Building a progressive pipeline

Dr. Kelly Shepard By Dr. Kelly Shepard One of our favorite things to do at CIRM is deliver exciting news about CIRM projects. This usually entails discussion of recent discoveries that made headlines, or announcing the launch of a new CIRM-funded clinical trial …. tangible signs of progress towards addressing unmet medical needs through advances … Continue reading Building a progressive pipeline

Meet the people who are changing the future

Kristin MacDonald Every so often you hear a story and your first reaction is “oh, I have to share this with someone, anyone, everyone.” That’s what happened to me the other day. I was talking with Kristin MacDonald, an amazing woman, a fierce patient advocate and someone who took part in a CIRM-funded clinical trial … Continue reading Meet the people who are changing the future

CIRM partners with UCLA scientists to take on COVID-19

Don't you love it when someone does your job for you and does it so well you have no need to add anything to it! Doesn't happen very often - sad to say - but this week our friends at UCLA wrote a great article describing the work they are doing to target COVID-19. Best … Continue reading CIRM partners with UCLA scientists to take on COVID-19

Scientists develop immune evading pancreas organoids to treat type 1 diabetes

By Stephen Lin, PhD., CIRM Senior Science Officer A diabetic child is checking her blood sugar level (self glycaemia). Type 1 diabetes affects millions of people.  It is a disease where beta islet cells in the pancreas are targeted by the body’s own immune system, destroying the ability to produce insulin.  Without insulin, the body … Continue reading Scientists develop immune evading pancreas organoids to treat type 1 diabetes

Stem Cell All-Stars, All For You

Dr. Larry Goldstein, UC San Diego It’s not often you get a chance to hear some of the brightest minds around talk about their stem cell research and what it could mean for you, me and everyone else. That’s why we’re delighted to be bringing some of the sharpest tools in the stem cell shed … Continue reading Stem Cell All-Stars, All For You

Perseverance: from theory to therapy. Our story over the last year – and a half

Some of the stars of our Annual Report It’s been a long time coming. Eighteen months to be precise. Which is a peculiarly long time for an Annual Report. The world is certainly a very different place today than when we started, and yet our core mission hasn’t changed at all, except to spring into … Continue reading Perseverance: from theory to therapy. Our story over the last year – and a half

Using mini lungs to test potential COVID-19 therapies

Dr. Evan Snyder If someone told you they were working on lungs in a dish you might be forgiven for thinking that’s the worst idea for a new recipe you have ever heard of. But in the case of Dr. Evan Snyder and his team at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute it could be … Continue reading Using mini lungs to test potential COVID-19 therapies

Lab-grown human sperm cells could unlock treatments for infertility

Dr. Miles Wilkinson: Photo courtesy UCSD Out of 100 couples in the US, around 12 or 13 will have trouble starting a family. In one third of those cases the problem is male infertility (one third is female infertility and the other third is a combination of factors). In the past treatment options for men … Continue reading Lab-grown human sperm cells could unlock treatments for infertility

A ready-made approach to tackling COVID-19

Coronavirus particles, illustration. In late March the CIRM Board approved $5 million in emergency funding for COVID-19 research. The idea was to support great ideas from California’s researchers, some of which had already been tested for different conditions, and see if they could help in finding treatments or a vaccine for the coronavirus. Less than … Continue reading A ready-made approach to tackling COVID-19

Scientists Engineer Stem Cells to Fight HIV

Image of the virus that causes AIDS - courtesy NIH If that headline seems familiar it should. It came from an article in MIT Technology Review back in 2009. There have been many other headlines since then, all on the same subject, and yet here we are, in 2020, and still no cure for HIV/AIDS. … Continue reading Scientists Engineer Stem Cells to Fight HIV