Starting a clinical trial is like taking a step into the unknown. It’s moving a potential therapy out of the lab and testing it in people. To reach this point the researchers have done a lot of work trying to ensure the therapy is safe. But that work was done in the lab, and on … Continue reading Clearing the first hurdle: spinal cord injury trial passes safety review
clinical trial
Out of the mouths, or in this case hearts, of babes comes a hopeful therapy for heart attack patients
Lessons learned from babies with heart failure could now help adults Inspiration can sometimes come from the most unexpected of places. For English researcher Stephen Westaby it came from seeing babies who had heart attacks bounce back and recover. It led Westaby to a new line of research that could offer hope to people who … Continue reading Out of the mouths, or in this case hearts, of babes comes a hopeful therapy for heart attack patients
More Good News From CIRM-Funded Spinal Cord Injury Trial
It’s been less than a year since we last reported on the CIRM-funded Asterias Biotherapeutics trial for spinal cord injury (SCI), and we already have more – still preliminary – but good news to share. The company recently released encouraging long-term follow-up results from their original Phase 1 clinical trial that suggest their stem cell … Continue reading More Good News From CIRM-Funded Spinal Cord Injury Trial
A Dream made me change my mind. Almost.
Dream Alliance: photo courtesy Daily Telegraph, UK On Friday I was faced with the real possibility that a horse had made an ass out of me. Over the years we have written many articles about the risks of unproven stem cell therapies, treatments that have not yet been shown in clinical trials to be safe … Continue reading A Dream made me change my mind. Almost.
Scientists Make Insulin-Secreting Cells from Stem Cells of Type 1 Diabetes Patients
Stem cell research for diabetes is in a Golden Age. In the past few years, scientists have developed methods to generate insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cell-like cells from embryonic stem cells, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells), and even directly from human skin. We’ve covered a number of recent studies in this area on our blog, … Continue reading Scientists Make Insulin-Secreting Cells from Stem Cells of Type 1 Diabetes Patients
Patient Advocates find their voice in a different language
Packed house for stem cell conference in Tokyo - Adrienne Shapiro front row, second from right One of the many wonderful things about travel is that it opens up your eyes and mind to the fact that, while there are many ways in which people around the world differ from each other, there are also … Continue reading Patient Advocates find their voice in a different language
Patients are the Heroes at the CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics Symposium
UCSD’s Catriona Jamieson and patient advocate Sandra Dillon at the CIRM Alpha Clinic Network Symposium Sometimes, when you take a moment to stand back and look at what you have accomplished, you can surprise yourself at how far you have come, and how much you have done in a short space of time. Take the … Continue reading Patients are the Heroes at the CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics Symposium
New Stem Cell Treatment for ALS May Slow Disease Progression
Exciting news was published this week that will give patients suffering from ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, something to cheer about. The journal JAMA Neurology reported that a new stem cell treatment was successful in slowing disease progression in a small group of ALS patients in a Phase 2 clinical trial. This is … Continue reading New Stem Cell Treatment for ALS May Slow Disease Progression
A step forward for Parkinson’s disease?
Imagine how frustrating it would be to not know whether you could physically sit through a dinner with friends or to worry about getting stuck in the grocery isle, fighting against a body that refuses to move. These nightmare-like experiences are what many Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients deal with on a daily basis. PD affects … Continue reading A step forward for Parkinson’s disease?
Type 1 Diabetes Trial Explained Whiteboard Video Style
There’s a saying, a picture is worth a thousand words. With complicated science however, pictures don’t always do these topics justice. Here’s where videos come to the rescue. Today’s topic is type 1 diabetes and a CIRM-funded clinical trial headed by the San Diego company ViaCyte hoping to develop a cure for patients with this disease. Instead of writing an entire … Continue reading Type 1 Diabetes Trial Explained Whiteboard Video Style
The Stem Cellar 