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

Advancing Heart Health: CIRM Funds Tenaya Therapeutics’ Gene Therapy Trial for ARVC

Histology of human cardiac muscle under microscope. Credit: Shutterstock The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) recently announced funding a series of projects spanning the earliest stages of research through to clinical trials. One of those projects was an $8 million award to Matthew Pollman, MD, MS, Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at Tenaya … Continue reading Advancing Heart Health: CIRM Funds Tenaya Therapeutics’ Gene Therapy Trial for ARVC

UCLA researchers exploring ways to prevent heart failure after heart attacks

ENPP1 is expressed in the region of scarring after injury to the heart. Cardiac muscle shown in red and ENPP1 in green demonstrates expression of ENPP1 in the region of scar formation. | Credit: Arjun Deb Lab/UCLA At the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), we support groundbreaking cardiovascular research from Discovery to Clinical as … Continue reading UCLA researchers exploring ways to prevent heart failure after heart attacks

Join us to hear how stem cell and gene therapy are taking on diseases of aging

It is estimated that as many as 90 percent of people in industrialized countries who die every day, die from diseases of aging such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Of those still alive the numbers aren’t much more reassuring. More than 80 percent of people over the age of 65 have a chronic medical … Continue reading Join us to hear how stem cell and gene therapy are taking on diseases of aging

How some brilliant research may have uncovered a potential therapy for Alzheimer’s 

Dr. Nicole Koutsodendris, photo courtesy Gladstone Institutes In the world of scientific research, the people doing clinical trials tend to suck up all the oxygen in the room. They’re the stars, the ones who are bringing potential therapies to patients. However, there’s another group of researchers who toil away in the background, but who are … Continue reading How some brilliant research may have uncovered a potential therapy for Alzheimer’s 

Stem cell therapy may help mend a broken heart

Blausen.com staff (2014). "Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014 Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a condition where the muscles of the heart are weak and can lead to heart failure, is considered rare in children. However, because the symptoms are not always easy to recognize the condition can go unnoticed for many years, and in severe cases … Continue reading Stem cell therapy may help mend a broken heart

CIRM funds clinical trials targeting heart disease, stroke and childhood brain tumors

Gary Steinberg (Jonathan Sprague) Heart disease and stroke are two of the leading causes of death and disability and for people who have experienced either their treatment options are very limited. Current therapies focus on dealing with the immediate impact of the attack, but there is nothing to deal with the longer-term impact. The CIRM … Continue reading CIRM funds clinical trials targeting heart disease, stroke and childhood brain tumors

Precision guided therapy from a patient’s own cells

Dr. Wesley McKeithan, Stanford Imagine having a tool you could use to quickly test lots of different drugs against a disease to see which one works best. That’s been a goal of stem cell researchers for many years but turning that idea into a reality hasn’t been easy. That may be about to change. A … Continue reading Precision guided therapy from a patient’s own cells

Meet the people who are changing the future

Kristin MacDonald Every so often you hear a story and your first reaction is “oh, I have to share this with someone, anyone, everyone.” That’s what happened to me the other day. I was talking with Kristin MacDonald, an amazing woman, a fierce patient advocate and someone who took part in a CIRM-funded clinical trial … Continue reading Meet the people who are changing the future

Scientists at UC Davis discover a way to help stem cells repair heart tissue

Researchers Phung Thai (left) and Padmini Sirish were part of a research team seeking stem cell solutions to heart failure care.  Image Credit: UC Davis Repairing the permanent damage associated with a heart attack or long-term heart disease has been a challenge that scientists have been trying to tackle for a long time. Heart failure … Continue reading Scientists at UC Davis discover a way to help stem cells repair heart tissue