One of the things that fascinates me is finding out how people end up in the job they have, the job they love. It is rare that the direction they started out on is the one they end on. Usually, people take several different paths, some intended, some unintended, to get to where they want … Continue reading Baseball’s loss is CIRM’s gain as Stanford’s Linda Boxer is appointed to Stem Cell Agency Board
Author: Kevin McCormack
New stem cell technique gives brain support cells a starring role
Astrocytes are some of the most common cells in the brain and central nervous system but they often get overlooked because they play a supporting role to the more glamorous neurons (even though they outnumber them around 50 to 1). But a new way of growing those astrocytes outside the brain could help pave the … Continue reading New stem cell technique gives brain support cells a starring role
Stem cell study shows how smoking attacks the developing liver in unborn babies
It’s no secret that smoking kills. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) smoking is responsible for around 480,000 deaths a year in the US, including more than 41,000 due to second hand smoke. Now a new study says that damage can begin in utero long before the child is born. Previous … Continue reading Stem cell study shows how smoking attacks the developing liver in unborn babies
Texas tries to go it alone in offering unproven stem cell therapies to patients
One of the most hotly debated topics in stem cell research is whether patients should be able to have easier access to unproven therapies using their own stem cells, at their own risk, and their own cost. It’s a debate that is dividing patients and physicians, researchers and lawmakers. In California, a bill working its … Continue reading Texas tries to go it alone in offering unproven stem cell therapies to patients
Positively good news from Asterias for CIRM-funded stem cell clinical trial for spinal cord injury
Whenever I give a talk on stem cells one of the questions I invariably get asked is “how do you know the cells are going where you want them to and doing what you want them to?” The answer is pretty simple: you look. That’s what Asterias Biotherapeutics did in their clinical trial to treat … Continue reading Positively good news from Asterias for CIRM-funded stem cell clinical trial for spinal cord injury
Stem cell stories that caught our eye: update on Capricor’s heart attack trial; lithium on the brain; and how stem cells do math
Today our partners Capricor Therapeutics announced that its stem cell therapy for patients who have experienced a large heart attack is unlikely to meet one of its key goals, namely reducing the scar size in the heart 12 months after treatment. The news came after analyzing results from patients at the halfway point of the … Continue reading Stem cell stories that caught our eye: update on Capricor’s heart attack trial; lithium on the brain; and how stem cells do math
A call to put the ‘public’ back in publication, and make stem cell research findings available to everyone
Thomas Gray probably wasn’t thinking about stem cell research when, in 1750 in his poem “Elegy in a Country Churchyard”, he wrote: “Full many a flower is born to blush unseen”. But a new study says that’s precisely what seems to happen to the findings of many stem cell clinical trials. They take place, but … Continue reading A call to put the ‘public’ back in publication, and make stem cell research findings available to everyone
jCyte gets FDA go-ahead for Fast Track review process of Retinitis Pigmentosa stem cell therapy
When the US Congress approved, and President Obama signed into law, the 21st Century Cures Act last year there was guarded optimism that this would help create a more efficient and streamlined, but no less safe, approval process for the most promising stem cell therapies. Even so many people took a wait and see approach, … Continue reading jCyte gets FDA go-ahead for Fast Track review process of Retinitis Pigmentosa stem cell therapy
CIRM’s Randy Mills leaving stem cell agency to take on new challenge
Some news releases are fun to write. Some less so. The one that CIRM posted today definitely falls into that latter group. It announced that CIRM’s President and CEO, Randy Mills, is leaving us to take up the role of President and CEO at the National Marrow Donor Program – NMPD/Be The Match. It’s a … Continue reading CIRM’s Randy Mills leaving stem cell agency to take on new challenge
Stem Cell Patient Advocates, Scientists and Doctors Unite Around a Common Cause
Some phrases just bring a smile to your face: “It’s a girl/boy”, “Congratulations, you got the job”, and “Another beer sir?” (or maybe that last one is just me). One other phrase that makes me smile is “packed house”. That’s why I was smiling so much at our Patient Advocate Event at UC San Diego … Continue reading Stem Cell Patient Advocates, Scientists and Doctors Unite Around a Common Cause
The Stem Cellar 