It’s official: the state of regenerative medicine is strong

A panel discussion to a packed house at the annual ARM State of the Industry briefing Calling it a “year of dramatic impact for patients” Janet Lambert, the CEO of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), gave the annual “State of the Industry” briefing today in San Francisco. The briefing is a traditional kick-off event … Continue reading It’s official: the state of regenerative medicine is strong

Dashed Dreams and New Hope: A Quest to Cure Thymic Deficiency

By Kelly Shepard, PhD., CIRM's Associate Director, Discovery & Translation CIRM has previously blogged about advances in treating certain forms of  “bubble baby” disease”, where a person is born with a defect in their blood forming stem cells that results in a deficient immune system, rendering them vulnerable to lethal infections by all manner of … Continue reading Dashed Dreams and New Hope: A Quest to Cure Thymic Deficiency

The Top CIRM Blogs of 2019

This year the most widely read blog was actually one we wrote back in 2018. It’s the transcript of a Facebook Live: “Ask the Stem Cell Team” event about strokes and stroke recovery. Because stroke is the third leading cause of death and disability in the US it’s probably no surprise this blog has lasting … Continue reading The Top CIRM Blogs of 2019

The podcast that sounds like a science thriller but for the patients involved is all too real

Laura Beil, writer and producer of the Bad Batch podcast As we get close to the end of the year there is no shortage of lists of the “best of the year” and even this year the “best of the decade”. But when it comes to podcasts it would be hard to think of a … Continue reading The podcast that sounds like a science thriller but for the patients involved is all too real

Facebook Live: Ask the Stem Cell Team

On December 12th we hosted our latest 'Facebook Live: Ask the Stem Cell Team' event. This time around we really did mean team. We had a host of our Science Officers answering questions from friends and supporters of CIRM. We got a lot of questions and didn't have enough time to address them all. So … Continue reading Facebook Live: Ask the Stem Cell Team

Brain wave of an idea is picked as one of the top science stories of the year

Dr. Alysson Muotri: Photo courtesy UC San Diego It's always gratifying when one of the projects you have funded starts to show promising results. It says your faith in the research and the researcher were well founded. But it's also fun when the project you fund turns up some really cool findings and is picked … Continue reading Brain wave of an idea is picked as one of the top science stories of the year

Journalism Pioneer and Founder of Latino Cancer Institute Joins Stem Cell Agency Board

Ysabel Duron Ysabel Duron, a pioneering award-winning Latina journalist, and a leading figure in cancer education in the Latino community in the US, has been appointed to the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.   State Controller Betty Yee made the appointment saying: “Ms. Duron’s personal perspective as a (cancer) survivor and … Continue reading Journalism Pioneer and Founder of Latino Cancer Institute Joins Stem Cell Agency Board

CIRM’s Alpha Stem Cell Clinics Given High Profile Role in Clinical Trials Network

Sue and Bill Gross Hall Photo by Hoang Xuan Pham/ UC Irvine There are a growing number of predatory clinics in California and around the US, offering unproven stem cell therapies. For patients seeking a legitimate therapy it can often be hard finding a reliable clinic, one offering treatments based on the rigorous science required … Continue reading CIRM’s Alpha Stem Cell Clinics Given High Profile Role in Clinical Trials Network

An off-the-shelf cancer killer

iPS Cell: Photo from the lab of Kathrin Plath at UCLA One of the hottest areas in cancer research right now is the use of CAR-T treatments. These use the patient’s own re-engineered immune system cells to target and kill the tumor. But the thing that makes it so appealing – using the patient’s own … Continue reading An off-the-shelf cancer killer

Researchers create a better way to grow blood stem cells

UCLA's Dr. Hanna Mikkola and Vincenzo Calvanese, lead scientists on the study. Photo courtesy UCLA Blood stem cells are a vital part of us. They create all the other kinds of blood cells in our body and are used in bone marrow transplants to help people battling leukemia or other blood cancers. The problem is … Continue reading Researchers create a better way to grow blood stem cells