THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST Michael Wang, MD (right) of the Department of Lymphoma & Myeloma at MD Anderson Cancer Center will lead the Phase 3 clinical Oncternal Therapeutics, Inc. is celebrating an encouraging milestone at the start of the new year following a successful End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the FDA. Specifically, the FDA agreed on key … Continue reading A CIRM-funded therapy for a deadly blood cancer gets approval for Phase 3 clinical trial
News
Teaching stem cells to play video games
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST Pong video game Back when I was growing up, shortly after the extinction of the dinosaurs, there was a popular video game called Pong. It was, in fact, pretty much the only video game at the time. It was a pretty simple game. You moved a “paddle” … Continue reading Teaching stem cells to play video games
UCLA gene therapy offers children with LAD-1 a new chance at living a normal life
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST Photo courtesy of Tamara Hogue/UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center Leukocyte adhesion deficiency type 1 (LAD-1) is a rare pediatric disorder that causes the immune system to malfunction, resulting in recurrent, often severe, bacterial and fungal infections as well as delayed wound healing. This is because of a missing protein that would normally … Continue reading UCLA gene therapy offers children with LAD-1 a new chance at living a normal life
Researchers develop a stem cell-based implant for cartilage restoration and treating osteoarthritis
The Plurocart’s scaffold membrane seeded with stem cell-derived chondrocytes. Image courtesy of USC Photo/Denis Evseenko. THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have used a stem cell-based bio-implant to repair cartilage and delay joint degeneration in a large animal model. This paves the way … Continue reading Researchers develop a stem cell-based implant for cartilage restoration and treating osteoarthritis
Lack of diversity leaves cloud hanging over asthma drug study
Asthma spacer, photo courtesy Wiki Media Creative Commons THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST If you want to know if a new drug or therapy is going to work in the people it affects the most you need to test the drug or therapy in the people most affected by the disease. … Continue reading Lack of diversity leaves cloud hanging over asthma drug study
Stem Cell Agency Board Approves Roadmap for Next Five Years
Dr. Maria Millan, CIRM's President & CEO It's hard to get somewhere if you don't know where you are going. Without a map you can't plan a route to your destination. That's why the CIRM Board approved a new Strategic Plan laying out a roadmap for the Stem Cell Agency for the next five years. … Continue reading Stem Cell Agency Board Approves Roadmap for Next Five Years
How some brilliant research may have uncovered a potential therapy for Alzheimer’s
Dr. Nicole Koutsodendris, photo courtesy Gladstone Institutes In the world of scientific research, the people doing clinical trials tend to suck up all the oxygen in the room. They’re the stars, the ones who are bringing potential therapies to patients. However, there’s another group of researchers who toil away in the background, but who are … Continue reading How some brilliant research may have uncovered a potential therapy for Alzheimer’s
Newly-developed organoid mimics how gut and heart tissues arise cooperatively from stem cells
Gladstone Senior Investigator Todd McDevitt, PhD said this first-of-its-kind organoid could serve as a new tool for laboratory research and improve our understanding of how developing organs and tissues cooperate and instruct each other.
Producing insulin for people who can’t
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST ViaCyte's implantable stem cell pouch One of the huge advantages of a stem cell agency like CIRM (not that there is anything out there quite like us, but anyway) is our ability to support projects as they progress from a great idea to a therapy actually … Continue reading Producing insulin for people who can’t
Creating a New Model for Diversity in Scientific and Medical Research
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST Nature Cell Biology cover The global pandemic has highlighted many of the inequities in our health care system, with the virus hitting communities of color the hardest. That has led to calls for greater diversity, equity and inclusion at every level of scientific research and, ultimately, … Continue reading Creating a New Model for Diversity in Scientific and Medical Research