Your Guide to Awesome Stem Cell Conferences in 2018

The New Year is upon us and that means it’s time to mark your calendars for the 2018 stem cell meeting season. We’ve compiled a list of conferences, meeting and events focused on stem cell research and regenerative medicine. Some of them are purely research focused while others touch on important themes like patient advocacy … Continue reading Your Guide to Awesome Stem Cell Conferences in 2018

Accelerating stem cell treatments to patients in 2017

As we enter the new year, CIRM’s 2017 Annual Report will be posted in a few short weeks!  Here’s a sneak peek at CIRM’s progress in clinical trials. At the start of 2017, we set a goal of finding and funding 12 new, high quality clinical trials. We easily beat that goal, funding 16, in … Continue reading Accelerating stem cell treatments to patients in 2017

The 10 Most Popular Stem Cellar Stories of 2017

As the New Year fast approaches, it’s time for us to reflect on our accomplishments these past 12 months. 2017 was an exciting and successful year for California’s Stem Cell Agency. We welcomed Dr. Maria Millan as the new President and CEO of CIRM. We also funded 16 new clinical trials and added two new … Continue reading The 10 Most Popular Stem Cellar Stories of 2017

Making beating heart cells from stem cells just got easier

Here’s a heartwarming story for the holidays. Scientists from the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California have figured out a simple, easy way to make beating heart cells from human stem cells that will aid research and therapy development for heart disease. Their study, which received funding support from CIRM, was published last week in … Continue reading Making beating heart cells from stem cells just got easier

Harnessing the body’s immune system to tackle cancer

Often on the Stem Cellar we write about work that is in a clinical trial. But getting research to that stage takes years and years of dedicated work. Over the next few months, we are profiling some of the scientists we fund who are doing Discovery (early stage) and Translational (pre-clinical) research, to highlight the … Continue reading Harnessing the body’s immune system to tackle cancer

CHLA study explains how stem cells slow progression of kidney disorder

Not all stem cell-based therapies act by replacing diseased or damaged cells. Many treatments in clinical development rely on the injected stem cells releasing proteins which trigger the slow down or even reversal of damage caused by disease or injury. A new CIRM-funded study that’s developing a stem cell therapy for a rare kidney disease … Continue reading CHLA study explains how stem cells slow progression of kidney disorder

Budgeting for the future of the stem cell agency

Budgets are very rarely exciting things; but they are important. For example, it’s useful for a family to know when they go shopping exactly how much money they have so they know how much they can afford to spend. Stem cell agencies face the same constraints; you can’t spend more than you have. Last week … Continue reading Budgeting for the future of the stem cell agency

UCLA scientists on track to develop a stem cell replacement therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Last year, we wrote about a CIRM-funded team at UCLA that’s on a mission to develop a stem cell treatment for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Today, we bring you an exciting update on this research just in time for the holidays (Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah and Kwanza to our readers!). DMD is … Continue reading UCLA scientists on track to develop a stem cell replacement therapy for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Stem Cell Stories that Caught Our Eye: GPS for Skin & Different Therapies for Aging vs. Injured Muscles?

Skin stem cells specialize into new skin by sensing neighborhood crowding When embarking on a road trip, the GPS technology inside our smartphones helps us know where we are and how to get where we’re going. The stem cells buried in the deepest layers of our skin don’t have a GPS and yet, they do … Continue reading Stem Cell Stories that Caught Our Eye: GPS for Skin & Different Therapies for Aging vs. Injured Muscles?

jCyte Shares Encouraging Update on Clinical Trial for Retinitis Pigmentosa

Stepping out of the darkness into light. That’s how patients are describing their experience after participating in a CIRM-funded clinical trial targeting a rare form of vision loss called retinitis pigmentosa (RP). jCyte, the company conducting the trial, announced 12 month results for its candidate stem cell-based treatment for RP. RP is a genetic disorder … Continue reading jCyte Shares Encouraging Update on Clinical Trial for Retinitis Pigmentosa