We have a lot to be thankful for this year at CIRM, including clinical trials that have started recently testing therapies for HIV/AIDS and heart disease. We are also thankful for the passionate patient advocate community that has been so supportive of our work. We're taking an e-break for the holiday, returning with more stem … Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving from CIRM

Forbes has a good story today about a stem cell trial for ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) being carried out by Neuralstem. We don't fund that company, but we do fund a disease team award to Clive Svendson at Cedars-Sinai that is a sort of son-of-Neuralstem.The Neuralstem trial is starting with neural progenitor cells--cells that are … Continue reading Forbes takes a look at stem cell therapies for ALS

You know a new technology has permeated the consciousness of the population when high school students around the country are telling their teachers they want to learn about it. Today's students are asking to learn about stem cells, and we at CIRM have just the solution for teachers looking for tools: our high school stem … Continue reading High School students asking to learn about stem cells

Vision loss at the center of the field of vision caused by macular degenerationMacular degeneration is an irreversible form of blindness in which a person loses vision at the center of their field of view. It’s caused by progressive damage to the central retina, or macula. It’s the leading cause of blindness in Americans over … Continue reading Best of the blog: Progress in blindness research

Our grantees at the Parkinson's Institute have found new genes associated with Parkinson's disease. These will help the scientists understand the origins of the disease, develop drugs and also screen for people who are at risk.Until now, scientists knew only a small number of gene mutations that play a role in Parkinson's disease. These are … Continue reading CIRM grantees find new genes associated with Parkinson’s disease

Kidney bud created from human stem cells (in blue and green). Cells in red are mouse kidney cells. Courtesy of the Salk Institute for Biological StudiesOur grantees at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have used stem cells to create three dimensional kidney buds in a lab dish. These miniature structures aren't intended as replacement … Continue reading CIRM grantees at Salk create kidney buds from human stem cells

iPS cells When the Japan-based Alliance Forum Foundation brought its meeting to San Francisco last Friday it had two goals. The non-profit wanted to deepen the long tradition of collaboration between Japan and the U.S. and to honor Shinya Yamanaka, who won the Nobel Prize last year and who bridges the two countries with labs … Continue reading Breakthrough discoveries: how iPS cells are changing stem cell science

Anytime you get two Nobel Prize winners and several world-class experts on stem cell research on the same panel, particularly when the topic of conversation is “Stem Cells and our Society”, you know you are going to hear some interesting thoughts and observations.That was certainly the case at the World Alliance Forum conference in San … Continue reading Stem Cells and Society, charting a course for the future

Dr. Hiromitsu Nakauchi recieved a CIRM award to move his world renown stem cell research lab to Stanford University.When sports teams lure a star player away from a rival team they don’t shy away from boasting about their new signing and what a coup it was to get him or her. The world of academic … Continue reading World renown stem cell scientist moves research to Stanford University with CIRM award

(note: if the English subtitles don't appear, press the "CC" button below the video window)De acuerdo, mentí. Hace unas semanas escribí lo que supuestamente iba a ser el ultimo blog sobre los Premios a la Creatividad del 2013, un programa de verano financiado por CIRM que dió la oportunidad, a 70 estudiantes de 40 escuelas … Continue reading Estudiante Latina de Secundaria Fija su Interés en Células Madre / Latina High School Student Sets Her Sights on Stem Cells