Center Stage / the conversation
President & CEO, RheeGen
Dr. Tommy Rhee, DC, is a sports chiropractor, regenerative medicine pioneer, military veteran, and the founder and CEO of RheeGen — the world's first transdermal stem cell-derived regenerative therapy cream. Based in Tampa, Florida, Dr. Rhee has built a career defined by an unrelenting pursuit of what comes next in human performance and recovery, consistently introducing innovations to his region before they became standard of care. A man of uncommon range, he brings the discipline of military service together with the precision of clinical science and the vision of a serial innovator.
Dr. Tommy Rhee, DC, is a sports chiropractor, regenerative medicine pioneer, military veteran, and the founder and CEO of RheeGen — the world's first transdermal stem cell-derived regenerative therapy cream. Based in Tampa, Florida, Dr. Rhee has built a career defined by an unrelenting pursuit of what comes next in human performance and recovery, consistently introducing innovations to his region before they became standard of care. A man of uncommon range, he brings the discipline of military service together with the precision of clinical science and the vision of a serial innovator. Dr. Rhee's path into sports medicine began with his military background, which instilled the foundational principles of performance under pressure that have guided every stage of his career. He went on to establish himself in the Los Angeles market, working extensively with athletes at UCLA before relocating to Tampa Bay. His reputation as a high-performance clinician earned him the role of Team Chiropractor for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2015 to 2018, where he worked directly with NFL players navigating the extreme physical demands of professional football. During this period he also worked with WWE performers and professional tennis players — populations whose bodies face chronic, high-intensity wear and who require solutions that are both effective and operationally viable within the rhythms of a competitive season. Throughout his clinical career, Dr. Rhee established a pattern of being first. He became the first Master Provider of Active Release Techniques (ART) in Tampa Bay in 2008, introduced Exercise With Oxygen Therapy (EWOT) to the region in 2012, brought WholeBody Cryotherapy to Tampa Bay in 2015, introduced PiezoWave Shockwave therapy in 2016, and pioneered CryoFos in 2018. Each milestone reflected not just adoption of emerging technology, but a deliberate philosophy: meet the cutting edge and bring it to the people who need it. That same philosophy eventually pointed him toward the frontier of regenerative medicine — and toward a problem no one had yet solved. The genesis of RheeGen came directly from his NFL players. During the season, stem cell injections were not a viable option — the logistics, the recovery windows, and the risks of live-cell administration made them impractical. His players wanted the benefits of regenerative therapy without the injection. Dr. Rhee's response was to build an entirely new delivery system. The result is RheeGen: a patent-pending transdermal cream containing human mesenchymal stem cell-derived bioactive biomolecules sourced from the Wharton's jelly of umbilical cord tissue. The formula, encased in lipid nanoparticles and lyophilized for stability, is engineered to penetrate all three layers of skin — delivering signaling molecules including cytokines and proteins that instruct the body's existing tissue to regenerate, heal, and recover. Critically, RheeGen contains no live stem cells and carries no foreign DNA, making it FDA-compliant and eliminating the risks associated with live-cell injection therapies. At up to 95% less cost than injections that can run from $4,500 to $15,000, RheeGen represents one of the most significant accessibility breakthroughs in the history of regenerative medicine. Dr. Rhee is also the published author of "The Future of Regenerative Medicine: Unlocking the Potential of Topical Stem Cell Therapy," a work that articulates both the scientific foundation and the broader vision for non-invasive regenerative care. In his clinical practice, he integrates Heart Rate Variability (HRV) monitoring as a tool for measuring autonomic nervous system function, recovery status, and the body's readiness to regenerate — bridging the gap between subjective recovery reports and objective physiological data. His work with professional athletes has deepened his understanding of the mental architecture of recovery, and he applies those insights to everyday patients, weekend warriors, and anyone seeking access to the regenerative tools that were once reserved exclusively for the elite.
Regenerative medicine evolution
RheeGen represents a significant leap forward in regenerative medicine. Our commitment to innovation and accessibility has led to the development of a transdermal regenerative cream that redefines the possibilities of at-home regenerative therapy.
Dr. Rhee articulating the core mission behind RheeGen — that world-class regenerative medicine should not be confined to clinical settings or reserved for those who can afford four-figure injection costs.
