Three letters, C-A-G, can make the difference between being healthy and having a genetic brain disorder called Huntington’s disease (HD). HD is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects movement, cognition and personality. Currently more than 30,000 Americans have HD and there is no cure or treatment to stop the disease from progressing. A genetic mutation … Continue reading Stem cells reveal developmental defects in Huntington’s disease
UC Irvine
A Clinical Trial Network Focused on Stem Cell Treatments is Expanding
Geoff Lomax is a Senior Officer of CIRM's Strategic Initiatives. California is one of the world-leaders in advancing stem cell research towards treatments and cures for patients with unmet medical needs. California has scientists at top universities and companies conducting cutting edge research in regenerative medicine. It also has CIRM, California’s Stem Cell Agency, which … Continue reading A Clinical Trial Network Focused on Stem Cell Treatments is Expanding
Cured by Stem Cells
To get anywhere you need a good map, and you need to check it constantly to make sure you are still on the right path and haven’t strayed off course. A year ago the CIRM Board gave us a map, a Strategic Plan, that laid out our course for the next five years. Our Annual … Continue reading Cured by Stem Cells
How stem cells are helping change the face of medicine, one pioneering patient at a time
One of the many great pleasures of my job is that I get to meet so many amazing people. I get to know the researchers who are changing the face of medicine, but even more extraordinary are the people who are helping them do it, the patients. Attacking Cancer It’s humbling to meet people like … Continue reading How stem cells are helping change the face of medicine, one pioneering patient at a time
CIRM-funded stem cell trial for retinitis pigmentosa makes progress
A CIRM-funded clinical trial for retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a degenerative eye disease that causes blindness, recently reached its next milestone and announced the completion of its patient enrollment for a phase I/IIa study testing a stem cell derived therapy. This is a major step forward in determining whether this approach is both safe and effective … Continue reading CIRM-funded stem cell trial for retinitis pigmentosa makes progress
A patient perspective on how stem cells could give a second vision to the blind
October is Blindness Awareness month. In honor of the patients who suffer from diseases of blindness and of the scientists and doctors who work tirelessly to develop treatments and cures for these diseases, we are featuring an interview with Kristin Macdonald, a woman who is challenged by Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). RP is a genetically inherited … Continue reading A patient perspective on how stem cells could give a second vision to the blind
Trash talking and creating a stem cell community
Imilce Rodriguez-Fernandez likes to talk trash. No, really, she does. In her case it’s cellular trash, the kind that builds up in our cells and has to be removed to ensure the cells don’t become sick. Imilce was one of several stem cell researchers who took part in a couple of public events over the … Continue reading Trash talking and creating a stem cell community
Seeing is believing: how some scientists – including two funded by CIRM – are working to help the blind see
“A pale hue”. For most of us that is a simple description, an observation about color. For Kristin Macdonald it’s a glimpse of the future. In some ways it’s a miracle. Kristin lost her sight to retinitis pigmentosa (RP). For many years she was virtually blind. But now, thanks to a clinical trial funded by … Continue reading Seeing is believing: how some scientists – including two funded by CIRM – are working to help the blind see
CIRM-funded stem cell clinical trial for retinitis pigmentosa focuses on next stage
How retinitis pigmentosa erodes normal vision The failure rate for clinical trials is depressingly high. A study from Tufts University in 2010 found that for small molecules – the substances that make up more than 90 percent of the drugs on the market today – the odds of getting from a Phase 1 trial to … Continue reading CIRM-funded stem cell clinical trial for retinitis pigmentosa focuses on next stage
Multi-Talented Stem Cells: The Many Ways to Use Them in the Clinic
CIRM kicked off the 2016 International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Conference in San Francisco with a public stem cell event yesterday that brought scientists, patients, patient advocates and members of the general public together to discuss the many ways stem cells are being used in the clinic to develop treatments for patients with … Continue reading Multi-Talented Stem Cells: The Many Ways to Use Them in the Clinic
The Stem Cellar 