Happy St. Patrick’s Day! How might you celebrate? At least in part you might consider supporting St. Baldrick’s, which is a wonderful foundation that supports research on children’s cancer. Every year they have a very cool event where supporters of the organization get their heads shaved to raise money for the cancer research. In the past …
How Baldness Helps Toward a Cure for Children’s Cancer Read More »
There is a critical need for treatments for children with autism. 2020 update: see this more recent post on my thinking on stem cells for autism. About a year ago I wrote about a clinical trial at Sutter Health in Sacramento that was approved by the FDA for stem cells for autism. At that time …
Why I do not believe in stem cells for autism today Read More »
Today was day one of the Houston Stem Cell Summit, at which Guv Rick Perry was a keynote speaker. I thank the organizer for inviting me to attend and I wish I could have, but I’ve spent a good chunk of the day today teaching medical students right here in Sacramento, CA so I could …
Please support the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act. It’s in Jerry Brown’s hands now. This will take 1 minute of your time and make a world of difference. How to get in touch? You may contact Governor Jerry Brown by mail at: Governor Jerry Brown, c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173, Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: (916) …
Please tell Guv Jerry Brown to sign the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act Read More »
Autism affects millions of children in the U.S. alone; could stem cells for autism help? It is a perplexing spectrum of disorders with “autism” being an umbrella term for a host of related neurological illnesses. The negative impact of autism on our society transcends economics, but has been estimated at 10s of billions of dollars. …
Each month or so, the leadership of CIRM, also know as the Board or the ICOC, meets to discuss CIRM issues of business, policies, grants, and so forth. Today the ICOC is having such a meeting here in Sacramento and I went to half the meeting. I would have gone to the whole thing, but …
What’s it like inside of a CIRM Board meeting? Impressive! Read More »
The era of privacy is over. People are saying this so often lately that is almost cliche, but I’m starting to believe it is true. My recent experience is illustrative and it has convinced me that privacy is indeed almost a quaint anachronism. The main instrument in the death of privacy is the Internet. For …
In the last week, a number of newspapers in California have run articles or editorials about CIRM, some negative. I think in part this attention was stimulated by the Election of a new Chair at CIRM. The new Chair for CIRM is Dr. Jonathan Thomas, who I am confident will do an outstanding job. On …
The tragic 9.0 earthquake and tsunamis that hit Japan a few weeks ago are having lasting consequences not only for Japan, but also for the world via radiation. One area of particular concern is the radiation that has leaked and is continuing to leak from the damaged nuclear reactors. At this point, the radiation …
A reality check on the radiation spreading across the globe Read More »
Before stem cell research was on everyone’s minds and before the phrase “regenerative medicine” was familiar to most scientists, The Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act of 1999 funded research into treating paralysis. It was a revolutionary piece of legislation, named after my friend Roman Reed, a true hero. Roman was playing college football …
Support Funding for the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Program Read More »