It’s been a long time coming. Eighteen months to be precise. Which is a peculiarly long time for an Annual Report. The world is certainly a very different place today than when we started, and yet our core mission hasn’t changed at all, except to spring into action to make our own contribution to fighting … Continue reading Perseverance: from theory to therapy. Our story over the last year – and a half

We have a new member on the CIRM Board – Dr. Allison Brashear is the Dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine, overseeing one of the nation’s top research, academic and medical training institutions. Dr. Brashear is an internationally known researcher in movement disorders and an expert in ATP1A3-related diseases, a spectrum of rare … Continue reading A new voice and vision added to CIRM Board

In 2017, CIRM funded a discovery or early stage research project for Dr. Caroline Kuo at UCLA for a hereditary immune disorder known as X-Linked Hyper IgM Syndrome. The work has gone so well that Dr. Kuo and her team are now preparing the pre-clinical work needed to launch a clinical trial. Thanks to the … Continue reading CIRM progression award to support research towards immunodeficiency

You can’t look at this photo and not smile. This is Evie Vaccaro, and it’s clear she is just bursting with energy and vitality. Sometimes it feels like I have known Evie all her life. In a way I have. And I feel so fortunate to have done so, and that’s why this photo is … Continue reading Celebrating a life that almost didn’t happen

Here at CIRM we only fund clinical trials that meet the rigorous standards outlined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These requirements are not only necessary to properly evaluate how effective a potential treatment may be, but they are also important in fulfilling the Hippocratic Oath to “first, do no harm”. The journey from … Continue reading Unproven “stem cell” therapy injuries are more common than we realized

While most people probably wouldn’t put 2020 in their list of favorite years, it’s certainly turning out to be a good one for jCyte. Earlier this year jCyte entered into a partnership with global ophthalmology company Santen Pharmaceuticals worth up to $252 million. Then earlier this week they announced some encouraging results from their Phase … Continue reading Encouraging news for treatment targeting retinitis pigmentosa

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. $249,974 was awarded to Dr. Karen Christman at UC … Continue reading CIRM Board Approves Two New Discovery Research Projects for COVID-19

If someone told you they were working on lungs in a dish you might be forgiven for thinking that’s the worst idea for a new recipe you have ever heard of. But in the case of Dr. Evan Snyder and his team at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute it could be a recipe for … Continue reading Using mini lungs to test potential COVID-19 therapies

A simple blood stem cell transplant is showing tremendous promise in treating a wide range of metabolic, blood and immune disorders such as thalassemia and some leukodystrophies. These are considered rare diseases – meaning there are fewer than 200,000 people with them in the US – so there is often little funding available to develop … Continue reading Cord blood transplants help children fighting deadly diseases