When we launched our Facebook Live “Ask the Expert” series earlier this year we wanted to create an opportunity for people to hear from and question experts about specific diseases or disorders. The experts we turned to were medical ones, neurologists and neuroscientists in the case of the first two Facebook Live events, stroke and … Continue reading What makes an expert an expert?
ALS
ALS is in the spotlight in CIRM’s “Ask the Expert About ALS & Stem Cells” Facebook Live event
American Football great Dwight Clark was renowned for having the safest hands in the game when he played for the San Francisco 49ers. But in September 2015 he was diagnosed with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) after not being able to use those hands to open a package of sugar. Less than three … Continue reading ALS is in the spotlight in CIRM’s “Ask the Expert About ALS & Stem Cells” Facebook Live event
Join us for our next installment of “Ask The Experts” on July 31st.
Join us for our second installment of “Ask the Expert” at 12pm, PST on July 31st! This live interactive event will feature a conversation between Drs. Clive Svendsen, Robert Baloh from Cedars-Sinai, Dr. Ralph Kern, the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Medical Officer of Brainstorm Therapeutics, and CIRM Senior Science Officer Dr. Lila Collins. In … Continue reading Join us for our next installment of “Ask The Experts” on July 31st.
Boosting immune system cells could offer a new approach to treating Lou Gehrig’s disease
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is one of those conditions that a lot of people know about but don’t know a lot about. If they are fortunate it will stay that way. ALS is a nasty neurodegenerative disease that attacks motor neurons, the cells in the brain and spinal cord … Continue reading Boosting immune system cells could offer a new approach to treating Lou Gehrig’s disease
Stem Cell Roundup: Crafty Cancer, Fighting Viruses, and Brainstorm ALS Trial Expands to Canada
TGIF! Here is your weekly dose of stem cell news... Shapeshifting cancer cells This week’s awesome stem cell photo comes with a bizarre story and bonus video footage. Researchers at Duke University were studying lung tumor samples and discovered something that didn’t quite belong. Inside the lung tumors were miniature parts of the digestive system … Continue reading Stem Cell Roundup: Crafty Cancer, Fighting Viruses, and Brainstorm ALS Trial Expands to Canada
Tiny blood vessels in the brain can spur the growth of spinal motor neurons
Last week, researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center added a new piece to the complex puzzle of what causes neurodegenerative disorders like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The team discovered that the tiny blood vessels in our brains do more than provide nutrients to and remove waste products from our brain tissue. It turns out that these … Continue reading Tiny blood vessels in the brain can spur the growth of spinal motor neurons
Inspiring Video: UC Irvine Stem Cell Trial Gives Orange County Woman Hope in Her Fight Against ALS
Last week, we lost one of our greatest, most influential scientific minds. Stephen Hawking, a famous British theoretical physicist and author of “A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes”, passed away at the age of 76. Hawking lived most of his adult life in a wheelchair because he suffered from … Continue reading Inspiring Video: UC Irvine Stem Cell Trial Gives Orange County Woman Hope in Her Fight Against ALS
Breaking the isolation of rare diseases
How can something that affects 30 million Americans, one in ten people in the US, be called rare? But that’s the case with people who have a rare disease. There are around 7,000 different diseases that are categorized as rare because they affect fewer than 200,000 people. Less than five percent of these diseases have … Continue reading Breaking the isolation of rare diseases
Can Stem Cell Therapies Help ALS Patients?
A scientist’s fifteen-year journey to develop a stem cell-based therapy that could one day help ALS patients. “Can stem cells help me Clive?” The sentence appeared slowly on a computer screen, each character separated by a pause while its author searched for the next character using a device controlled by his eye muscle. The person … Continue reading Can Stem Cell Therapies Help ALS Patients?
Duchenne muscular dystrophy and short telomeres
Short telomeres associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe muscle wasting disease that typically affects young men. There is no cure for DMD and the average life expectancy is 26. These are troubling facts that scientists at the University of Pennsylvania are hoping to change with their recent findings in … Continue reading Duchenne muscular dystrophy and short telomeres