Most news outlets the past week have been filled with scandal-suggesting headlines about a college football player with a fake girlfriend and a bicyclist who sort of admitted to behavior that might have inappropriately enhanced his performance. But neither of these actions really impacted many people in a meaningful way. Contrast that with the long … Continue reading Athlete Behavior Most Deserving Scrutiny Is Not Making Headlines

Jonathan Thomas is chair of the CIRM governing board In early December the Institutes of Medicine (IOM) released its long-awaited report and recommendations on the stem cell agency, detailing what we do well and where we can do better. It was a report we commissioned ourselves because we want to make sure we are doing … Continue reading CIRM governing board to discuss IOM recommendations

I think they should call it “Hope on the Hill”. Or at least that’s how the Buck Institute for Research on Aging appeared to me as my colleagues and I drove up the winding Marin County hillside toward the institute’s campus. We visited the Buck to film the second installment of our Ask the Expert … Continue reading Ask the Expert: Parkinson’s and Stem Cell Research with the Buck Institute’s Xianmin Zeng

Diane Winokur being sworn in by Lieutenant Governor Gavin NewsomDiane Winokur said being sworn in as the newest member of our Governing Board, the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee (ICOC) was a day of very mixed emotions. Diane is the patient advocate representative for the ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and Multiple Sclerosis communities. She says while … Continue reading Mixed emotions for newest CIRM governing board member

Geoff Lomax is CIRM's Senior Officer to the Standards Working Group  The American Journal of Bioethics dedicated its 100th issue, published this month, to the topic of stem cell research. Editor David Magnus noted, “the explosion of research in this area created an experiment in research ethics oversight—the Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight (ESCRO) committee.”ESCROs … Continue reading CIRM Supporting a Remarkable Experiment in Research Ethics

Two of the happiest words in the English language are “tax refund”. First of all there’s a great sense of relief in just finishing your tax return and finding out you don’t owe any money. But to discover you are getting some back is truly delightful. It conjures up thoughts of ‘oh, now I can … Continue reading How You Can Help Fight Two Taxing Diseases

What are you doing March 7? If you are in the San Francisco area you should come up to our public meeting where you can learn how the state stem cell agency is fueling the development of new therapies for debilitating diseases and conditions like blindness, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative disorders such as … Continue reading Mix & mingle with stem cell scientists and learn about new therapies

Ear hair cell derived from embryonic stem cells | Stefan Heller, Stanford University School of MedicineA paper published this week in the journal Neuron nicely demonstrates how research using stem cells can help scientists devise better drugs. In this case, for deafness. As Gretchen Vogel from ScienceNOW so nicely writes, “All you graying, half-deaf Def … Continue reading Hear ye! Drug prompts inner ear stem cells to regenerate

Paul Knoepfler giving the Stem Cell Person of the Year award to Roman ReedLate last year we told you about UC Davis researcher and avid blogger Dr. Paul Knoepfler’s decision to hold a “Stem Cell Person of the Year” contest (you can read that blog here). He invited people to nominate someone they thought had … Continue reading Stem cell person of the year: Roman Reed

About one in 500 people have a genetic mutation that too often first shows up tragically when a young athlete dies suddenly on a basketball court or football field. The mutation causes their hearts to change shape, making them weaker and less able to pump blood. It also makes some people’s heart develop abnormal heartbeats. … Continue reading Help for enlarged hearts?