Blood stem cells (blue) are cleared from the bone marrow (purple) before new stem cells can be transplanted.Credit: Dennis Kunkel Microscopy/SPL Problems with blood stem cells, a type of stem cell in your bone marrow that gives rise to various kinds of blood cells, can sometimes result in blood cancer as well as genetic and … Continue reading Two CIRM supported studies highlighted in Nature as promising approaches for blood disorders
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency
Good news for two CIRM-supported therapies
Jake Javier, a patient in the spinal cord injury stem cell therapy clinical trial It’s always satisfying to see two projects you have supported for a long time do well. That’s particularly true when the projects in question are targeting conditions that have no other effective therapies. This week we learned that a clinical trial … Continue reading Good news for two CIRM-supported therapies
New Report Says CIRM Produces Big Economic Boost for California
An independent Economic Impact Report says the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) has had a major impact on California’s economy, creating tens of thousands of new jobs, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in new taxes, and producing billions of dollars in additional revenue for the state. The report, done by Dan Wei and … Continue reading New Report Says CIRM Produces Big Economic Boost for California
Stories that caught our eye: SanBio’s Traumatic Brain Injury trial hits its target; A new approach to endometriosis; and a SCID kid celebrates Halloween in style
Hopeful signs for treating brain injuries There are more than 200,000 cases of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the US every year. The injuries can be devastating, resulting in everything from difficult sleeping to memory loss, depression and severe disability. There is no cure. But this week the SanBio Group had some encouraging news from … Continue reading Stories that caught our eye: SanBio’s Traumatic Brain Injury trial hits its target; A new approach to endometriosis; and a SCID kid celebrates Halloween in style
Stem Cell Agency’s supporting role in advancing research for rare diseases
The recent agreement transferring GSK’s rare disease gene therapies to Orchard Therapeutics was good news for both companies and for the patients who are hoping this research could lead to new treatments, even cures, for some rare diseases. It was also good news for CIRM, which played a key role in helping Orchard grow to … Continue reading Stem Cell Agency’s supporting role in advancing research for rare diseases
Using the AIDS virus to help children battling a deadly immune disorder
More than 35 million people around the world have been killed by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. So, it’s hard to think that the same approach the virus uses to infect cells could also be used to help children battling a deadly immune system disorder. But that’s precisely what researchers at UC San Francisco … Continue reading Using the AIDS virus to help children battling a deadly immune disorder
Progress to a Cure for Bubble Baby Disease
Welcome back to our “Throwback Thursday” series on the Stem Cellar. Over the years, we’ve accumulated an arsenal of exciting stem cell stories about advances towards stem cell-based cures for serious diseases. Today we’re featuring stories about the progress of CIRM-funded clinical trials for the treatment of a devastating, usually fatal, primary immune disease that … Continue reading Progress to a Cure for Bubble Baby Disease
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
Bye Bye bubble baby disease: promising results from stem cell gene therapy trial for SCID
You don’t need to analyze any data to know for yourself that Evangelina Vaccaro’s experimental stem cell therapy has cured her of a devastating, often fatal disease of the immune system. All you have to do is look at a photo or video of her to see that she’s now a happy, healthy 5-year-old with a … Continue reading Bye Bye bubble baby disease: promising results from stem cell gene therapy trial for SCID
Raising awareness about Rare Disease Day
One of the goals we set ourselves at CIRM in our 2016 Strategic Plan was to fund 50 new clinical trials over the next five years, including ten rare or orphan diseases. Since then we have funded 13 new clinical trials including four targeting rare diseases (retinitis pigmentosa, severe combined immunodeficiency, ALS or Lou Gehrig’s … Continue reading Raising awareness about Rare Disease Day
The Stem Cellar 