Veronica and Elliott Growing up, Veronica McDougall thought everyone saw the world the way she did: blurry, slightly out of focus, and with tunnel vision. As she got older, her sight got worse, and even the strongest prescription glasses didn’t help. When she was 15, her brother tried teaching her to drive. One night she … Continue reading How stem cells helped Veronica fight retinitis pigmentosa and regain her vision
UC Irvine
Beware of misleading headlines and claims
THIS BLOG IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN AUDIO CAST Coronavirus particles, illustration. When the COVID pandemic broke out researchers all over the world scrambled to find new approaches to tackling the virus. Some of these, such as the vaccines, proved remarkably effective. Others, such as the anti-parasite medication ivermectin or the anti-malaria drug chloroquine, were … Continue reading Beware of misleading headlines and claims
Training a diverse group of future scientists
Students in CIRM's Bridges program showing posters of their work If you have read the headlines lately, you’ll know that the COVID-19 pandemic is having a huge impact on the shipping industry. Container vessels are forced to sit out at anchor for a week or more because there just aren’t enough dock workers to unload … Continue reading Training a diverse group of future scientists
CIRM Builds Out World Class Team With 5 New hires
Kevin Marks, CIRM's new General Counsel. Photo courtesy Modern-Counsel.com Following the passage of Proposition 14 CIRM has hired five new employees to help increase the team’s ability to respond to new challenges and responsibilities. Prop 14, which was approved by voters in November 2020, gives CIRM $5.5 billion in new funding. Those funds mean CIRM … Continue reading CIRM Builds Out World Class Team With 5 New hires
Want to help us solve a mystery?
Patient that has recovered from Covid-19 donating blood plasma. Photo courtesy Science Photo Convalescent plasma has been in the news a lot lately as a potential treatment for people infected with the coronavirus. In August the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to use these products based on preliminary data … Continue reading Want to help us solve a mystery?
It’s all about the patients
Ronnie, born with a fatal immune disorder now leading a normal life thanks to a CIRM-funded stem cell/gene therapy: Photo courtesy of his mum Upasana Whenever you are designing something new you always have to keep in mind who the end user is. You can make something that works perfectly fine for you, but if … Continue reading It’s all about the patients
Charting a new course for stem cell research
What are the latest advances in stem cell research targeting cancer? Can stem cells help people battling COVID-19 or even help develop a vaccine to stop the virus? What are researchers and the scientific community doing to help address the unmet medical needs of underserved communities? Those are just a few of the topics being … Continue reading Charting a new course for stem cell research
Building a gene and cell therapy pipeline
Dr. Kelly Shepard By Dr. Kelly Shepard We love sharing exciting news about recent discoveries or announcing the launch of a new CIRM-funded clinical trial because they offer tangible signs of progress, but the background work to build a gene and cell therapy "pipeline" is no less important. Behind the scenes Important signs of progress also happen … Continue reading Building a gene and cell therapy pipeline
CIRM-funded clinical trial testing a new approach to treat Parkinson’s disease
Dr. Krystof Bankiewicz Brain Neurotherapy Bio, Inc. (BNB) announced the treatment of the first patient in clinical trial testing a new approach to treat Parkinson's using MRI-guided neurosurgery to inject gene therapy into damaged regions of the brain. This CIRM‑funded trial, led by Dr. Krystof Bankiewicz, is one of 64 clinical trials supported by the … Continue reading CIRM-funded clinical trial testing a new approach to treat Parkinson’s disease
Encouraging news for treatment targeting retinitis pigmentosa
In an Endpoints News article, jCyte CEO Paul Bresge explained the reasoning behind the approach. “We enrolled a broad patient population in our Phase IIb trial. Participants had vision ranging from 20/80 to 20/800. “We wanted to identify the patients most likely to respond to treatment.” The treatment group achieved better functional vision and greater … Continue reading Encouraging news for treatment targeting retinitis pigmentosa