As many of you know, the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR) announced today that it will dissolve as an organization. I both emailed and talked on the phone with the President of CAMR, Amy Rick (who by the way is also CEO of the Parkinson’s Action Network (PAN)). Below is a concise […]
Interview with CAMR President & PAN CEO, Amy Comstock Rick Read More »
We had the big news last week that for the first time ever, human embryo cloning (aka “therapeutic cloning”) worked to produce apparently normal embryonic stem cells. I posted about it a few times here, here, and here. I have tried my best to be factual, open minded, and realistic about the issues. Frankly, the
Stem cell field stumbles on cloning dialogue Read More »
Will intellectual property (IP) wars over patent rights to one of the most exciting new stem cell technologies hold back getting novel therapies to patients such as IPS cells? Unfortunately, it’s very possible. Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are very cool stem cells made from non-stem cells through a process called cellular reprogramming. iPS cells
Putting the IP in iPS cells: patent war looming? Read More »
I recently did a poll (still running here) about a hypothetical stem cell hotshot called Dr. Famous who might have published a recent paper that was sexy, but crappy. This situation sure rang a bell with a lot of people! In fact, a half dozen people contacted me directly (and privately) to talk about it
Go ahead & blog about Dr. Famous’ sexy, but crappy paper, most people say Read More »
One of my favorite stem cell scientists is Jeanne Loring of Scripps. She does great science and when you ask her questions, she frankly states her opinions and is clearly a gifted educator at heart too. Below is a Q&A interview I did with Jeanne on key issues of clinical translation of iPS cells. You
Jeanne Loring interview: optimism on clinical translation of IPS cells Read More »
When are iPS cell-based therapies ready to be tested in actual people? It’s the million or perhaps even billion dollar question of today in the stem cell field. I realize that perhaps it is also a dangerous question, politically-speaking, for me to ask in a public forum, but patient lives as well as potentially the
In my series eight simple reasons to pause before getting an unlicensed treatment from a non-compliant clinic I have covered the first five: (1) potential loss of insurance coverage for negative outcomes that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, (2) failure of patient follow up by the doctors and clinics, (3) exclusion from future clinical trial participation, (4) undesired
I’ve been fortunate to interview some of the greats in the stem cell field for this blog and host debates between key players. Please note that just because I have interviewed folks does not mean I agree with them or that they agree with me. The point is to establish dialogue on key issues. As
CIRM recently held an “elevator pitch” (also sometimes known as an “elevator speech”) contest amongst its grantees. The San Francisco Chronicle even covered this contest (and also here). Kevin McCormack, Sr. Director of Public Communications and Patient Advocate Outreach at CIRM, described the contest in, appropriately enough, a speech. As best as I can tell 56 scientists participated. By way
My top 3 favorite CIRM elevator pitches Read More »
Would you want a GI specialist doing your heart surgery? How about a radiologist doing your brain surgery? I wouldn’t. So why then do so many patients accept that the doctor doing their stem cell transplant has no training in that area? I’m doing a series on eight simple reasons not to get an unlicensed