Every year, the second Wednesday in October is set aside as Stem Cell Awareness Day, a time to celebrate the progress being made in the field and to remind us of the challenges that lie ahead. While the event began here in California in 2008, with then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger highlighting the work of CIRM, saying: … Continue reading Hits and Myths as people celebrate Stem Cell Awareness Day
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
New partnership to make CIRM supported treatment for type 1 diabetes even better
ViaCyte, a regenerative medicine company long backed by CIRM, announced a partnership with CRISPR Therapeutics to increase the number of people with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) who could benefit from their PEC-Direct therapeutic implant. Last year, CIRM granted ViaCyte $20 million to facilitate development of PEC-Direct, a device that both transplants pancreatic progenitor stem … Continue reading New partnership to make CIRM supported treatment for type 1 diabetes even better
California’s Stem Cell Agency Accelerates Treatments to Patients
The following article is an Op Ed that appeared in today's print version of the San Francisco Chronicle Biotechnology was born in California in the 1970s based on the discovery out of one of its universities and California is responsible for an industry that has impacted the lives of billions of people worldwide. In 2004, … Continue reading California’s Stem Cell Agency Accelerates Treatments to Patients
A cancer therapy developed at a CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinic tests its legs against breast cancer
A Phase 1 clinical trial co-sponsored by CIRM and Oncternal Therapeutics, has started treating patients at UC San Diego (UCSD). The goal of the trial is to test the safety and anti-tumor activity of the Oncternal-developed drug, cirmtuzumab, in treating breast cancer. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer to occur in women, regardless … Continue reading A cancer therapy developed at a CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinic tests its legs against breast cancer
Support cells have different roles in blood stem cell maintenance before and after stress
A new study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, reveals how different types of cells in the bone marrow are responsible for supporting blood stem cell maintenance before and after injury. It was already well known in the field that two different cell types, namely endothelial cells (which line blood vessels) and stromal cells … Continue reading Support cells have different roles in blood stem cell maintenance before and after stress
Saying goodbye to a good friend and a stem cell pioneer: Karl Trede
Sometimes even courage and determination are not enough. Karl Trede had courage and determination in droves as he fought a 12 year battle against cancer. He recently lost that battle. But he remains an inspiration for all who knew him. I got to know Karl for our 2016 Annual Report. Karl had been diagnosed with … Continue reading Saying goodbye to a good friend and a stem cell pioneer: Karl Trede
How small talk led to a big break; a summer internship at CIRM
At CIRM, California's Stem Cell Agency, we are fortunate to work with some amazing people. This summer we added another name that list when Melissa Cairos joined us for an internship. Melissa is now on to the next part of her adventure, as a policy wonk in Washington DC., but before she left we asked … Continue reading How small talk led to a big break; a summer internship at CIRM
A stepping stone for bringing stem cell therapy to patients with ALS
Imagine being told that you have a condition that gradually causes you to lose the ability to control your body movements, from picking up a pencil to walking to even breathing. Such is the reality for the nearly 6,000 people who are diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) every year, in the United States alone. … Continue reading A stepping stone for bringing stem cell therapy to patients with ALS
Has Regenerative Medicine Come of Age?
For the past few years the Signals blog site - which offers an insiders’ perspectives on the world of regenerative medicine and stem cell research - has hosted what it calls a "Blog Carnival". This is an event where bloggers from across the stem cell field are invited to submit a piece based on a … Continue reading Has Regenerative Medicine Come of Age?
What makes an expert an expert?
When we launched our Facebook Live “Ask the Expert” series earlier this year we wanted to create an opportunity for people to hear from and question experts about specific diseases or disorders. The experts we turned to were medical ones, neurologists and neuroscientists in the case of the first two Facebook Live events, stroke and … Continue reading What makes an expert an expert?