It’s hard to overstate just how devastating the AIDS crisis was at its peak in the U.S. – and still is today in many parts of the world. In 1995 almost 51,000 Americans died from the disease, the numbers of new cases were at almost record highs, and there were few effective therapies against the … Continue reading The search for a cure: how stem cells could eradicate the AIDS virus
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How the human genome is unlocking some of the secrets of stem cells, hopefully leading to new treatments
A little over a year ago we set aside $40 million to study how variations in the human genome – the complete map of our genetic information – can affect our ability to use stem cells to treat a wide variety of diseases and disorders. That money helped set up the Stanford/Salk Center of Excellence … Continue reading How the human genome is unlocking some of the secrets of stem cells, hopefully leading to new treatments
Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan and the importance of staying above the fray in science communications
Carl Sagan, the astronomer and cosmologist (among many other things) once said: “We live in a society absolutely dependent on science and technology, and yet have cleverly arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. That's a clear prescription for disaster.” The goal of two panel discussions at the American Association for … Continue reading Meryl Streep, Lindsay Lohan and the importance of staying above the fray in science communications
Peering inside the brain: how stem cells could help turn skin into therapies for dementia
To truly understand a disease you need to be able to see how it works, how it causes our body to act in ways that it shouldn’t. In cancer, for example, you can take cells from a tumor and observe them under a microscope to see what is going on. But with diseases of the … Continue reading Peering inside the brain: how stem cells could help turn skin into therapies for dementia
A look at 2014: some of the lowlights of stem cell research this past year
It’s been quite a year in stem cell research. Here at the stem cell agency eight projects that we are funding have been approved for clinical trials and several more hope to get approval in early 2015. And Dr. Don Kohn and his team at UCLA announced that they have effectively cured Severe Combined Immunodeficiency … Continue reading A look at 2014: some of the lowlights of stem cell research this past year
Maintaining the momentum: a good start but CIRM 2.0 is just the first step
Newton’s First Law of Physics states that an object either remains at rest or continues to move at a constant velocity unless acted upon by an external force. Well, for the stem cell agency the external force was an exercise in thinking differently about how we do business. That resulted in our governing Board approving … Continue reading Maintaining the momentum: a good start but CIRM 2.0 is just the first step
Ten at ten at the stem cell agency: sharing the good news about progress from the bench to the bedside
Ten years ago this month the voters of California overwhelmingly approved Proposition 71, creating the state’s stem cell agency, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and providing $3 billion to fund stem cell research in California. That money has helped make California a global leader in stem cell research and led to ten clinical trials … Continue reading Ten at ten at the stem cell agency: sharing the good news about progress from the bench to the bedside
How venture capital became a capital adventure for stem cell agency’s newest Board member
There’s something fascinating about looking at the arc of a person’s career. So often we start out thinking we are going to be one thing, and over the years we move in a different direction and end up doing something else entirely. That’s certainly the case with Kathy LaPorte, the newest addition to our governing … Continue reading How venture capital became a capital adventure for stem cell agency’s newest Board member
Hands-on science turns kids heads
Making science fun. That was the goal of the Discovery Days event on Saturday in San Francisco, part of the Bay Area Science Festival. If numbers alone are any measure of success they certainly met their goal. The place was packed. But it was more than just the size of the crowd that demonstrated how … Continue reading Hands-on science turns kids heads
CIRM 2.0; saving time, saves lives
It’s been almost ten years since the voters of California approved Proposition 71, creating the Stem Cell Agency and giving us $3 billion to fund stem cell research. So this is an appropriate time to look back and see what we have done with the money so far, the progress that’s been made, and where … Continue reading CIRM 2.0; saving time, saves lives
The Stem Cellar 