State Stem Cell & Gene Therapy Agency Sets up Support Program to Help Patients Participate in Clinical Trials

For many patients battling deadly diseases, getting access to a clinical trial can be life-saving, but it can also be very challenging. Today the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) approved a concept plan to make it financially and logistically easier for patients to take part in CIRM-funded clinical trials. The … Continue reading State Stem Cell & Gene Therapy Agency Sets up Support Program to Help Patients Participate in Clinical Trials

Stem Cell Agency Board Approves Roadmap for Next Five Years

Dr. Maria Millan, CIRM's President & CEO It's hard to get somewhere if you don't know where you are going. Without a map you can't plan a route to your destination. That's why the CIRM Board approved a new Strategic Plan laying out a roadmap for the Stem Cell Agency for the next five years. … Continue reading Stem Cell Agency Board Approves Roadmap for Next Five Years

Sweating bullets and other stories from the front line

THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the 2020 election became one of the most contentious in living history, it suddenly made trying to get a proposition on the ballot in California a lot harder. That meant the fate of Proposition 14, a ballot initiative refunding CIRM, … Continue reading Sweating bullets and other stories from the front line

A year unlike any other – a look back at one year post Prop 14

THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST State flag of California 2020 was, by any standards, a pretty wacky year. Pandemic. Political convulsions. And a huge amount of uncertainty as to the funding of life-saving therapies at CIRM. Happily, those all turned out OK. We got vaccines to take care of COVID. The … Continue reading A year unlike any other – a look back at one year post Prop 14

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

A conversation with Bob Klein about the past, present, and future of CIRM

Bob Klein Anyone who knows anything about CIRM knows about Bob Klein. He's the main author and driving force behind both Proposition 71 and Proposition 14, the voter-approved ballot initiatives that first created and then refunded CIRM. It's safe to say that without Bob, there'd be no CIRM. Recently, we had the great good fortune … Continue reading A conversation with Bob Klein about the past, present, and future of CIRM

CIRM Board Approves New Clinical Trial for ALS

This past Friday the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) awarded $11.99 million to Cedars-Sinai to fund a clinical trial for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.  ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the death of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing … Continue reading CIRM Board Approves New Clinical Trial for ALS

Month of CIRM – Our Therapeutics Team Goes Hunting

All this month we are using our blog and social media to highlight a new chapter in CIRM’s life, thanks to the voters approving Proposition 14. We are looking back at what we have done since we were created in 2004, and also looking forward to the future. Today we have a guest blog by … Continue reading Month of CIRM – Our Therapeutics Team Goes Hunting

A Month of CIRM: Where we’ve been, where we’re going

All this month we are using our blog and social media to highlight a new chapter in CIRM’s life, thanks to the voters approving Proposition 14. We are looking back at what we have done since we were created in 2004, and also looking forward to the future. We kick off this event with a … Continue reading A Month of CIRM: Where we’ve been, where we’re going

Inspiring new documentary about stem cell research

Poster for the documentary "Ending Disease" 2020 has been, to say the very least, a difficult and challenging year for all of us. But while the focus of the world has, understandably, been on the coronavirus there was also some really promising advances in stem cell research. Those advances are captured in a great new … Continue reading Inspiring new documentary about stem cell research