Written by Holly Alyssa MacCormick Image Credit: Audrey Davidow－Calvin outside Wanting the best for your child is a universal experience, and Audrey Davidow wanted her baby to have a bright future full of possibility. But in March of 2012, her 13-month-old son Calvin was diagnosed with a rare disease called Pitt Hopkins Syndrome, and she … Continue reading Early-stage research could—one day—benefit many people living with genetic diseases
Patient Advocacy
Winner of Beast Games becomes champion for his son’s rare disease
Written by Holly Alyssa MacCormick You can do a lot with $10 million. Yet, when Jeffrey Randall Allen won the largest prize in game show history on Amazon Prime Video’s Beast Games there was only one thing he wanted to spend his $10 million on—research that might help find a cure for his son’s rare … Continue reading Winner of Beast Games becomes champion for his son’s rare disease
Diving into a new era of treatment: A patient’s journey with an epilepsy stem cell therapy
Justin Graves diving by the Grand Cayman Islands In 2007, Justin Graves was working at a SCUBA shop in Louisville, Kentucky, when he had his first epileptic seizure. "SCUBA diving has just been something I've loved my whole life," he said. "My whole family loves it." Justin had to give up diving as well as … Continue reading Diving into a new era of treatment: A patient’s journey with an epilepsy stem cell therapy
World AIDS Day at the 3rd Annual Timothy Ray Brown Community Cure Symposium
Event recap written by guest writer Jacqueline Hantgan, CIRM Sr. Outreach Advisor for Outreach and Advocacy December is HIV/AIDS Awareness Month. To commemorate this important event, CIRM recently supported the 3rd Annual Timothy Ray Brown Community Cure Symposium which took place at the Palm Springs Art Museum on World AIDS Day−December 1, 2024. It was … Continue reading World AIDS Day at the 3rd Annual Timothy Ray Brown Community Cure Symposium
Remembering CIRM board member and ALS patient advocate Fred Fisher
CIRM would like to honor the contributions of Fred Fisher, MSW, LCSW, a dedicated member of our Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee (ICOC) governing board and an enthusiastic patient advocate. Fred passed away in September. Fred joined the CIRM ICOC as the ALS patient advocate in June 2021 and held various roles during his tenure, including … Continue reading Remembering CIRM board member and ALS patient advocate Fred Fisher
CIRM Showcases Strategic Vision and New Initiatives at 7th Annual Alpha Clinics Network Symposium
Leveraging CIRM Infrastructure to Improve Accessibility Panel - From left to right: Noah Federman, MD (moderator), Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD, Mehrdad Abedi, MD, Daniela Bota, MD, PhD, Thomas Buchanan, MD, Brian Fury, MS, Dhruv Sareen, PhD, and Taby Ahsan, PhD The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) recently sponsored the 7th Annual CIRM Alpha Clinics … Continue reading CIRM Showcases Strategic Vision and New Initiatives at 7th Annual Alpha Clinics Network Symposium
Story of Hope: Elpida Therapeutics’ Pioneer Study on Rare Nerve Disease CMT4J
Image source: SickKids -Terry, Georgia, and Michael Pirovolakis CIRM awarded Elpida Therapeutics a $3.9 million grant in December 2023 to support a pioneering preclinical study on Charcot Marie Tooth disease type 4J (CMT4J). CMT4J is an ultra-rare, inherited condition that primarily affects the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord. It accounts for about 0.24% … Continue reading Story of Hope: Elpida Therapeutics’ Pioneer Study on Rare Nerve Disease CMT4J
From Undergraduate to Hero: Solano Student’s Life-Saving Bone Marrow Match Begins with One Swab
SCC student and CIRM trainee Jose Solorio donated bone marrow to save an 11-year-old patient's life in New York. In a remarkable display of compassion and scientific collaboration, Solano Community College (SCC) student Jose Solorio, a scholar in the college's biomanufacturing bachelor's program, has become a real-life hero. Through Solano’s partnership with the National Marrow … Continue reading From Undergraduate to Hero: Solano Student’s Life-Saving Bone Marrow Match Begins with One Swab
Turning Hope into Reality: How a Genetic Therapy Helped Connor
Photo credit: n-Lorem Connor Dalby is a 15-year-old teenager who loves music and the beach, but his journey has been far from ordinary. Diagnosed with a rare mutation in the SCN2A gene, his life has been filled with challenges. From the time he was just a few weeks old, he had trouble sleeping and struggled … Continue reading Turning Hope into Reality: How a Genetic Therapy Helped Connor
Bringing a community together at the 2nd Annual ALSP Conference
In addition to funding innovative programs and research that accelerate the development of stem cell and gene therapy treatments, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) provides funding to support valuable mission-specific scientific conferences where people can meet to exchange scientific information to meet goals relevant to CIRM’s mission. Recently, CIRM supported the 2nd Annual … Continue reading Bringing a community together at the 2nd Annual ALSP Conference
The Stem Cellar 