Monday, June 28, 2021

HepaTx Develops a New Treatment for Liver


Gil Seton is a real estate investment expert with more than three decades of professional experience in the industry. Since 2003, Gil Seton has served as manager of SP Investment Fund, LLC in Los Angeles, California. The company invests in affordable housing communities and has expanded into investing in early stage technology and biotechnology startups, including HepaTx.

A biotechnology company specializing in creating stem-cell treatments that will provide an alternative to liver transplants, HepaTx developed an innovative therapy for end-stage liver diseases that can potentially save lives. The existing gold standard treatment for severe liver disease (organ transplant) is expensive and only available to a fraction of the population who need the treatment.

According to HepaTx findings, a direct infusion of stem cells into the liver can replace diseases and dead liver cells. Once the stem cells are manufactured, they can be banked and distributed to hospitals and facilities where they can be used. Tests using mouse models have proven zero tumor risks and shown promising physiological efficacy of the infused stem cells (hepatocytes).

The new therapy, SF-Heps, is a licensed three-part process. It starts with isolating stem cells from discarded lipoaspirate, followed by manipulating the chemical compound of the cells into functional liver cells. The last step involves the infusion of modified stem cells into portal veins for engraftment.

Friday, July 24, 2020

CFHP Provides Affordable Housing and Employment


A Manager with SP Investment Fund, LLC in Los Angeles, Gil Seton works primarily with investing in real estate ventures involving apartment complexes that provide affordable housing and receive some form of government subsidy. Gil Seton has worked with numerous local, state and federal housing subsidy programs, including the Century Freeway Housing Program (CFHP) which was funded with federal funds and originally administered by the State of California Housing and Community Development Department. Later, the CFHP became administered by a private non-profit named Century Housing Corporation.

CFHP grew out of a need to address affordable housing in areas extending from Norwalk to LAX (airport) that was destroyed so that the Century Freeway f (I-105) could be built. In a landmark decision, Judge Harry Pregerson of the United State Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit presided over a Consent Decree wherein Caltrans and the Department of Transportation were required to provide funds to subsidize the replacement of the affordable housing stock that would be demolished to make way for the Century Freeway. The funds went to the newly created Century Freeway Housing Program.

Billed as the largest construction project at the time, the city would have its freeway, but the residents would also be provided 4,000 affordable housing units, in addition to employment opportunities for both women and minorities.

Monday, June 29, 2020

Hearts with Hope - a Lifesaving Legacy Passed from Father to Son


As manager of Los Angeles based SP Investment Fund, LLC, Gil Seton has led the creation of the firm's substantial investment portfolio of affordable multifamily housing units that serve tens of thousands of low and very low income individuals, as well as the firm's substantial early stage technology company portfolio with a focus on biotechnology and life sciences. Gil Seton’s many charitable and social service interests include Hearts with Hope, an organization that sends medical, dental, and humanitarian help to children with congenital heart disease in Peru and other Latin American countries.

One of the goals of Hearts with Hope is to provide education and training to medical personnel in under-resourced countries, allowing them to expand their medical infrastructures so they can better diagnose and treat pediatric congenital heart conditions.

Hearts with Hope began with founder Dr. Juan Alejos, a pediatric cardiologist at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. Dr. Alejos was inspired by the work of his late father, also a pediatrician. The elder Dr. Alejos had received his medical training in Peru. After his death, his son visited Peru to connect with family memories.

While in Peru, Dr. Alejos offered to lecture at the country’s only pediatric hospital, but officials there urged him to provide hands-on training for the staff instead. Later, Dr. Alejos, accompanied by other cardiologists, returned to Peru. They performed surgeries while instructing their peers, and a new organization was born.

Over the years, Hearts with Hope has expanded its lifesaving work to Bolivia, Central America, and the Philippines. The organization’s team members commit to working with local physicians for 10 years to help them build both skills and infrastructure.

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Operation Smile’s Unique Way of Thanking COVID-19 Frontliners