Geoff Lomax is CIRM's Senior Officer to the Standards Working Group The history of technology tells us that the first strategy is rarely the one that sticks. One of my favorite examples involves the English clock maker John Harris, whose many iterations of marine chronometers revolutionized sea travel. (His story is recounted in Dava Sobel’s … Continue reading Clocks & stem cells: Time and tinkering to develop the best embryonic stem cells

Each month CIRM President Alan Trounson gives his perspective on recently published papers he thinks will be valuable in moving the field of stem cell research forward. This month’s report, along with an archive of past reports, is available on the CIRM website. This month’s literature produced a number of studies that can be glibly … Continue reading Guest blogger Alan Trounson — November’s stem cell research highlights

Jeff Sheehy is director for communications at the AIDS Research Institute at UCSF, and a member of the CIRM governing board. Two articles in major newspapers—the New York Times and London's Financial Times—are highlighting the growing movement advocating for research towards a cure for HIV in the lead up to World AIDS Day on December … Continue reading World AIDS Day 2011 — Buzz about a Cure for HIV, CIRM Leading

In La Jolla, stem cell scientists, companies and investors are engaging in a series of CIRM-sponsored get-to-know-you meetings as part of the first ever partnering forum in conjunction with the annual Stem Cell Meeting on the Mesa. These meetings are part of CIRM's ramped-up efforts to help scientists overcome obstacles on the path to clinical … Continue reading CIRM helping stem cell scientists and investors pair up

One of the biggest hurdles in understanding and treating neurological diseases is figuring out what has gone awry with those cells. People aren't generally eager to donate a chunk of their brains for research. With the advent of reprogrammed iPS cells scientists have been able to recreate the diseases in a lab dish and begin … Continue reading Autism-like syndrome modeled by in a lab dish

Sanford Consortium for Regenerative MedicineToday the ninth of twelve CIRM-supported stem cell facilities in California is opening its doors. The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in La Jolla will be home to stem cell scientists from five San Diego area research centers — University of California San Diego, The Salk Institute, The Scripps Research Institute, … Continue reading San Diego area gets stem cell “Collaboratory”

Sanford Consortium for Regenerative MedicineToday the ninth of twelve CIRM-supported stem cell facilities in California is opening its doors. The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in La Jolla will be home to stem cell scientists from five San Diego area research centers — University of California San Diego, The Salk Institute, The Scripps Research Institute, … Continue reading San Diego area gets stem cell "Collaboratory"

Jonathan Thomas is Chair of the CIRM Governing Board When I became Chair of CIRM this summer one of my first priorities was to reach out to the people of California and explain the progress we’ve made in developing new therapies. The agency only started funding research in 2007 and yet we already have 43 … Continue reading Jonathan Thomas on CIRM’s progress toward stem cell therapies

Last summer CIRM sponsored high school students to carry out stem cell research at five California universities in association with existing high school internship programs at those schools. Yesterday we learned that President Obama likes our choice of partner programs — the UCSF program that included six CIRM-supported students received the Presidential Award for Excellence … Continue reading Presidential Award goes to UCSF high school internship program hosting CIRM-supported students

Yesterday Geron announced that they would be discontinuing their embryonic stem cell program, including the groundbreaking spinal cord injury trial that CIRM had been supporting. You can read more about the decision in Geron's announcement and in CIRM's press release. Geron has returned the $6.4 million they had received from CIRM with accrued interest.It's not … Continue reading Q&A about Geron’s decision and its implications for the stem cell field