Signaling vs. live cells explained
It's going to basically signal. That's where you look at the real merit of this. It's information that you're trying to get from this tissue to go into your existing tissue to say — turn on, regenerate, heal faster. It's about signaling.
Dr. Rhee explaining the mechanism by which RheeGen works — not by introducing live cells, but by delivering signaling molecules that communicate with the body's existing cellular machinery, triggering a regenerative response without the risks of live-cell administration.
The NFL player problem that created RheeGen
They were complaining about stem cell injections. They can't do it during the season — so that's why this was developed. They wanted a different delivery system than injectable.
Dr. Rhee describing the exact moment the idea for RheeGen was born — a direct response to the practical limitations his NFL players faced, proving that real innovation often starts not in a lab but in a locker room conversation.
Cost disruption and accessibility
If it works for NFL players, I can go ahead and provide it to civilians and weekend warriors.
Dr. Rhee on why professional athletes are the ideal proving ground for regenerative technology — their extreme demands and close monitoring make them the most rigorous test case, and success at that level translates powerfully to everyday populations.
HRV and the autonomic nervous system
HRV and the autonomic nervous system — understanding how you can command it — that's the hardest thing. This thing that's supposed to be automatic in our body. Well, there's a subconscious level where you can really grasp and hold it and control it.
Dr. Rhee discussing Heart Rate Variability as a clinical measurement tool, and why the autonomic nervous system — long considered entirely involuntary — is actually more responsive to intentional intervention than most people realize.
The mental game of recovery
Recovery isn't just physical. The mental game is everything. I've watched guys with god-given talent not make it because they couldn't get their mind right after an injury. And I've watched guys with less talent come all the way back because they stayed locked in.
Dr. Rhee reflecting on years working with professional athletes and the pattern he observed consistently — that physical recovery is inseparable from psychological resilience, and that mindset is often the variable that determines outcomes.
The evolution of regenerative medicine
We went from prolotherapy to PRP to bone marrow stem cells to fat tissue to Wharton's jelly — and now we're taking the best of what we've learned about signaling and putting it into a format that anybody can use, every day, at home.
Dr. Rhee tracing the full arc of regenerative medicine's evolution and positioning RheeGen as the logical next step — not a departure from the science, but a distillation of its most powerful principles into a non-invasive delivery system.
The future of non-invasive regenerative therapy
The future of regenerative medicine is non-invasive. We're going to look back at this period of injections the same way we look back at early surgery — as a necessary step, but not the destination.
Dr. Rhee offering a broader prediction about the trajectory of the field, grounded in his clinical experience across multiple generations of regenerative technology and his conviction that accessibility and non-invasion are the defining frontiers.
The Cream Cure: The Cream That Could Bankrupt The Injection Industry
Episode #CS-001
Center Stage
They were complaining about stem cell injections. They can't do it during the season — so that's why this was developed. They wanted a different delivery system than injectable.
It's information that you're trying to get from this tissue to go into your existing tissue to say — turn on, regenerate, heal faster. It's about signaling.
If it works for NFL players, I can go ahead and provide it to civilians and weekend warriors.
RheeGen is the world's first transdermal regenerative therapy cream, developed by Dr. Tommy Rhee. It contains human mesenchymal stem cell-derived bioactive biomolecules sourced from the Wharton's jelly of umbilical cord tissue, encased in lipid nanoparticles and lyophilized for stability. Unlike other topical products, RheeGen is engineered to penetrate all three layers of skin and deliver active signaling molecules — cytokines and proteins — that instruct the body's own cells to regenerate and heal. The formula is patent-pending and FDA-compliant. Dr. Rhee describes it as a genuine first in the category: not an improvement on an existing product, but an entirely new delivery system for regenerative science.
According to Dr. Rhee, the key to RheeGen's mechanism is signaling rather than live cell transfer. The cream does not contain live stem cells. Instead, it delivers the bioactive molecules — the signaling compounds — that stem cells naturally produce. These molecules communicate with your existing tissue, essentially sending an instruction to turn on the body's natural regenerative processes: regenerate, heal faster, reduce inflammation. Dr. Rhee explains it as information transfer: the biomolecules carry biological intelligence from donor tissue into your skin, triggering a response in your own cells without introducing any foreign DNA or live cellular material.
