One of the great pleasures of my job is getting to meet the high school students who take part in our SPARK or Summer Internship to Accelerate Regenerative Medicine Knowledge program. It's a summer internship for high school students where they get to spend a couple of months working in a world class stem cell … Continue reading The present and future of regenerative medicine
Adult Stem Cells
Why people seek out unproven and potentially unsafe stem cell treatments
Every day I field phone calls and emails from people looking for a stem cell therapy to help them cope with everything from arthritis to cancer. Often, they will mention that they saw an ad for a clinic online or in a local newspaper claiming they had stem cell therapies that could help fix anything … Continue reading Why people seek out unproven and potentially unsafe stem cell treatments
Using stem cells and smart machines to warn of heart problems
Despite advances in treatments in recent years heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the US. It accounts for one in three deaths in this country, and many people are not even aware they have a problem until they have a heart attack. One of the early warning signs of danger is a … Continue reading Using stem cells and smart machines to warn of heart problems
A big deal for type 1 diabetes
It’s not often you get excited talking about company mergers, but a deal announced today is something worth getting excited about, particularly if you have type 1 diabetes (T1D). Today Vertex announced it was buying ViaCyte for $320 million in cash. Why is that important? Because both companies are working on developing stem cell therapies … Continue reading A big deal for type 1 diabetes
Stem Cell Agency Board Invests in 19 Discovery Research Programs Targeting Cancers, Heart Disease and Other Disorders
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST Dr. Judy Shizuru, Stanford University While stem cell and gene therapy research has advanced dramatically in recent years, there are still many unknowns and many questions remaining about how best to use these approaches in developing therapies. That’s why the governing Board of the California Institute … Continue reading Stem Cell Agency Board Invests in 19 Discovery Research Programs Targeting Cancers, Heart Disease and Other Disorders
Can regenerative medicine turn back the clock on aging?
One of my favorite phrases is “standing room only”. I got a chance to use it last week when we held a panel discussion on whether regenerative medicine could turn back the clock on aging. The event was at the annual conference of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) and more than 150 … Continue reading Can regenerative medicine turn back the clock on aging?
Two reasons to remember June 19th
Today marks two significant events for the Black community. June 19th is celebrated as Juneteenth, the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to ensure that the enslaved people there were free. That moment came two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation into law. June 19th is also … Continue reading Two reasons to remember June 19th
Stem cells help researchers map out glaucoma in search for new treatments
Glaucoma is the world’s leading cause of irreversible blindness. There is no cure and current treatments are only able to slow down the progression of the disease. Now research using stem cells to create a genetic blueprint of glaucoma is giving scientist a powerful new tool to combat the disease. Glaucoma occurs when healthy retinal … Continue reading Stem cells help researchers map out glaucoma in search for new treatments
Join us to hear how stem cell and gene therapy are taking on diseases of aging
It is estimated that as many as 90 percent of people in industrialized countries who die every day, die from diseases of aging such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Of those still alive the numbers aren’t much more reassuring. More than 80 percent of people over the age of 65 have a chronic medical … Continue reading Join us to hear how stem cell and gene therapy are taking on diseases of aging
The long road to developing a therapy for epilepsy
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST Good science takes time. That’s an important guiding phrase for researchers looking to develop new therapies. But it’s also a frustrating reality for patients who are waiting for something to help them now. That point was driven home last week when the governing board of the … Continue reading The long road to developing a therapy for epilepsy
The Stem Cellar 