When biotech Geron punted on its embryonic stem cell (ESC) program despite having an ongoing FDA-approved clinical trial for spinal cord injury and tens of millions in loan funding from CIRM, many in the stem cell field were upset to put it mildly. Geron repaid the CIRM loan with interest. At the time, the general […]
CIRM comment on prospect of BioTime buying Geron stem cell program Read More »
Where do we stand on stem cells for eye disorders? The only biotech with an active hESC-based clinical trial, Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) will have three top leaders including CEO Gary Rabin participating in a CIRM webinar on stem cell-based treatments for eye disorders this Wednesday. Also involved with be Samuel Barone, a medical officer
Stem cells for eye disorders webinar: CIRM, ACT, and FDA together Read More »
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 »
What does the future hold for the California Stem Cell Agency, CIRM? AP Science Writer, Alicia Chang, weighs in with a new piece, quoting a number of scientists including me. As much as others are considering the future of CIRM, CIRM itself is thinking about this key question itself about halfway through its originally charted
Perspectives on CIRM’s future Read More »
In June 2011 I did a post about genomics and its growing importance both for science and society. The stem cell field has a very rapidly accelerating genomic component as well. I went so far as to call it a revolution and I still believe that is not an exaggeration. CIRM has rightly recognized the
CIRM goes genomic: the California stem cell agency focuses on DNA Read More »
CIRM, the California stem cell agency, has funded hundreds of grants during its relatively short existence. You can do searches of these grants through a handy dandy web portal that CIRM has made available–it’s a very cool tool and I commend CIRM for making it available. I wish the tool had more options however including
Word Cloud of Every CIRM-funded grant yields some surprising insights Read More »
Each year at this time I start thinking about what the next year will bring for the stem cell field and make predictions. This year is no different and I’ve been pondering what 2012 has in store for us. You can read my predictions for 2011 here and see how I fared. Not too bad, but overly optimistic
Stem cell predictions for 2012: Science, CIRM, ACT, trends Read More »
As much as so many were excited yesterday about the enrollment of the first patient in a CIRM-funded clinical trial, I did not see a mention of a very important element. The patient. Our excitement about the clinical trial moving forward is understandable, but we also need to keep a sober perspective on the fact
The news of CIRM and clinical trial: don’t forget the patient Read More »
The CIRM Grantee Meeting will wrap up today in San Francisco with more great talks I am sure. It has been an inspiring meeting and one that fills me with hope for stem cell science to help a huge number of patients. The meeting was kicked off with a talk by Craig Venter, the amazing
Venter: CIRM is the greatest scientific organization founded in our era. Read More »
There has been a largely media-fed hullabaloo about the salary for the new Chair of CIRM, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, $400,000. Now don’t get me wrong, that sounds like a lot of money to me personally, but we need to put it in perspective and when we do, the salary is reasonable and
California pays its sports coaches alone more than the entire payroll of CIRM Read More »