Dr. Sandip Patel (left) and Dr. Dan Kaufman (center) of UC San Diego School of Medicine enjoy a light-hearted moment before Derek Ruff (right) receives the first treatment for cancer using human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Photo courtesy of UC San Diego Health. For patients battling cancer for the first time, it can be quite … Continue reading First patient treated for colon cancer using reprogrammed adult cells
UC San Diego
Mending Stem Cells: The Past, Present & Future of Regenerative Medicine
UCSF's Mission Bay Campus For years we have talked about the “promise” and the “potential” of stem cells to cure patients. But more and more we are seeing firsthand how stem cells can change a patient’s life, even saving it in some cases. That’s the theme of the 4th Annual CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics … Continue reading Mending Stem Cells: The Past, Present & Future of Regenerative Medicine
Using 3D printer to develop treatment for spinal cord injury
Spinal cord injuries (SCIs) affect approximately 300,000 Americans, with about 18,000 new cases occurring per year. One of these patients, Jake Javier, who we have written about many times over the past several years, received ten million stem cells as part of a CIRM-funded clinical trial and a video about his first year at Cal … Continue reading Using 3D printer to develop treatment for spinal cord injury
71 for Proposition 71
Proposition 71 is the state ballot initiative that created California's Stem Cell Agency. This month, the Agency reached another milestone when the 71st clinical trial was initiated in the CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics (ASCC) Network. The ASCC Network deploys specialized teams of doctors, nurses and laboratory technicians to conduct stem cell clinical trials at … Continue reading 71 for Proposition 71
A cancer therapy developed at a CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinic tests its legs against breast cancer
A Phase 1 clinical trial co-sponsored by CIRM and Oncternal Therapeutics, has started treating patients at UC San Diego (UCSD). The goal of the trial is to test the safety and anti-tumor activity of the Oncternal-developed drug, cirmtuzumab, in treating breast cancer. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer to occur in women, regardless … Continue reading A cancer therapy developed at a CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinic tests its legs against breast cancer
Research Targeting Prostate Cancer Gets Almost $4 Million Support from CIRM
A program hoping to supercharge a patient’s own immune system cells to attack and kill a treatment resistant form of prostate cancer was today awarded $3.99 million by the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) In the U.S., prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in men. … Continue reading Research Targeting Prostate Cancer Gets Almost $4 Million Support from CIRM
CIRM-Funded Research Makes Multiple Headlines this Week
When it rains it pours. This week, multiple CIRM-funded studies appeared in the news, highlighting the exciting progress our Agency is making towards funding innovative stem cell research and promoting the development of promising stem cell therapies for patients. Below are highlights. Fate Therapeutics Partners with UC San Diego to Develop Cancer Immunotherapy Last week, … Continue reading CIRM-Funded Research Makes Multiple Headlines this Week
Hey, what’s the big idea? CIRM Board is putting up more than $16.4 million to find out
When you have a life-changing, life-threatening disease, medical research never moves as quickly as you want to find a new treatment. Sometimes, as in the case of Parkinson’s disease, it doesn’t seem to move at all. At our Board meeting last week David Higgins, our Board member and Patient Advocate for Parkinson’s disease, made that … Continue reading Hey, what’s the big idea? CIRM Board is putting up more than $16.4 million to find out
Confusing cancer to kill it
Confusion is not a state of mind that we usually seek out. Being bewildered is bad enough when it happens naturally, so why would anyone actively pursue it? But now some researchers are doing just that, using confusion to not just block a deadly blood cancer, but to kill it. Today the CIRM Board approved … Continue reading Confusing cancer to kill it
Engineered bone tissue improves stem cell transplants
Bone marrow transplants are currently the only approved stem cell-based therapy in the United States. They involve replacing the hematopoietic, or blood-forming stem cells, found in the bone marrow with healthy stem cells to treat patients with cancers, immune diseases and blood disorders. For bone marrow transplants to succeed, patients must undergo radiation therapy to … Continue reading Engineered bone tissue improves stem cell transplants
The Stem Cellar 