Dr. Steven Deeks. Photo courtesy UCSF I’ve always been impressed by people's willingness to step forward and volunteer for a clinical trial. Even more so when they are the first person ever to test a first-in-human therapy. They really are pioneers in helping advance a whole new approach to treating disease. That’s certainly the case … Continue reading Pioneering a new approach to HIV and AIDS
UC San Francisco
A better, faster, more effective way to edit genes
Clinical fellow Brian Shy talks with postdoctoral scholar Tori Yamamoto in the Marson Lab at Gladstone Institutes on June 8th, 2022. Photo courtesy Gladstone Institutes. For years, scientists have touted the potential of CRISPR, a gene-editing tool that lets you target a specific mutation and either cut it out or replace it with the corrected form of … Continue reading A better, faster, more effective way to edit genes
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
Creating a better way to treat type 1 diabetes
LISTEN TO THIS BLOG AS AN AUDIOCAST ON SPOTIFY The cell encapsulation device (right) that is being developed by Encellin, a San Francisco–based biotechnology company. Photo courtesy of Encellin Type 1 diabetes (t1d) affects every aspect of a person’s life, from what they eat and when they eat, to when they exercise and how they feel … Continue reading Creating a better way to treat type 1 diabetes
Celebrating Ja’Ceon Golden
Meet Ja’Ceon Golden. He was among the first patients treated at UC San Francisco, in partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, in a CIRM-funded study for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency. Ja’Ceon was born without a functioning immune system, so even a simple cold could have been fatal. At UCSF, Dr. Mort Cowan’s team collected Ja’Ceon’s … Continue reading Celebrating Ja’Ceon Golden
Board Funds Fifteen Bridges to Stem Cell Research and Therapy Programs Across California and New Sickle Cell Disease Trial
Yesterday, the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) awarded $8.39 million to UC San Francisco to launch a clinical trial for sickle cell disease. CIRM also awarded $51.08 million to fifteen California community colleges and universities to support undergraduate and master’s programs that train future stem cell researchers. Sickle Cell Trial … Continue reading Board Funds Fifteen Bridges to Stem Cell Research and Therapy Programs Across California and New Sickle Cell Disease Trial
A new way to evade immune rejection in transplanting cells
Immune fluorescence of HIP cardiomyocytes in a dish; Photo courtesy of UCSF Transplanting cells or an entire organ from one person to another can be lifesaving but it comes with a cost. To avoid the recipient’s body rejecting the cells or organ the patient has to be given powerful immunosuppressive medications. Those medications weaken the … Continue reading A new way to evade immune rejection in transplanting cells
Heads or tails? Stem cells help guide the decision
Two cell embryo There are many unknown elements for what triggers the cells in an embryo to start dividing and multiplying and becoming every single cell in the body. Now researchers at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco have uncovered one of those elements, how embryos determine which cells become the head and which the … Continue reading Heads or tails? Stem cells help guide the decision
How stem cells play “follow the leader”
Todd McDevitt, PhD Photo courtesy: Gladstone Institutes It’s hard enough trying to follow the movements of individuals in a crowd of people, but imagine how much harder it is to follow the movements of stem cells crowded into a tiny petri dish. Well, researchers at the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco have done just that. … Continue reading How stem cells play “follow the leader”
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