The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) approved $25 million to fund multiple projects across discovery research, clinical research, and infrastructure programs.
In particular, this funding supports 11 projects that will drive rigorous studies addressing key knowledge gaps in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. Through this work, the program identifies promising approaches to advance stem‑cell‑based tools.
Additionally, CIRM awarded $6 million to Eugenio Cingolani, PhD, of Cedars‑Sinai. This investment supports a preclinical project in the Agency’s CLIN 1 awards and advances a noninvasive cell‑derived therapy for irregular heart rhythms.
“CIRM is dedicated to advancing early‑stage transformative therapies for prevalent health conditions such as heart disease,” said Abla Creasey, PhD, Vice President of Therapeutics Development at CIRM.
Finally, CIRM awarded $2.5 million to establish a Patient Support Program (PSP). This initiative enhances patient access to CIRM‑funded clinical trials, an essential part of CIRM’s mission and Infrastructure Program and Patient Support Program (PSP). The program enhances patient access to CIRM-funded clinical trials, an essential component of CIRM’s mission and Infrastructure Program.
Approved Discovery Awards
| Application # | Program Title | Principal Investigator/Institution | Amount |
| DISC0-15949 | Immune interactions in the developing human brain | Nowakowski, Tomasz – UCSF | $1,626,000 |
| DISC0-15737 | Village-based identification of human risk factors for viral in the nervous system | Wells, Michael F. – UCLA | $1,577,448 |
| DISC0-15921 | Human DMD using Single Nuclei and Single Cell RNA Sequencing of Muscle Resident Cells | Miceli, M. Carrie – UCLA | $1,578,000 |
| DISC0-16039 | 39 Lewy body dementia cell-specific mechanisms | Finkbeiner, Steven M. – Gladstone | $1,739,760 |
| DISC0-16122 | Mapping cell fate decisions for hypertension | Qiu, Xiaojie – Stanford | $1,540,798 |
| DISC0-15654 | 4 Modeling and understanding Down syndrome using iPSCs-derived alveolar type II cells | Al Alam, Denise – Lundquist Institute | $1,524,196 |
| DISC0-15816 | Investigating the complex regulation of normal and cancer stem cells | Deshpande, Aniruddha – Sanford-Burnham | $1,647,600 |
| DISC0-15774 | Investigation of cellular and molecular anomalies altering brain development | Pierson, Tyler Mark – Cedars-Sinai | $1,318,441 |
| DISC0-15972 | Immune cloaking of human stem cell-derived insulin | Digovich, Katy – Minutia, Inc. | $1,192,586 |
| DISC0-15920 | Harnessing the rejuvenating capacity of pregnancy | Alperin, Marianna – UCSD | $1,539,520 |
| DISC0-15689 | Utilizing Age-Specific Cell Therapy in Older Patients | Wang, Qiong Annabel – City of Hope | $1,508,997 |
I would like information on research for RP