CIRM has indicated that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommended that CIRM provide funding for training and research on ethics and regulatory issues. In response to this recommendation and with the perspectives of various “CIRM funded researchers and other experts”, CIRM has responded with a new ethics & regulatory recommendation document. I have read it […]
CIRM Ethics & Regulatory Steps: highly responsive to IOM Read More »
A few days ago I had a long, very enjoyable phone conversation with the father of the mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) field, Dr. Arnold Caplan. Dr. Caplan is Professor of Biology, Director Skeletal Research Center at Case Western. He coined the phrase “mesenchymal stem cell” in the late 1980s. I’m going to break the interview
Insightful interview with Arnold Caplan: Part 1: MSC history, nomenclature, & properties Read More »
Allan Robins of Viacyte (pictured at left–sorry for the fuzzy image) and Paul Simmons of Mesoblast presented this morning at the CIRM Grantee Meeting. Both talks were outstanding. Robins went first. He started by saying how Viacyte had a productive pre-IND meeting with the FDA last year. I believe a target for them is to
Viacyte & Mesoblast present at CIRM Meeting Read More »
I’m here in San Francisco at the annual CIRM Grantee Meeting. As President Alan Trounson said, this is the best stem cell meeting in the world. We had two speakers tonight to kick off the meeting. Let me tell you my thoughts on each one. First, we had Rainer Storb from The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
CIRM Grantee Meeting on Wednesday March 6: fantastic talks by Drs. Storb & High Read More »
St. Baldrick’s is the top children’s cancer foundation and does amazing work for kids with cancer and their families. Their top fundraising event is a head-shaving program where people make pledges in support of a “shavee” who gets their head shaved in solidarity with kids with cancer who often lose their hair due to treatment.
How baldness can cure kid’s cancer: St. Baldrick’s Foundation Read More »
In the comments section of a recent post on adult stem cell treatment safety on this blog, the CEO of RNL Europe, Glenn McGee made the philosophical statement that “silence kills science”. It’s an interesting thought and I think to some extent there is truth in it. Openness, data-sharing, dialogue…these are all good things. In
CIRM Board Members continue to discuss the proposed changes in response to the IOM report (see pic above). There seems to be a slight majority in favor of the proposed changes amongst the board, however several board members are saying they need more time to consider the proposed changes and are uncomfortable voting today. As
CIRM Board: Will it hold a quick shot vote today on dramatic changes? Read More »
Recently, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) conducted a review of the California Stem Cell Agency, CIRM. IOM has now released a quite lengthy report that makes a number of recommendations on various issues. You can also read a short summary here. Unfortunately, I think that many of the IOM recommendations would be harmful to CIRM
IOM misses the boat on CIRM board Read More »
The University of California (UC), a truly wonderful organization, seems to have made a misstep with its new logo. Below on the left is the old logo and on the right is the new logo. I did a poll here that got a huge response on what people thought the new symbol represented. Just 2%
Who is Peter Nygård? A few days ago at the World Stem Cell Summit prior to the awards dinner there was a social gathering. This kind of thing is usually a good opportunity for more dialogue. When I got there I noticed two very famous people having what appeared to be an intense meeting of
Peter Nygård anti-aging guru draws a crowd at WSCS2012 Read More »