New stem cell approach targeting deadly blood cancers

Every four minutes someone in the US is diagnosed with a blood cancer. It might be lymphoma or leukemia, myeloma or myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). While we have made great strides in treating some of these over the years, we still have a long way to go. Need proof? Well, every nine minutes someone in the US … Continue reading New stem cell approach targeting deadly blood cancers

If you want to accelerate stem cell therapies then create an Accelerating Center

“You can’t teach fish to fly,” is one of the phrases that our CIRM President & CEO, Randy Mills, likes to throw out when asked why we needed to create new centers to help researchers move their most promising therapies out of the lab and into clinical trials. His point is that many researchers are … Continue reading If you want to accelerate stem cell therapies then create an Accelerating Center

Training the Next Generation of Stem Cell Scientists

Nobel prize winners don’t come out of thin air, they were all young, impressionable kids at one point in time.  If you ask any award-winning scientists how they got into science research, many of them would likely tell you about an inspiring teacher, an encouraging parent, or a hands-on research opportunity that inspired or helped … Continue reading Training the Next Generation of Stem Cell Scientists

Improving process drives progress in stem cell research

Process is not a sexy word. No one gets excited thinking about improving a process. Yet behind every great idea, behind every truly effective program is someone who figured out a way to improve the process, to make that idea not just work, but work better. It’s not glamorous. Sometimes it’s not even pretty. But … Continue reading Improving process drives progress in stem cell research

Pushing Stem Cell Research Forward

For the last few weeks CIRM has been doing a lot of introspection as we develop a new Strategic Plan, pushing stem cell research forward. Patient Advocate meeting in Los Angeles:Photo courtesy Cristy Lytal USC Patients Advocates But we haven’t done this alone. We traveled to San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco to meet … Continue reading Pushing Stem Cell Research Forward

Share your voice, shape our future

There is power in a single voice. I am always reminded of that whenever I meet a patient advocate and hear them talk about the need for treatments and cures – and not just for their particular disease but for everyone. The passion and commitment they display in advocating for more research funding reflects the … Continue reading Share your voice, shape our future

Faster, better, more efficient. Challenging? That too. An update on CIRM 2.0.

Changing direction is never easy. The greater the change the greater the likelihood you’ll have to make adjustments and do some fine-tuning along the way to make sure you get it right. On January 1st of this year we made a big change, launching CIRM 2.0. Our President and CEO Dr. C. Randal Mills called … Continue reading Faster, better, more efficient. Challenging? That too. An update on CIRM 2.0.

New Stem Cell Agency President Says; “It’s all about the Patients”

This week we held two events to introduce our new President, C. Randal Mills, to our biggest supporters, the researchers we fund and the patient advocates who are looking to stem cell science for treatments and cures. The events were at our offices in San Francisco and at the University of Southern California campus in … Continue reading New Stem Cell Agency President Says; “It’s all about the Patients”