Tremors, muscle stiffness, shuffling, slow movement, loss of balance. These are all symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder that progressively destroys the dopamine-producing neurons in the brain that control movement. While there is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, there are drugs like Levodopa and procedures like deep brain stimulation that alleviate or improve … Continue reading Stem cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease shows promise in monkeys
clinical trials
From trauma to treatment: a Patient Advocate’s journey from helping her son battle a deadly disease to helping others do the same
For every clinical trial CIRM funds we create a Clinical Advisory Panel or CAP. The purpose of the CAP is to make recommendations and provide guidance and advice to both CIRM and the Project Team running the trial. It’s part of our commitment to doing everything we can to help make the trial a success … Continue reading From trauma to treatment: a Patient Advocate’s journey from helping her son battle a deadly disease to helping others do the same
Treatments, cures and clinical trials: an in-person update on CIRM’s progress
Patients and Patient Advocates are at the heart of everything we do at CIRM. That’s why we are holding three free public events in the next few months focused on updating you on the stem cell research we are funding, and our plans for the future. Right now we have 33 projects that we have … Continue reading Treatments, cures and clinical trials: an in-person update on CIRM’s progress
FDA creates a forum for patients to guide its decision making
It’s not hard to find people who don’t like the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the government agency that, among other things, regulates medical therapies. In fact, if you type “do people like the FDA?” into an internet search engine you’ll quickly find out that for a lot of people the answer is “no”. … Continue reading FDA creates a forum for patients to guide its decision making
Family, faith and funding from CIRM inspire one patient to plan for his future
Having been to many conferences and meetings over the years I have found there is a really simple way to gauge if someone is a good speaker, if they have the attention of people in the room. You just look around and see how many people are on their phones or laptops, checking their email … Continue reading Family, faith and funding from CIRM inspire one patient to plan for his future
CIRM-funded life-saving stem cell therapy gets nod of approval from FDA
If you have read our 2016 Annual Report (and if you haven’t you should, it’s brilliant) or just seen the cover you’ll know that it features very prominently a young girl named Evie Padilla Vaccaro. Evie was born with Severe Combined Immunodeficiency or SCID – also known as “bubble baby disease”; we’ve written about it … Continue reading CIRM-funded life-saving stem cell therapy gets nod of approval from FDA
Stem cell agency funds Phase 3 clinical trial for Lou Gehrig’s disease
At CIRM we don’t have a disease hierarchy list that we use to guide where our funding goes. We don’t rank a disease by how many people suffer from it, if it affects children or adults, or how painful it is. But if we did have that kind of hierarchy you can be sure that … Continue reading Stem cell agency funds Phase 3 clinical trial for Lou Gehrig’s disease
CIRM-funded stem cell clinical trial for spinal cord injury expands patient recruitment
It’s always great to start the week off with some good news. Today we learned that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given Asterias Biotherapeutics approval to expand the number and type of people with spinal cord injuries that it treats in their CIRM-funded clinical trial. Up till now, Asterias has been treating people … Continue reading CIRM-funded stem cell clinical trial for spinal cord injury expands patient recruitment
Humacyte Receives Prestigious Technology Pioneer Award for Kidney Failure Treatment
This month, a CIRM-funded company called Humacyte was named one of the World Economic Forum’s 30 Technology Pioneers for 2017. This prestigious award “recognizes early-stage companies from around the world that are involved in the design, development and deployment of new technologies and innovations, and are poised to have a significant impact on business and … Continue reading Humacyte Receives Prestigious Technology Pioneer Award for Kidney Failure Treatment
ViaCyte Advances Cell Replacement Therapy for High Risk Type 1 Diabetes
San Diego regenerative medicine company ViaCyte announced this week that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved their Investigational New Drug (IND) Application for PEC-Direct, a cell-based therapy to treat patients at risk for severe complications caused by type 1 diabetes. In the US, IND approval is the final regulatory step required before a therapy … Continue reading ViaCyte Advances Cell Replacement Therapy for High Risk Type 1 Diabetes
The Stem Cellar 