When you have a great story to tell there’s no shame in repeating it as often as you can. After all, not everyone gets to hear first time around. Or second or third time. So that’s why we wanted to give you another opportunity to tune into some of the great presentations and discussions at our recent CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinic Network Symposium.
It was a day of fascinating science, heart-warming, and heart-breaking, stories. A day to celebrate the progress being made and to discuss the challenges that still lie ahead.
There is a wide selection of topics from “Driving Towards a Cure” – which looks at some pioneering work being done in research targeting type 1 diabetes and HIV/AIDS – to Cancer Clinical Trials, that looks at therapies for multiple myeloma, brain cancer and leukemia.
The COVID-19 pandemic also proved the background for two detailed discussions on our funding for projects targeting the coronavirus, and for how the lessons learned from the pandemic can help us be more responsive to the needs of underserved communities.
Here’s the agenda for the day and with each topic there’s a link to the video of the presentation and conversation.
Thursday October 8, 2020
View Recording: CIRM Fellows Trainees
9:00am Welcome Mehrdad Abedi, MD, UC Davis Health, ASCC Program Director
Catriona Jamieson, MD, View Recording: ASCC Network Value Proposition
9:10am Session I: Cures for Rare Diseases Innovation in Action
Moderator: Mark Walters, MD, UCSF, ASCC Program Director
Don Kohn, MD, UCLA – View Recording: Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID)
Mark Walters, MD, UCSF, ASCC Program Director – View Recording: Thalassemia
Pawash Priyank, View Recording: Patient Experience – SCID
Olivia and Stacy Stahl, View Recording: Patient Experience – Thalassemia
10 minute panel discussion/Q&A
BREAK
9:55am Session II: Addressing Unmet Medical Needs: Driving Towards a Cure
Moderator: John Zaia, MD, City of Hope, ASCC Program Direction
Mehrdad Abedi, MD, UC Davis Health, ASCC Program Director – View Recording: HIV
Manasi Jaiman, MD, MPH, ViaCyte, Vice President, Clinical Development – View Recording: Diabetes
Jeff Taylor, Patient Experience – HIV
10 minute panel discussion/Q&A
BREAK
10:40am Session III: Cancer Clinical Trials: Networking for Impact
Moderator: Catriona Jamieson, MD, UC San Diego, ASCC Program Director
Daniela Bota, MD, PhD, UC Irvine, ASCC Program Director – View Recording: Glioblastoma
Michael Choi, MD, UC San Diego – View Recording: Cirmtuzimab
Matthew Spear, MD, Poseida Therapeutics, Chief Medical Officer – View Recording: Multiple Myeloma
John Lapham, Patient Experience – View Recording: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
10 minute panel discussion/Q&A
BREAK
11:30am Session IV: Responding to COVID-19 and Engaging Communities
Two live “roundtable conversation” sessions, 1 hour each.
Roundtable 1: Moderator Maria Millan, MD, CIRM
CIRM’s / ASCC Network’s response to COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma, Cell Therapy and Novel Vaccine Approaches
Panelists
Michael Matthay, MD, UC San Francisco: ARDS Program
Rachael Callcut, MD, MSPH, FACS, UC Davis: ARDS Program
John Zaia, MD, City of Hope: Convalescent Plasma Program
Daniela Bota, MD, PhD, UC Irvine: Natural Killer Cells as a Treatment Strategy
Key questions for panelists:
- Describe your trial or clinical program?
- What steps did you take to provide access to disproportionately impacted communities?
- How is it part of the overall scientific response to COVID-19?
- How has the ASCC Network infrastructure accelerated this response?
Brief Break
Roundtable 2: Moderator Ysabel Duron, The Latino Cancer Institute and Latinas Contra Cancer
View Recording: Roundtable 2
Community Engagement and Lessons Learned from the COVID Programs.
Panelists
Marsha Treadwell, PhD, UC San Francisco: Community Engagement
Sheila Young, MD, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science: Convalescent Plasma Program in the community
David Lo, MD, PhD, UC Riverside: Bringing a public health perspective to clinical interventions
Key questions for panelists:
- What were important lessons learned from the COVID programs?
- How can CIRM and the ASCC Network achieve equipoise among communities and engender trust in clinical research?
- How can CIRM and the ASCC Network address structural barriers (e.g. job constrains, geographic access) that limit opportunities to participate in clinical trials?
The Stem Cellar 