Photo Credit: Jaquell Chandler Evie Junior was born with sickle cell disease, a life-threatening condition that affects around 100,000 Americans, most of them Black and Latino. People with sickle cell disease have blood cells that are shaped like a hook (or sickle) rather than smooth and round, which can create clogs, causing intense pain, organ … Continue reading Tackling sickle cell disease from within
Patient Advocacy
Equipping California nurses with skills to support cell and gene therapy patients
Regenerative medicine is a rapidly evolving field. As more therapies reach commercialization and clinical trial stages, there remains an immediate need to equip direct patient care nurses with skills to support patients on complex clinical trials as well as novel standard-of-care therapies. To address this need and continue efforts to build a regenerative medicine workforce … Continue reading Equipping California nurses with skills to support cell and gene therapy patients
CIRM approves $2.5 million to establish a Patient Support Program
Hataalii Tiisyatonii Begay (HT) participated in a CIRM-funded clinical trial at UCSF for Artemis-SCID, a condition that can be life-threatening or fatal. Photo courtesy Barbara Ries / UCSF. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) funds innovative cell and gene therapy research and educational programs to advance regenerative medicine in the Golden State. Just as … Continue reading CIRM approves $2.5 million to establish a Patient Support Program
Reasons to be thankful this Thanksgiving: creative nerds
We at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. We get to work with some extraordinary colleagues, we get to know some remarkable patient advocates who are pioneers in volunteering for stem cell and gene therapies, and we have a front row seat in a movement that … Continue reading Reasons to be thankful this Thanksgiving: creative nerds
A timeless message about stem cells
Dr. Daniel Kota The world of stem cell research is advancing rapidly, with new findings and discoveries seemingly every week. And yet some things that we knew years ago are still every bit as relevant today as they were then. Take for example a TEDx talk by Dr. Daniel Kota, a stem cell researcher and … Continue reading A timeless message about stem cells
Patient Advocacy is its own reward
It’s always nice to be told you are doing a good job. It’s even nicer when it’s unexpected. That’s certainly the case when we, the Communications Team at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, found out we’d been named as a finalist for the Patient Advocacy Award (non-profit category) as part of the Phacilitate Advanced … Continue reading Patient Advocacy is its own reward
Strength forged from adversity
Regina Karchner - Photo courtesy Nancy Ramos Photography Our 2021-22 Annual Report is now online. It’s filled with information about the work we have done over the last year (we are on a fiscal calendar year from July 1 – June 30), the people who have helped us do that work, and some of the … Continue reading Strength forged from adversity
Fighting for his life and the lives of other stroke survivors
Sean Entin, stroke survivor and founder of Stroke Hacker The word "miraculous" gets tossed around a lot in the world of medicine, mostly by people who have made an unexpected recovery from a deadly or life-threatening condition. In Sean Entin's case calling his recovery from an almost-fatal stroke could be called miraculous, but I think … Continue reading Fighting for his life and the lives of other stroke survivors
Taking to the streets with Pride
Yesterday the CIRM team were honored to be part of the San Francisco Pride Parade. To walk along the route with colleagues and friends, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of cheering people was such a fun way to spend the day, and gave us a chance to introduce ourselves to many people who may not … Continue reading Taking to the streets with Pride
Can regenerative medicine turn back the clock on aging?
One of my favorite phrases is “standing room only”. I got a chance to use it last week when we held a panel discussion on whether regenerative medicine could turn back the clock on aging. The event was at the annual conference of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) and more than 150 … Continue reading Can regenerative medicine turn back the clock on aging?
The Stem Cellar 