U.C. San Diego Scientist Larry Goldstein Joins Stem Cell Agency’s Board

Larry Goldstein, PhD. Larry Goldstein PhD, has many titles, one of which sums up his career perfectly, “Distinguished Professor”. Dr. Goldstein has distinguished himself on many fronts, making him an ideal addition to the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). Dr. Goldstein – everyone calls him Larry - is a Cell … Continue reading U.C. San Diego Scientist Larry Goldstein Joins Stem Cell Agency’s Board

De-stressing stem cells and the Bonnie & Clyde of stem cells

Dr. John Cashman The cells in our body are constantly signalling with each other, it's a critical process by which cells communicate not just with other cells but also with elements within themselves. One of the most important signalling pathways is called Wnt. This plays a key role in early embryonic and later development. But … Continue reading De-stressing stem cells and the Bonnie & Clyde of stem cells

DNA therapeutic treats blood cancer in mice and begins human clinical trial

The left image represents a microscopic view of the bone marrow of a myeloma-bearing mouse treated with control, and the right image represents the same for a myeloma-bearing mouse treated with ION251, an experimental therapeutic. The red dots represent the IRF4 protein within human myeloma cells, which are much sparser after ION251 treatment. Image credit: … Continue reading DNA therapeutic treats blood cancer in mice and begins human clinical trial

“Mini-brains” model an autism spectrum disorder and help test treatments

Alysson Muotri, PhD, professor and director of the Stem Cell Program at UC San Diego School of Medicine and member of the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine. Image credit: UC San Diego Health Rett syndrome is a rare form of autism spectrum disorder that impairs brain development and causes problems with movement, speech, and even … Continue reading “Mini-brains” model an autism spectrum disorder and help test treatments

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

CIRM Board Approves Two New Discovery Research Projects for COVID-19

Dr. Karen Christman (left) and Dr. Lili Yang (right) This past Friday the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) approved two new discovery research project as part of the $5 million in emergency funding for COVID-19 related projects.  This brings the number of COVID-19 projects CIRM is supporting to 17, including three clinical trials. … Continue reading CIRM Board Approves Two New Discovery Research Projects for COVID-19

Lab-grown human sperm cells could unlock treatments for infertility

Dr. Miles Wilkinson: Photo courtesy UCSD Out of 100 couples in the US, around 12 or 13 will have trouble starting a family. In one third of those cases the problem is male infertility (one third is female infertility and the other third is a combination of factors). In the past treatment options for men … Continue reading Lab-grown human sperm cells could unlock treatments for infertility

A true Hall of Fame winner

Dr. Larry Goldstein: Photo courtesy UCSD You know you are working with some of the finest scientific minds in the world when they get elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences (NAS). It’s the science equivalent of the baseball, football or even Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. People only get in if their … Continue reading A true Hall of Fame winner

Ask the Stem Cell Team About Autism

On March 19th we held a special Facebook Live "Ask the Stem Cell Team About Autism" event. We were fortunate enough to have two great experts - Dr. Alysson Muotri from UC San Diego, and CIRM's own Dr. Kelly Shepard. As always there is a lot of ground to cover in under one hour and … Continue reading Ask the Stem Cell Team About Autism

Why “Ask the Stem Cell Team” Remains Important

These are definitely strange, unusual and challenging times. Every day seems to bring new restrictions on what we can and should do. All, of course, in the name of protecting us and helping us avoid a potentially deadly virus. We all hope this will soon pass but we also know the bigger impact of the … Continue reading Why “Ask the Stem Cell Team” Remains Important