It’s Friday so time for some stem cell headlines. TGIF….although of course the stem cells will be growing, experiments going, the grants and papers continue being written, and data still analyzed on Saturdays and Sundays too in the stem cell field. Stem cells are not a Mon-Fri, 9-5 kind of universe, but most of you […]
TGIF: musings on recent stem cell headlines: some good, some stupid Read More »
Many of us in the scientific community who work on cancer got the message below about the extremely dire state of funding. To the NCI-supported scientific community: As you have heard and read, the Budget Control Act (aka “sequestration”) has gone into effect as of March 1st. All components of the NIH, including the
Official message from Harold Varmus, Director of NCI, on Sequestration Read More »
Is this a “good” stem cell blog post to write as I gobble down my lunch in between working on grants….hmm, maybe not. Too late! Stem cells are hot all around the globe, but they are particularly scorching hot in certain countries such as the Philippines. There are an increasing number of news articles on
Please pass on bull testicles Soup No. 5 & on stem cell Soup No. 7 Read More »
The GOP, guided by nationally-respected CEOs, has devised a 20-point plan (below) to turn NIH into a for-profit enterprise in reaction to Sequestration. $1,000 service fee per grant application. Destination fee: Applicant’s proposal is guaranteed to be assigned to requested study section. $5,000. Extra “baggage” fee to those whose previous grants were triaged to make those
Literally unbelievable secret GOP plan for NIH Sequestration Read More »
CIRM is holding a meeting today on how to respond to the IOM recommendations on CIRM operations. I’m a CIRM grantee who is live blogging this meeting. My opinions are my own. The IOM, amongst other things, recommended that patient advocates on the CIRM Board not be allowed to be voting members of the CIRM
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 Knoepfler Lab 2012 Stem Cell Person of the Year is Roman Reed. Congratulations, Roman Reed! Roman made a tremendous difference in 2012 in many ways. One of the most notable was catalyzing the TJ Atchison Spinal Cord Injury Research Act in Alabama, which provides $400,000/year in funding for research. Of course, TJ and many
Stem Cell Person of the Year 2012: Roman Reed Read More »
I recently attend a conference in Florida called The World Stem Cell Summit. It was very enjoyable and unique in that it brings together and is open to all constituents of the stem cell world. I gave a couple talks and did an “expert” luncheon at this meeting, but what I enjoyed most was talking
Perfect storm dodged: what are three key challenges for stem cell field going into 2013? Read More »
Here on The Niche I’m giving out a Stem Cell Person of the Year Award for 2012 along with all my other annual awards (e.g. best stem cell journal, paper, blog, comic, activist, etc). 2020 update: you can see future winners of the award here. The Person of the Year winner will get recognition for
Stem Cell Person of the Year Finalists: time to vote Read More »
In a few hours I’m going to submit my current R01 proposal to my institutional grants office, which will then submit it to NIH as is required by NIH. I’m tired. My brain is tired. I have a cold. I’ve read the grant a hundred times at least. I’ve had colleagues read it. I’ve taken
My R01 is due in a few hours, what’s on my mind besides ice cream? Read More »