CIRM-funded therapy to ease the impact of chemotherapy

Treatments for cancer have advanced a lot in recent years, but many still rely on the use of chemotherapy to either shrink tumors before surgery or help remove cancerous cells the surgery missed. The chemo can be very effective, but it’s also very toxic. Angiocrine Bioscience Inc. is developing a way to reduce those toxic … Continue reading CIRM-funded therapy to ease the impact of chemotherapy

CIRM-Funded Clinical Trial for Sickle Cell Gives Hope to People Battling the Disease

Marissa Cors (right) with her mother Adrienne Shapiro Marissa Cors has lived with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) for more than 40 years. The co-founder of The Sickle Cell Experience Live, an online platform designed to bring more awareness to Sickle Cell Disease around the world, says it’s hard, knowing that at any moment you may … Continue reading CIRM-Funded Clinical Trial for Sickle Cell Gives Hope to People Battling the Disease

CIRM Board Approves Four New Clinical Trials

A breakdown of CIRM's clinical trials by disease area This past Thursday the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) approved four new clinical trials in addition to ten new discovery research awards. These new awards bring the total number of CIRM-funded clinical trials to 68.  Additionally, these new additions have allowed … Continue reading CIRM Board Approves Four New Clinical Trials

Stem cell therapy for deadly childhood immune disorder goes four for four

The gold standard for any new therapy in the U.S. is approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This approval clears the therapy for sale and often also means it will be covered by insurance. But along the way there are other designations that can mean a lot to a company developing a new … Continue reading Stem cell therapy for deadly childhood immune disorder goes four for four

A look back at 15 years of CIRM funding at UCLA

Researchers in the lab of CIRM grantee Donald Kohn, M.D. Image Credit: UCLA Broad Stem Cell Center Since the first grant was issued in April 2006, CIRM has funded a wide range of research conducted by top scientists at UCLA for a wide range of diseases. To give a retrospective look at all the research, … Continue reading A look back at 15 years of CIRM funding at UCLA

Want to help us solve a mystery?

Patient that has recovered from Covid-19 donating blood plasma. Photo courtesy Science Photo Convalescent plasma has been in the news a lot lately as a potential treatment for people infected with the coronavirus. In August the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to use these products based on preliminary data … Continue reading Want to help us solve a mystery?

Cures, clinical trials and unmet medical needs

When you have a great story to tell there’s no shame in repeating it as often as you can. After all, not everyone gets to hear first time around. Or second or third time. So that’s why we wanted to give you another opportunity to tune into some of the great presentations and discussions at … Continue reading Cures, clinical trials and unmet medical needs

How stem cells are helping her win the fight of her life

We have all read about people who smoke a pack of cigarettes and drink a bottle of whiskey a day and somehow manage to live a long, healthy life. Then there are people like Sandra Dillon. She lived as healthy a life as you can imagine; she exercised a lot, ate a healthy diet and … Continue reading How stem cells are helping her win the fight of her life

CIRM funded trial for LAD-I announces positive results

Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I) is a rare pediatric disease caused by a mutation in a specific gene that causes low levels of a protein called CD18. Due to low levels of CD18, the adhesion of immune cells is affected, which negatively impacts the body’s ability to combat infections. Rocket Pharmaceuticals has announced positive results from … Continue reading CIRM funded trial for LAD-I announces positive results

A model for success

Dr. Maria Millan, CIRM's President & CEO Funding models are rarely talked about in excited tones.  It’s normally relegated to the dry tomes of academia. But in CIRM’s case, the funding model we have created is not just fundamental to our success in advancing regenerative medicine in California, it’s also proving to be a model … Continue reading A model for success