It’s never easy to hear people criticize you in public, particularly when you think some of the criticism is misguided or just downright wrong. But while it’s never fun to hear those kinds of comments, it can be very instructive and even enlightening to see how others see you.On Tuesday, April 10 the Institute of … Continue reading Different voices at public hearing help CIRM focus on the future

Kevin McCormack is the new Sr. Director of Public Communications and Patient Advocate Outreach at CIRM. His first post on our blog introduces CIRM’s 2011 Annual Report section on our progress toward therapies. We’ve been rolling out annual report stories throughout the past few weeks and will be posting the full report online in early … Continue reading Progress Toward Therapies: CIRM’s therapies in development

For Diana Souza, working on her 23-acre ranch in the mountains east of Redding, California is a labor of love. But last year, a fall from a ladder left her with a badly fractured left arm that would not heal. Her arm became deformed from the cumulative effects of that fall and two previous fractures … Continue reading UC Davis clinical trial helps bones heal

Last week the Canadian magazine Macleans ran a Q&A with James Till, who, along with Ernest McCulloch, discovered stem cells almost 50 years ago. Together they won the prestigious Lasker Award in 2005 for their discovery, which was initially published in a 1963 Nature paper.The pair identified the stem cells in bone marrow that produce … Continue reading James Till on the history and future of stem cells

Yesterday, Newark-based StemCells Inc. announced a significant milestone in regenerative medicine. They injected their purified neural stem cells into the brains of four children with a disease that results in insufficient amounts of an insulating layer called myelin around their nerves. The injected cells were able to form new myelin, providing hope that the cells … Continue reading Stem cells show preliminary success in rare childhood brain disease

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. The following is an excerpt written by Kristen Callow, a California native who now advocates for autism awareness, education and early intervention in Sydney, Australia. Her daughter Juliet was identified as likely being on the autism spectrum at 28 months of age. Kristen has since been encouraging more people … Continue reading World Autism Awareness Day: working toward new therapies

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.The lead article in this month’s report focuses on CIRM-funded work in Irv … Continue reading Guest blogger Alan Trounson — March stem cell research highlights

David Serrano Sewell is a patient advocate member of CIRM’s governing board. His bio is available on our website.When I began serving on the CIRM governing board in 2005 it was with the hope that I could be part of guiding the agency’s decisions in a way that would benefit the many people in California … Continue reading David Serrano Sewell reflects on MS Awareness Month, the need for therapies

Stanford researcher Irv Weissman made the news yesterday when he published a paper showing that  a single antibody-based therapy can effectively slow the growth and in some cases eliminate many different kinds of human tumors, at least in mice. Weissman leads a $20 million CIRM disease team that is developing an antibody-based therapy to treat … Continue reading Single antibody developed by CIRM grantee fights many tumors

We are rolling out our 2011 Annual Report stories throughout March. The full report will be posted online and available for download later this month.Each year in our Annual Report we highlight some of the patients and scientists who came to speak to our governing board about the search for cures. This year one of … Continue reading Stem cell therapy for heart attack