About Us


About Houston Regenerative Medicine

Houston Regenerative Medicine is a physician-led clinic in North Houston, founded in 2015 by Dr. Joel Cherdack, DC. We work with patients who've been told they need surgery, who've been managed with cortisone for years, or who want their own bodies to do the healing before they sign up for hardware. Our protocols use autologous stem cell therapy, platelet-rich plasma (PRP), peptide therapy, hormone replacement, and our two proprietary stacks: acCELLerate™ and Rejuvenate™. Every sample is processed in our on-site Houston lab. Every injection is placed under real-time imaging. Every patient starts with the same first step, a free consultation that includes an honest read of your imaging and a written plan that fits your specific case.

A letter from our founder, Dr. Joel Cherdack, DC

Dear patient,

When I founded Houston Regenerative Medicine in 2015, I had one rule: first, do no harm. That principle is older than modern medicine, and it's still the right one. It's also why we built this clinic the way we did.

I started in molecular biology at the University of Florida, finishing my BS in 1995, then went on to earn my Doctor of Chiropractic from Palmer College in 2001. Across more than twenty years in clinical practice, I watched the same pattern repeat. A patient with knee pain gets cortisone. The cortisone works for a few months. The cartilage thins. The next shot works for slightly less time. Eventually, the conversation becomes "we can replace the joint." For some patients, that's the right answer. For many, it isn't, and they were never offered the option in the middle.

That middle is what we do.

We use cells, plasma, and growth factors taken from your own body to drive natural tissue repair. We pair that biology with a clean lab process and image-guided delivery, so the cells actually reach the tissue that needs them. We do not use frozen amniotic or umbilical cord products that sit on a shelf. We do not run a franchise script. And we do not promise outcomes we cannot substantiate.

If we can help, we'll tell you. If you'd be better served by surgery, hormone optimization, or a different specialty, we'll tell you that too. The free consultation is genuinely free, and there is no pressure on the other side of it.

Welcome.

Sincerely,

Dr. Joel Cherdack, DC

Founder and Medical Director

Houston Regenerative Medicine

Why we exist: the gap between cortisone and surgery

Most orthopedic care in this country falls into two buckets. Bucket one: pain management with NSAIDs, corticosteroid injections, and physical therapy. Bucket two: joint replacement. The space between those two is where regenerative medicine lives.

That gap is where a lot of patients in their 40s, 50s, and 60s get stuck. The cortisone shots are losing efficacy. The MRI shows wear that's "not bad enough yet" for replacement. Daily activity quietly shrinks: shorter walks, no stairs at night, no tennis on weekends. The medical system calls that "managing it." We call it lost time.

Regenerative therapies are not a cure-all, and they do not replace the cases where surgery is genuinely the right call. Applied honestly, they are the option that often gets skipped: use the body's own repair machinery, supported by the right biology, delivered to the right location, before the joint or tendon is past the point of no return.

What makes our approach different

On-site Houston lab. Stem cell viability drops the longer cells sit outside the body. Our lab is in the same building as the procedure suite, so the time between harvest, processing, and re-injection is measured in minutes, not hours.

Dual-source autologous stem cells. Most clinics that offer stem cell therapy harvest from one source, either bone marrow or adipose tissue. Dr. Cherdack's protocol combines both. Bone marrow contributes mesenchymal cells with strong growth-factor signaling. Adipose tissue contributes a higher raw cell count. Used together in the same procedure, the two sources complement each other rather than compete.

Real-time imaging on every injection. Ultrasound for soft tissue and superficial joints. Fluoroscopy for spine and deeper structures. Without imaging, even a skilled clinician is essentially guessing where the needle tip lands. We don't guess.

Autologous only. We do not use off-the-shelf amniotic or umbilical cord products. Live-cell counts in frozen birth tissue are low, the regulatory ground is shifting, and the FDA has been clear about the line. Your cells, processed in our lab, injected the same day. That is the policy.

Meet your care team

Dr. Joel Cherdack, DC — Founder and Medical Director

  1. Doctor of Chiropractic, Palmer College of Chiropractic (2001)
  2. Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology, University of Florida (1995)
  3. Twenty-plus years in clinical regenerative practice
  4. Developer of the acCELLerate™ and Rejuvenate™ protocols

Dr. Cherdack leads the practice and the protocol design. His molecular biology background drives the clinic's emphasis on cellular science over marketing language.

Dr. Andrew Hong, MD — Interventional Pain Management Specialist

  1. Doctor of Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine
  2. Bachelor of Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  3. Decade-plus of interventional pain management practice
  4. Focus on minimally invasive, image-guided procedures

Dr. Hong oversees the interventional pain side of the practice. His role is the conservative check on every plan: if you'd be better served by something other than regenerative care, he will say so.

Our proprietary protocols

acCELLerate™ Therapy. A single-session procedure combining adipose-derived stem cells, bone marrow concentrate, and platelet-rich plasma. Built for joint and soft tissue cases (knees, hips, shoulders, rotator cuffs, advanced arthritis) where patients have been told replacement is the next step.

Rejuvenate™ Therapy. The "soil and seed" approach. Optimize the body's hormonal environment first (the soil), then deliver the regenerative cells (the seed). Cells injected into a hormonally depleted body have less to work with. This protocol pairs bioidentical hormone optimization with mesenchymal stem cells and growth factors.

Conditions we work with

We treat musculoskeletal, metabolic, and hormonal conditions, including:

  1. Knee pain and osteoarthritis
  2. Hip pain and hip arthritis
  3. Shoulder injuries and rotator cuff tears
  4. Chronic back pain
  5. Peripheral neuropathy
  6. Hair loss in men and women
  7. Low testosterone and andropause
  8. Hormone imbalance in men and women
  9. Medically supervised weight loss with Semaglutide
  10. Peptide therapy

What patients tell us

"Pursuing surgery, especially for shoulders, the outcome isn't really that good. Having a natural way to heal your shoulder is definitely the avenue I wanted to take. After 3 weeks, I started to notice the range of motion in my shoulder improved by 75%; pain was reduced by 50%."

Stem Cell Therapy patient

"Walking and stairs have been so incredibly painful. Having this procedure, there is no downtime, and I'm feeling so much better."

acCELLerate™ Therapy patient

"They spun out the stem cells in probably about an hour and then shot it into my right knee. It was painless and simple, and I got up and walked out with no pain in my knee. It's been 8 weeks since I had the procedure done, and the coolest thing is I don't even think about my knee."

Knee stem cell patient

Individual results vary. Regenerative medicine is not appropriate for every patient or every condition. Your eligibility, expected outcomes, and treatment plan can only be established after a clinical evaluation.

Houston, and the neighborhoods we serve

Our clinic is at 100 Glenborough Dr, Suite 0403J, in the Greenspoint area of North Houston. The location is intentional: it gives patients across the metro a high-access destination off I-45 and Beltway 8, with quick access from George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) for out-of-town patients.

We see patients from across Greater Houston, including River Oaks, Clear Lake, Galleria and Uptown, West University Place, Memorial Villages, Upper Kirby, Cypress, Kingwood, and Mont Belvieu, along with The Woodlands and Spring.