Each month CIRM President Alan Trounson gives his perspective on recently published papers he thinks will be valuable in moving the field of stem cell research forward. This month’s report, along with an archive of past reports, is available on the CIRM website.Scientists in Cincinnati have found how the stem cells that create the blood … Continue reading Guest blogger Alan Trounson — October’s stem cell research highlights

Kevin McCormack is blogging this week from the Partnering for Cures meeting in New York.Moderator Josh Sommer and panelists Jessica Richmond and Geoffrey Ling discussed the role of patients can play in driving new curesPatients have always been at the heart of the work we do at the stem cell agency. It’s only natural; they … Continue reading Patient power – the democratization of science

Kevin McCormack is blogging this week from the Partnering for Cures meeting in New York. Jesse Dylan and Erik Perakslis speaking about the value of big data at Partnering for CuresIf Big Science was the theme that started the Partnering for Cures conference in New York City –– then Big Data was the mantra that … Continue reading People Power – how patients can use their own data to advance medical research

Members of the Berkeley Student Society for Stem Cell Research walk visitors through a hands on stem cell activityIt does not get much better than the highlights of my past week. First my former hometown team, the Boston Red Sox, won the World Series at Fenway Park, which is down the street from my old … Continue reading San Francisco’s baseball park turned into site where kids see science can be as much fun as a ball game

Stem cell research in San Diego got a $100 million boost today from philanthropist T. Denny Sanford, who is a long-time donor to research in the San Diego area. He is the  namesake behind the Sanford Consortium stem cell research building, to which he donated $30 million. He also donated $70 million to the renamed … Continue reading $100 million donation to speed stem cell research in San Diego

Kevin McCormack is blogging this week from the Partnering for Cures meeting in New York. When you think of scientific research the traditional model is individual researchers or teams of researchers working on their own projects. But Big Science turns that model on its head, getting those individuals to work together in a collective program … Continue reading Big Science is here to stay – pooling knowledge to advance science

Here are some stem cell stories that caught our eye this past week. Some are groundbreaking science, others are of personal interest to us, and still others are just fun. Stem cells and the girl who never grew up. When Brook Greenberg passed away last week at the age of 20 she looked like a … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: aging, side effects of bone marrow transplant and spinal cord injury

Encapsulated Pro-Islet™ graft containing pancreatic endocrine cells, courtesy of ViacyteAlmost 350 million people across the globe have diabetes. That’s more than the entire population of the United States. Within the United States, there are an estimated 25 million people with diabetes. That’s nearly the entire population of the state of Texas. Finding long-term solutions for … Continue reading Best of the blog: Progress in diabetes research

Last week we wrote about work from the lab of Ricardo Dolmetsch at Stanford University who generated neurons from the skin of people with a form of autism. The goal is to compare those to neurons from people without autism to see where the differences lie and search for drugs to erase those differences.Postdoctoral fellow … Continue reading Photo of the week: neurons reveal possible clues to an autism syndrome