Dr. Rhee describes RheeGen as an FDA-compliant bioactive biomolecule formula. Because it contains no live stem cells and no foreign DNA, it avoids the regulatory and safety complexities associated with live-cell injection therapies. The formula is patent-pending. Dr. Rhee emphasizes that the decision to use signaling molecules rather than live cells was deliberate — it makes the product both safer and more predictable, since you are not introducing unknown genetic material into the body. The lyophilization process ensures stability of up to 12 months under refrigeration.
Traditional stem cell injection therapies can cost between $4,500 and $15,000 per treatment. Dr. Rhee states that RheeGen is up to 95% more cost-effective than those traditional options. The protocol involves daily topical application over a 30-day process, which Dr. Rhee says yields results comparable to injectables — without the clinical setting, the needles, the recovery window, or the prohibitive price tag. He originally developed RheeGen specifically because his NFL players could not receive injections during the active season, making cost-effectiveness and operational convenience core design requirements from the beginning.
RheeGen was created by Dr. Tommy Rhee, a sports chiropractor and former Team Chiropractor for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The product was born directly out of his clinical work with NFL players who needed regenerative therapy during the active football season but could not tolerate or schedule stem cell injections. His players wanted the benefits without the injection. Rather than accepting that limitation, Dr. Rhee developed an entirely new delivery system — a transdermal cream that delivers the same bioactive signaling molecules through the skin. He has since made it available to the broader public, with the conviction that if it works for professional athletes, it can work for everyday people.
Dr. Rhee originally developed RheeGen for the extreme demands of professional athletes — NFL players, WWE performers, and tennis players — who experience chronic, high-intensity physical wear. However, he designed the product with accessibility in mind, explicitly extending its availability to everyday people, weekend warriors, and anyone dealing with inflammation, slow recovery, or conditions that have traditionally been addressed through regenerative injections. His clinical practice also incorporates RheeGen alongside other modalities including HRV monitoring, shockwave therapy, and cryotherapy, suggesting it functions as part of a broader regenerative and recovery protocol rather than a standalone treatment.
Sophia: Okay, we are back. Welcome back to Mornings in the Lab, everybody. I'm Sophia Grant, and we are rolling right into Center Stage — and this one, I have been waiting for. We are bringing in Dr. Tommy Rhee. Dr. Tommy, welcome to the Lab. video clip: Up next on Center Stage — Dr. Tommy Rhee, the chiropractor who may have just changed regenerative medicine forever. What if the breakthrough that professional athletes have been paying fifteen thousand dollars for could fit in the palm of your hand and cost a fraction of the price? For years, stem cell therapy has been the gold standard in sports medicine and recovery — but it's been locked behind a wall of needles, clinical settings, and price tags that put it out of reach for most people. Dr. Tommy Rhee is a sports chiropractor, military veteran, and former Team Chiropractor for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He's also the founder and CEO of RheeGen — the world's first transdermal regenerative therapy cream, a patent-pending formula that delivers the regenerative power of stem cell-derived bioactive biomolecules directly through the skin. No injections. No clinic. No forty-five hundred dollar bill. Dr. Rhee developed RheeGen after his NFL players told him they couldn't do stem cell injections during the season — so he found another way. What he created may be up to ninety-five percent more cost-effective than traditional injectables and produce comparable results in just thirty days of daily application. He's a published author, a pioneer of multiple firsts in Tampa Bay, and now he's here to explain the science, the story, and why the injection industry should probably be paying attention. This is The Cream Cure — The Cream That Could Bankrupt The Injection Industry. Center Stage. Let's go. Sophia: Dr. Tommy, I've been looking forward to this conversation. I feel like every time I talk to somebody in the regenerative medicine space there's another layer, another evolution of where the science is going. But what you have done — creating a topical cream that delivers what injections deliver — that feels different. That feels like a genuine disruption. So I want to get into all of it. The science, the story of how it came to be, what it actually does inside the body. But first — for people who are just meeting you — military background, chiropractor, Buccaneers team doc, now a biotech founder — give us the version that connects all of those dots. Tommy: Yeah, absolutely. So you know, I started with the military, which taught me discipline. It taught me how to think under pressure, how to perform when the conditions are not perfect. And that mindset followed me into chiropractic school, followed me to UCLA working with their athletes, and ultimately followed me to Tampa Bay working with the Bucs. And what I kept seeing — whether it was an active duty service member or a defensive lineman — was that the body has an incredible ability to heal itself when you give it the right inputs. The question I kept asking was: how do we accelerate that? How do we make that more accessible? Regenerative medicine was always the answer in my mind, but the delivery system was broken. And that's ultimately what led me to create RheeGen. Sophia: The delivery system was broken — I love that framing. And we are going to unpack exactly what you mean by that because it is the heart of the whole story. Everybody stay with us. Dr. Tommy Rhee, Center Stage, right here on Mornings in the Lab.
