhere from Paris to Seattle to accomplish these goals.
To date, he has held training seminars for some of the largest orthopedic groups in the country, and is frequently asked to speak at both national and international conferences regarding these techniques. Careful record keeping of cellular, radiographic, functional, and pain measurements allows Dr. Loniewski to constantly improve and refine these techniques, so that his patients are continuously experiencing some of the best treatments and treatment results possible.
Dr. Loniewski not only wants to provide the highest quality cell based therapies, but also wants to ensure these therapies are used for the right patient with the right condition and in the right situation. He understands that each patient is unique and special; and although he developed strict criteria for use and implementation, knows that everyone he sees has honorable requests and relevant concerns. For this reason, no patient is treated with a standard protocol; rather, each patient receives special considerations and preparations in order to obtain optimal treatment results.
One of the general challenges of cell-based therapies is the lack of standardized insurance coding and payment for these procedures, along with the need for cash payments and the potential exclusion of these therapies based on the ability to pay. Dr. Loniewski has not only developed cutting-edge treatment protocols for cell based therapies, but has also discovered and verified methods to provide these at the lowest cost possible. He has many different levels of service and treatment plans to fit nearly any budget, and all without sacrificing quality and reproducibility. Part of the Cellular Healing philosophy is to provide therapy to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. Many of the patients who could benefit the most from these therapies are also the most vulnerable. Therefore, Cellular Healing has a not-for-profit component to allow patients who would benefit the most from this therapy to receive these life changing treatments.
A unique facet of the story behind cell-based therapies and Dr. Loniewski is the fact that not only has he helped develop these techniques, but he is also the recipient of these therapies. Very few researchers and surgeons can claim to have first-hand knowledge about all the components of the therapy they offer, but Dr. Loniewski has received bone marrow derived stem cell therapy for an aortic root aneurysm which led to the cancellation of his open-heart surgery and continual monitoring. Watch his story told in the adjacent video.
Through his story, patients can understand the driving force behind Cellular Healing: the respect for God, our Creator, and His creations. We recognize it may be politically incorrect to mention God and science in the same sentence; however, the scientific method, and almost every important scientific discovery, has been associated with a religious organization. It is impossible to separate faith from reason, because the more we know, the less we rely on our knowledge and the more we are in awe of the creations from the Creator.
One of the most wondrous miracles of medicine is neither a drug nor device created by man, but rather the bodies God created, with their innate and intuitive abilities to heal themselves. Cellular therapy amplifies, rather than mutes, this truth because we are bold enough to understand that it is the Creator and not the creations which provide us with this opportunity to help each other heal from within. We welcome you to join us on this continual path of discovery.
