Almost every day I get an email or phone call from someone asking if we have a stem cell therapy for bad knees. The inquiries are from people who’ve been told they need surgery to replace joints damaged by age and arthritis. They’re not alone. Every year around 600,000 Americans get a knee replacement. That … Continue reading A shot in the arm for people with bad knees
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Breaking the isolation of rare diseases
How can something that affects 30 million Americans, one in ten people in the US, be called rare? But that’s the case with people who have a rare disease. There are around 7,000 different diseases that are categorized as rare because they affect fewer than 200,000 people. Less than five percent of these diseases have … Continue reading Breaking the isolation of rare diseases
Friday Roundup: A better kind of blood stem cell transplant; Encouraging news from spinal cord injury trial; Finding an “elusive” cell that could help diabetics
Cool Instagram image of the week: Chemo- and radiation-free blood stem cell transplant showing promise Bubble baby disease, also known as severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), is an inherited disorder that leaves newborns without an effective immune system. Currently, the only approved treatment for SCID is a blood stem cell transplant, in which the patient’s defective … Continue reading Friday Roundup: A better kind of blood stem cell transplant; Encouraging news from spinal cord injury trial; Finding an “elusive” cell that could help diabetics
Using the courts to protect patients from unapproved stem cell therapies
A recent article in Nature looked at using lawsuits to help rein in the activities of clinics offering "unapproved" therapies. CIRM's Geoff Lomax explains. When public health officials wanted to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking they filed lawsuits against the tobacco companies. They accused Big Tobacco of deceptive marketing and hiding the negative … Continue reading Using the courts to protect patients from unapproved stem cell therapies
A Noble pursuit; finding the best science to help the most people
Mark Noble, Ph.D., is a pioneer in stem cell research and the Director of the University of Rochester Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Institute in New York. He is also a member of CIRM’s Grants Working Group (GWG), the panel of independent scientific experts we use to review research applications for funding and decide which … Continue reading A Noble pursuit; finding the best science to help the most people
Seeing is believing. Proof a CIRM-funded therapy is making a difference
You have almost certainly never heard of Thelma, or met her, or know anything about her. She’s a lady living in England who, if it wasn’t for a CIRM-funded therapy, might not be living at all. She’s proof that what we do, is helping people. Thelma is featured in a video about a treatment for … Continue reading Seeing is believing. Proof a CIRM-funded therapy is making a difference
California gets first royalty check from Stem Cell Agency investments
CIRM recently shared in a little piece of history. The first royalty check, based on CIRM’s investment in stem cell research, was sent to the California State Treasurer’s office from City of Hope. It’s the first of what we hope will be many such checks, helping repay, not just the investment the state made in … Continue reading California gets first royalty check from Stem Cell Agency investments
Creating a platform to help transplanted stem cells survive after a heart attack
Repairing, even reversing, the damage caused by a heart attack is the Holy Grail of stem cell researchers. For years the Grail seemed out of reach because the cells that researchers transplanted into heart attack patients didn’t stick around long enough to do much good. Now researchers at Stanford may have found a way around … Continue reading Creating a platform to help transplanted stem cells survive after a heart attack
Just a Mom: The Journey of a Sickle Cell Disease Patient Advocate [video]
Adrienne Shapiro will tell you that she’s just a mom. And it’s true. She is just a mom. Just a mom who is the fourth generation of mothers in her family to have children born with sickle cell disease. Just a mom who was an early advocate of innovative stem cell and gene therapy research … Continue reading Just a Mom: The Journey of a Sickle Cell Disease Patient Advocate
The Journey of a Homegrown Stem Cell Research All-Star
Nothing makes a professional sports team prouder than its homegrown talent. Training and mentoring a promising, hard-working athlete who eventually helps carry the team to a championship can lift the spirits of an entire city. Here at CIRM, we hold a similar sense of pride in Brian Fury, one of our own homegrown all-stars. Nearly … Continue reading The Journey of a Homegrown Stem Cell Research All-Star
The Stem Cellar 