Center Stage introduction · ~2 minutes · Sophia introduces Dr. Tommy Rhee, framing the episode around the bold claim embedded in the title — that a topical cream could challenge the multi-billion-dollar injection industry. Sets the tone of disruption and invites viewers into the story. · Tommy's background: military, discipline, and the making of a clinician · ~4 minutes · Dr. Rhee connects his military service to the performance mindset that has driven every stage of his career. Discusses how the discipline of flight training translated into clinical discipline, and why he was drawn to sports medicine and the limits of human recovery. · UCLA to Tampa: building a reputation in sports chiropractic · ~3 minutes · Dr. Rhee describes his work with UCLA athletes and the transition to Tampa Bay, establishing his credibility as a practitioner who operated at the highest levels of competitive sport before founding a company. Covers his role as a consistent pioneer of new modalities in the Tampa Bay market. · The Tampa Bay Buccaneers years: working with NFL players · ~4 minutes · Dr. Rhee shares what it was like serving as Team Chiropractor for the Buccaneers from 2015 to 2018 — the demands of the role, the injuries he managed, and the patterns he observed in how elite athletes recover physically and mentally. Also covers his work with WWE and tennis players. · The evolution of regenerative medicine · ~4 minutes · Dr. Rhee traces the full arc of regenerative medicine from prolotherapy through PRP, bone marrow stem cells, fat tissue, and Wharton's jelly — explaining what each generation got right, what it got wrong, and what the field was always moving toward. · The problem with injections: why the delivery system was broken · ~4 minutes · Dr. Rhee explains the specific limitations of injectable stem cell therapy — cost, clinical access requirements, recovery windows, and the inability of in-season athletes to use them — and why these limitations made a new delivery system not just desirable but necessary. · How RheeGen was born: the NFL player conversation · ~3 minutes · Dr. Rhee recounts the direct conversation with his NFL players that triggered the invention of RheeGen. They needed regenerative therapy during the season. Injections weren't viable. His response was to build something that had never existed before. · The science of RheeGen: signaling molecules vs. live cells · ~5 minutes · Dr. Rhee breaks down the mechanism of RheeGen in accessible terms — explaining why bioactive signaling molecules (cytokines, proteins from Wharton's jelly) are more predictable and safer than live cell injections, how lipid nanoparticles enable transdermal penetration through all three skin layers, and what 'signaling' actually means at the cellular level. · HRV, the autonomic nervous system, and measuring recovery · ~4 minutes · Dr. Rhee explains how he uses Heart Rate Variability in clinical practice to objectively measure autonomic nervous system function and recovery readiness. Discusses the parasympathetic vs. sympathetic balance and why the nervous system's state determines the body's capacity to regenerate. · The mental game: mindset and micro victories in recovery · ~3 minutes · Dr. Rhee shares observations from working with professional athletes about the psychological dimension of recovery — the role of mindset, micro victories, and mental resilience in determining who comes back from injury and who doesn't, regardless of physical talent. · From pro athletes to everyday people: practical applications of RheeGen · ~3 minutes · Dr. Rhee explains why proving RheeGen with NFL players gave him the confidence to make it available to civilians and weekend warriors. Covers the 30-day application protocol, who is using it, and what conditions it is designed to address for non-professional populations. · The future of regenerative medicine and closing · ~2 minutes · Dr. Rhee offers his vision for non-invasive regenerative medicine as the next frontier, and Sophia closes the segment by directing viewers to RheeGen.com and physicalchiro.com. A warm exchange on what this innovation means for accessibility in healthcare.
