Named for the La Jolla Torrey Pines Mesa in San Diego, the Stem Cell Meeting on the Mesa opened its eighth annual meeting Monday. For the past three years, the original one-day scientific meeting at the Salk Institute, which will take place Wednesday, has been preceded by a two-day partnering forum organized by CIRM and … Continue reading Partnering forum seeks to build the collaborations necessary to bring cell therapies to the market successfully

Periodically we update our Board about progress being made by CIRM grantees who are working on developing new therapies.Of course, all of our awards are given out with the idea that they will speed therapies, but some are actively pursuing known targets and are hoping to start testing them in humans. Those are the awards … Continue reading Update on the progress of our therapies in development

The Berkeley Student Society for Stem Cell Research pulled off a coup Saturday. They filled an auditorium with about 150 people, about two thirds of them looking like students, at 10:00 on a weekend. What’s more, the event featured some serious science and in depth discussion of how scientists of all ages, patients, and members … Continue reading UC students pull together stem cell community and exhort members to stay connected and spread the word

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. Image Credit: AveLardo Skin stem cells and circadian rhythms. The stem cells in our skin seem to know how to tell time, or at least solar … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: cord blood for leukemia, liver cancer and stem cells in sync with the sun

Neil Littman is Business Development Officer at CIRM CIRM recently released a white paper entitled “Key Tools and Technology Hurdles in Advancing Stem-Cell Therapies” based on a Roundtable held on June 25th in San Francisco (you can download the PDF from our website). The Roundtable was the result of a collaborative effort between CIRM and … Continue reading Bringing Together Academic Researchers & Industry for the Advancement of Stem Cell Tools & Technologies

This entry was originally published on the Canadian Stem Cell Network's Signals blog. What are embryonic stem cells? Narrated by Dr. Janet Rossant from Stem Cell Network on Vimeo.Last month saw the launch of an exciting new science communication project, StemCellShorts. In this post I will briefly explain how each piece in the series was … Continue reading StemCellShorts #2 – What are embryonic stem cells?

Cynthia Schaffer supports CIRM’s Business Development and Industry Engagement and Commercialization activities.  In the midst of World Series season I’m in a team sports frame of mind. And as I help prepare CIRM for our annual foray to the Stem Cell Meeting on the Mesa, I’m cheering on our teams of scientists who will be … Continue reading Connecting our research teams with investors at Meeting on the Mesa

As you get older you tend to focus more on how much time you have left and how best to use that time. It’s true in life, and it’s equally true in business. That’s why some time ago our President, Alan Trounson, put together a Scientific Advisory Board to help advise us on how best … Continue reading CIRM’s board gets some strategic advice and ponders conflicts of interest rules

Nan Luke shared her story about living with multiple sclerosis with our governing board. Read her Story of Hope on our website.Our grantees at Scripps Research Institute have found that a drug already in use for Parkinson's disease might also help people with multiple sclerosis.Multiple sclerosis occurs when a person's immune system attacks the insulation … Continue reading CIRM grantees find Parkinson’s drug shows promise in treating multiple sclerosis

Laureen Forman's son Brandon has autism. Read her Story of Hope on our website.Somewhere between one and one and a half million people live with an autism spectrum disorder. It’s the fastest growing developmental disability and costs the U.S. $60 billion dollars a year. On this blog, we’ve written about how our grantees are progressing … Continue reading Best of the blog: Progress in autism research