You can do a lot with $10 million. Yet, when Jeffrey Randall Allen won the largest prize in game show history on Amazon Prime Video’s Beast Games there was only one thing he wanted to spend his $10 million on—research that might help find a cure for his son’s rare disease. “When my youngest son, … Continue reading Winner of Beast Games becomes champion for his son’s rare disease
20 Years of CIRM: Building the Workforce
In celebration of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)’s 20th anniversary, we have been reflecting on some of the early projects, particularly the education and training programs, that we supported and their outcomes. In the beginning Today, we’re looking at our first set of grants, which we awarded in 2006 to support training programs … Continue reading 20 Years of CIRM: Building the Workforce
Neurona Doses First Patient in CIRM-Funded Bilateral Epilepsy Cell Therapy Trial
Image Credit: Canva Stock Photo Neurona Therapeutics has reached a major milestone in the development of its stem cell approach to treating epilepsy. A new phase in clinical trial The company recently announced that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating NRTX-1001, a cell therapy for adults whose epilepsy … Continue reading Neurona Doses First Patient in CIRM-Funded Bilateral Epilepsy Cell Therapy Trial
Gene Therapy for Heart Failure: A Conversation with Eric Adler, MD
Image Credit: The Adler Lab at the University of California, San Diego In the fall of 2024, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) helped sponsor the Gene Therapy Initiative symposium in La Jolla, CA. While there, CIRM staff caught up with a few CIRM grantees who are working on gene therapy approaches to treating … Continue reading Gene Therapy for Heart Failure: A Conversation with Eric Adler, MD
Gene therapies for Friedreich’s Ataxia: A conversation with Liz Soragni, PhD
Liz Soragni, PhD, Director of Research at the Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance In the fall of 2024, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) helped sponsor the Gene Therapy Initiative symposium in La Jolla, CA. While there, CIRM staff caught up with a few CIRM grantees who are working on gene therapy approaches to treating … Continue reading Gene therapies for Friedreich’s Ataxia: A conversation with Liz Soragni, PhD
20 years of CIRM: After spurring new research, CIRM’s iPSC repository closes
In celebration of CIRM’s 20th anniversary, we have been reflecting on some of the early projects we supported and their outcomes. This blog is a little different, because it also marks the end of a project. Stem cell lines In 2013 CIRM announced a $32 million project to create a repository of stem cell lines … Continue reading 20 years of CIRM: After spurring new research, CIRM’s iPSC repository closes
Gene Therapy for Osteoarthritis Shows Positive Results in Early Trial
Image Credit: Shutterstock Here’s a shocking statistic: in 2020, 7.6% of the world’s population was living with the most common form of arthritis – osteoarthritis (OA). That amounts to 595 million people globally and 32.5 million adults in the U.S. Still no cure That’s a lot of people with painful knees, hips, and other joints. … Continue reading Gene Therapy for Osteoarthritis Shows Positive Results in Early Trial
The evolution of a CIRM-funded therapy for macular degeneration
Image Credit: University of Southern California (USC) Eye Institute Over the last two decades CIRM has supported research and helped advance potential treatments for macular degeneration, one of the leading causes of blindness. Early grants One of the earliest was a 2007 SEED grant to David Hinton, MD, of the University of Southern California (USC). … Continue reading The evolution of a CIRM-funded therapy for macular degeneration
New gene therapy for early-onset Parkinson’s
Image source: Shutterstock Nearly one million people in the U.S. are living with Parkinson’s disease, which causes progressive symptoms including tremors, stiffness, and gait and balance issues. Although there are medications to treat symptoms, the disease has no cure. CIRM's support for potential Parkinson's treatments To date, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has … Continue reading New gene therapy for early-onset Parkinson’s
How a childhood condition sparked a career in regenerative medicine
CIRM Scholar Dongwei Sun, PhD (left), with his mentor Huinan Liu, PhD, professor of bioengineering at the University of California, Riverside. As a child, Dongwei Sun received a medical treatment that left his lower limbs weak and sometimes numb. “This experience inspired my dedication to develop biomedical technologies to prevent, treat, and potentially cure debilitating … Continue reading How a childhood condition sparked a career in regenerative medicine