Hopeful signs for treating brain injuries There are more than 200,000 cases of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the US every year. The injuries can be devastating, resulting in everything from difficult sleeping to memory loss, depression and severe disability. There is no cure. But this week the SanBio Group had some encouraging news from … Continue reading Stories that caught our eye: SanBio’s Traumatic Brain Injury trial hits its target; A new approach to endometriosis; and a SCID kid celebrates Halloween in style
Cell Type
Living with sickle cell disease: one person’s story of pain and prejudice and their hopes for a stem cell therapy
Whenever we hold an in-person Board meeting at CIRM we like to bring along a patient or patient advocate to address the Board. Hearing from the people they are trying to help, who are benefiting or may benefit from a therapy CIRM is funding, reminds them of the real-world implications of the decisions they make … Continue reading Living with sickle cell disease: one person’s story of pain and prejudice and their hopes for a stem cell therapy
Mechanical forces are the key to speedy recovery after blood cancer treatment
Blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, are projected to be responsible for 10% of all new cancer diagnoses this year. These types of cancers are often treated by killing the patient’s bone marrow (the site of blood cell manufacturing), with a treatment called irradiation. While effective for ridding the body of cancerous cells, this … Continue reading Mechanical forces are the key to speedy recovery after blood cancer treatment
How stem cells may help children battling birth injuries
From time to time we invite patients or patient advocates to post a guest blog on the Stem Cellar. Today we are featuring Brigitta Burguess, a mother and writer from Michigan, who focuses on pregnancy, parenting, and children with disabilities. Brigitta writes for the HIE Help Center, a website that offers information and supportive resources … Continue reading How stem cells may help children battling birth injuries
Stem Cell Agency Invests in New Immunotherapy Approach to HIV, Plus Promising Projects Targeting Blindness and Leukemia
While we have made great progress in developing therapies that control the AIDS virus, HIV/AIDS remains a chronic condition and HIV medicines themselves can give rise to a new set of medical issues. That’s why the Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has awarded $3.8 million to a team from City of Hope … Continue reading Stem Cell Agency Invests in New Immunotherapy Approach to HIV, Plus Promising Projects Targeting Blindness and Leukemia
Sequencing data helps us understand the genes involved in heart cell development
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States and is estimated to be responsible for 31% of all deaths globally. This disease encompasses a wide variety of conditions that all effect how well your heart is able to pump blood to the rest of your body. … Continue reading Sequencing data helps us understand the genes involved in heart cell development
Hits and Myths as people celebrate Stem Cell Awareness Day
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
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