Every year California performs around 100 kidney transplants in children but, on average, around 50 of these patients will have their body reject the transplant. These children then have to undergo regular dialysis while waiting for a new organ. Even the successful transplants require a lifetime of immunosuppression medications. These medications can prevent rejection but … Continue reading Making transplants easier for kids, and charting a new approach to fighting solid tumors.
immune cells
Myocarditis in Cancer Patients Is Driven by Specific Immune Cells
In a new study, researchers from UC San Francisco and Vanderbilt University Medical Center have identified specific immune cells that cause a potentially lethal heart inflammation -called myocarditis- in a small fraction of patients treated with powerful cancer immunotherapy drugs. Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle. It can cause chest pain, shortness of breath, … Continue reading Myocarditis in Cancer Patients Is Driven by Specific Immune Cells
Sweet 16 and counting for stem cell clinical trial
Dr. Judy Shizuru: Photo courtesy Jasper Therapeutics Over the years the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has invested a lot in helping children born with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), a fatal immune disorder. And we have seen great results with some researchers reporting a 95 percent success rate in curing these children. Now there’s … Continue reading Sweet 16 and counting for stem cell clinical trial
Developing a natural killer for cancer
Lili Yang UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center: Photo courtesy Reed Hutchinson PhotoGraphics When Lili Yang was studying for her PhD she approached her mentor, the Nobel Laureate Dr. David Baltimore, and told him she was thinking about writing her thesis on a combination of gene therapy, immunotherapy and stem cell therapy. She says he … Continue reading Developing a natural killer for cancer
Pioneering a new approach to HIV/AIDS
Dr. Steven Deeks. Photo courtesy UCSF I’ve always been impressed by the willingness of individuals to step forward and volunteer for a clinical trial. Even more so when they are the first person ever to test a first-in-human therapy. They really are pioneers in helping advance a whole new approach to treating disease. That’s certainly … Continue reading Pioneering a new approach to HIV/AIDS
Funding a Clinical Trial for a Functional Cure for HIV
The use of antiretroviral drugs has turned HIV/AIDS from a fatal disease to one that can, in many cases in the US, be controlled. But these drugs are not a cure. That's why the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) voted to approve investing $6.85 million in a therapy that aims … Continue reading Funding a Clinical Trial for a Functional Cure for HIV
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
Stem cell agency invests in therapy using killer cells to target colorectal, breast and ovarian cancers
While there have been some encouraging advances in treating cancer in recent decades, there are still many cancers that either resist treatment or recur after treatment. Today the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) approved investing in a therapy targeting some of these hard-to-treat tumors. BioEclipse Therapeutics Inc. was awarded nearly … Continue reading Stem cell agency invests in therapy using killer cells to target colorectal, breast and ovarian cancers
Recovery from muscle loss injuries hindered by immune cell conflicts
During a game in 2018, Alex Smith suffered a compound fracture that broke both the tibia and fibula in his right leg. The gruesome injury aside, the former 49ers quarterback soon developed life-threatening necrotizing fasciitis — a rare bacterial infection — that resulted in sepsis and required him to undergo 17 surgeries. In a battle to save his … Continue reading Recovery from muscle loss injuries hindered by immune cell conflicts
Joining the movement to fight rare diseases
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST It’s hard to think of something as being rare when it affects up to 30 million Americans and 300 million people worldwide. But the truth is there are more than 6,000 conditions – those affecting 200,000 people or fewer – that are considered rare. Today, … Continue reading Joining the movement to fight rare diseases
The Stem Cellar 