Have you heard of stem cells but don't know what they are or why they are essential in medical research? In celebration of Stem Cell Awareness Day, the second Wednesday in October that is dedicated to educating about the importance of stem cells, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is providing this guide on … Continue reading Stem Cell Awareness: What are stem cells and why research is important
Stem cell champion
Update on spinal cord injury patient enrolled in CIRM-funded stem cell clinical trial
Jake Javier and his parents at Duke University A spinal cord injury (SCI) is devastating, changing a person’s life in an instant. Every year, around the world, between 250,000 and 500,000 people suffer a spinal cord injury. Most of these are caused by trauma to the spinal column, thereby affecting the spinal cord's ability to … Continue reading Update on spinal cord injury patient enrolled in CIRM-funded stem cell clinical trial
Making the list of people to follow
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST If you are walking down the street on a dark night, being followed is not necessarily something you want. But if you are online, having someone follow you is almost always a positive thing. And when that person is Dr. Paul Knoepfler it’s most definitely a … Continue reading Making the list of people to follow
Promoting stem cell therapies, racial justice, and fish breeding
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST Jan Nolta, PhD, in her lab at UC Davis; Photo courtesy UC Davis Working at CIRM, you get to meet many remarkable people, and Jan Nolta, PhD, certainly falls into that category. Jan is the Director of the Stem Cell Program at UC Davis School of Medicine. She … Continue reading Promoting stem cell therapies, racial justice, and fish breeding
Joining the movement to fight rare diseases
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST It’s hard to think of something as being rare when it affects up to 30 million Americans and 300 million people worldwide. But the truth is there are more than 6,000 conditions – those affecting 200,000 people or fewer – that are considered rare. Today, … Continue reading Joining the movement to fight rare diseases
An Open Letter to CIRM for World Sickle Cell Day
Nancy M. Rene Dear CIRM, World Sickle Cell Day is this Saturday June 19th. The goal of this day is to increase knowledge of the disease and understanding of the challenges faced. It is a day that I greet with very mixed feelings. I’m of course extremely grateful to CIRM for the time and money … Continue reading An Open Letter to CIRM for World Sickle Cell Day
Remembering Eli Broad, philanthropist and stem cell champion
Eli Broad, Photo by Nancy Pastor The world of stem cell research lost a good friend this weekend. Eli Broad, a generous supporter of science, education and the arts, passed away at the age of 87. Eli came from humble origins, born in the Bronx to an immigrant father who worked as a house painter … Continue reading Remembering Eli Broad, philanthropist and stem cell champion
Hitting our goals: regulatory reform
Way, way back in 2015 – seems like a lifetime ago doesn’t it – the team at CIRM sat down and planned out our Big 6 goals for the next five years. The end result was a Strategic Plan that was bold, ambitious and set us on course to do great things or kill ourselves … Continue reading Hitting our goals: regulatory reform
A word from our Chair, several in fact
In 2005, the New Oxford American Dictionary named “podcast" its word of the year. At the time a podcast was something many had heard of but not that many actually tuned in to. My how times have changed. Now there are some two million podcasts to chose from, at least according to the New York … Continue reading A word from our Chair, several in fact
Thank you
Bob Klein These last few days have been interesting on so many levels. First the presidential race has kept the nation on tenterhooks. Closer to home the vote count for Proposition 14, to refunded CIRM, has been painstakingly slow (by the way, painstakingly means “with great care and thoroughness” for which we thank all the … Continue reading Thank you
The Stem Cellar 