CIRM Joins World AIDS Day Campaign, Commits $104 Million for HIV Research

John A. Zaia, MD, of Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope This year marks the 35th commemoration of World AIDS Day, a global event that aims to end human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) related stigma, honor people lost to the disease, and reaffirm the commitment to ensuring HIV is no longer a public health threat.   … Continue reading CIRM Joins World AIDS Day Campaign, Commits $104 Million for HIV Research

CIRM approves new plan to invest $110 million into basic research in neuropsychiatric diseases

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the world’s largest institute dedicated to regenerative medicine, announced its approval of a new program called ReMIND at the September Independent Citizens Oversight Committee (ICOC) meeting that will eventually award up to $110 million to advance basic research in neuropsychiatric diseases—one of the largest investments of its kind in … Continue reading CIRM approves new plan to invest $110 million into basic research in neuropsychiatric diseases

CIRM Joins #GoGold Childhood Cancer Awareness Campaign

Photo courtesy of Stanford Medicine September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is joining the campaign to #GoGold to raise awareness about childhood cancers and highlight our commitment to funding childhood cancer research.   The Impact of Childhood Cancer  Cancer remains the number one cause of death by disease for … Continue reading CIRM Joins #GoGold Childhood Cancer Awareness Campaign

CIRM invests $50 million in clinical research, including trial for vision loss

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the world’s largest institution dedicated to regenerative medicine, today awarded $50.1 million to fund clinical-stage research projects aimed at advancing stem cell and gene therapy treatments for a variety conditions ranging from neurodegenerative diseases and blood cancers to HIV/AIDS.  The awards will support six projects in the Agency’s … Continue reading CIRM invests $50 million in clinical research, including trial for vision loss

Novartis acquisition validates CIRM’s impact on cystinosis treatment

Dr. Stephanie Cherqui The future looks brighter for cystinosis patients and their families.   As one of 7,000 rare diseases, cystinosis causes an abnormal build-up of the amino acid cystine that can lead to organ failure and premature death. With little to no treatment options, children and young adults primarily affected by the condition often have … Continue reading Novartis acquisition validates CIRM’s impact on cystinosis treatment

How CIRM-funded research is bringing a lifesaving gene therapy to a 5-year-old

For her first year of life, Seersha Sulack stayed mostly in her bedroom because something as simple as a common cold could have killed her. The five-year-old was born with ADA-SCID, a condition so rare that only eight babies a year are born with it in the United States.  Now, thanks to the work of … Continue reading How CIRM-funded research is bringing a lifesaving gene therapy to a 5-year-old

#Take6ForPD: CIRM Board member David Higgins shares why Parkinson’s awareness matters

April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is joining the campaign to #Take6ForPD—take 6 minutes to raise Parkinson’s awareness and highlight our commitment to funding research for the disease.  In addition to highlighting our commitment to funding research for Parkinson's Disease, we're also giving patients and patient advocates the opportunity to … Continue reading #Take6ForPD: CIRM Board member David Higgins shares why Parkinson’s awareness matters

CIRM commits $60 million for Parkinson’s research, joins #Take6ForPD awareness campaign 

April is Parkinson’s Awareness Month and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is joining the campaign to #Take6ForPD—take 6 minutes to raise Parkinson’s awareness and highlight our commitment to funding research for the disease.  What is Parkinson’s Disease?  Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects nearly 1 million people in the United States … Continue reading CIRM commits $60 million for Parkinson’s research, joins #Take6ForPD awareness campaign 

Join the movement to fight rare diseases

Tomorrow, February 28th, is Rare Disease Day. It’s a day to remind ourselves of the millions of people, and their families, struggling with these diseases. These conditions are also called orphan diseases because, in many cases, drug companies were not interested in adopting them to develop treatments. Here at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), we … Continue reading Join the movement to fight rare diseases

Investing in stem cell and gene therapy treatments for HIV

A recent article in Nature shared the news about a 53-year-old man in Germany who was declared free of HIV after receiving virus-resistant cells.  The man—referred to as the “Düsseldorf patient”—was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and underwent a stem cell transplant in 2013 that replaced his bone marrow cells with HIV-resistant stem cells from … Continue reading Investing in stem cell and gene therapy treatments for HIV