Dr. Kelly Shepard By Dr. Kelly Shepard One of our favorite things to do at CIRM is deliver exciting news about CIRM projects. This usually entails discussion of recent discoveries that made headlines, or announcing the launch of a new CIRM-funded clinical trial …. tangible signs of progress towards addressing unmet medical needs through advances … Continue reading Building a progressive pipeline
National Institutes of Health
Meet the people who are changing the future
Kristin MacDonald Every so often you hear a story and your first reaction is “oh, I have to share this with someone, anyone, everyone.” That’s what happened to me the other day. I was talking with Kristin MacDonald, an amazing woman, a fierce patient advocate and someone who took part in a CIRM-funded clinical trial … Continue reading Meet the people who are changing the future
CIRM joins forces with US Department of Defense to fight COVID
Photo courtesy of Gabrielle Lurie / San Francisco Chronicle / Polaris Small state agencies like CIRM don’t normally get to partner with a behemoth like the Department of Defense (DOD), but these are not normal times. Far from it. That’s why we are both joining forces with the National Institutes of Health to fund a … Continue reading CIRM joins forces with US Department of Defense to fight COVID
Don’t believe everything you read
(PRNewsfoto/Deseret News) The Deseret News is Utah's oldest continuously published daily newspaper. It has a big readership too, with the largest Sunday circulation in the state and the second largest daily circulation. That’s why when they publish paid advertisements that look like serious news articles it can be misleading, even worse. This week the Deseret … Continue reading Don’t believe everything you read
Scientists Engineer Stem Cells to Fight HIV
Image of the virus that causes AIDS - courtesy NIH If that headline seems familiar it should. It came from an article in MIT Technology Review back in 2009. There have been many other headlines since then, all on the same subject, and yet here we are, in 2020, and still no cure for HIV/AIDS. … Continue reading Scientists Engineer Stem Cells to Fight HIV
Helping the blind see – mice that is
When I first saw the headline for this story I thought of the nursery rhyme about the three blind mice. Finally, they’ll be able to see the farmer’s wife coming at them with a carving knife. But the real-world implications are of this are actually pretty exciting. Researchers at the National Institute of Health’s National … Continue reading Helping the blind see – mice that is
CIRM Board Meeting Highlights Important Updates to Clinical Trials
Dr. Maria T. Millan, President and CEO of CIRM, presenting the President's Report This past Thursday the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) were presented with an update on CIRM’s clinical portfolio, which to date includes 60 clinical trials in various areas including kidney failure, cancer, and other rare diseases. The … Continue reading CIRM Board Meeting Highlights Important Updates to Clinical Trials
CIRM’s Alpha Stem Cell Clinics Given High Profile Role in Clinical Trials Network
Sue and Bill Gross Hall Photo by Hoang Xuan Pham/ UC Irvine There are a growing number of predatory clinics in California and around the US, offering unproven stem cell therapies. For patients seeking a legitimate therapy it can often be hard finding a reliable clinic, one offering treatments based on the rigorous science required … Continue reading CIRM’s Alpha Stem Cell Clinics Given High Profile Role in Clinical Trials Network
NIH collaboration aims to develop affordable gene therapies for sickle cell disease and HIV
Sickle cell disease (SCD) and HIV have a major burden on the health of impoverished communities all over the world. Of the 38 million people living with HIV all over the world, approximately 95% reside within developing countries, with 67% in sub-Saharan Africa, half of whom are living without any treatment. Fifteen million babies will … Continue reading NIH collaboration aims to develop affordable gene therapies for sickle cell disease and HIV
Getting the inside scoop on the stem cell agency
There’s a wonderful moment at the end of the movie The Candidate (starring Robert Redford, 87% approval on Rotten Tomatoes!) about a modern political campaign for a US Senate seat. Redford (spoiler alert) plays a come-from-behind candidate and at the end when he wins he turns to his campaign manager and says “Now what?”. I … Continue reading Getting the inside scoop on the stem cell agency