CIRM July Newsletter

• CIRM’s First Google Hangout to Focus on ALS
• Stem Cell High School Interns Document Their Experiences Through Social Media
• Tales from ISSCR 2013: The CIRM Blogs
• New Video - Alpha Stem Cell Clinics: Delivering a New Kind of Medicine
• New Webinar - Reimbursement Strategies for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Therapies
• CIRM President Alan Trounson's Stem Cell Research Picks
• Upcoming CIRM Events
• CIRM Funding Opportunities
   

CIRM’s First Google Hangout to Focus on ALS

On July 3rd at noon, join us for CIRM's first ever Google Hangout. CIRM grantees Clive Svendsen of Cedars-Sinai and Larry Goldstein of UCSD will chat about progress toward stem cell therapies for ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). The live video conversation also includes ALS patient advocate and CIRM governing board member Diane Winokur. 

• Read our blog about the event
• Watch the Google Hangout live on July 3rd at Noon, Pacific

Stem Cell High School Interns Document Their Experiences Through Social Media

The CIRM Creativity Awards support summer internship programs that introduce high school students to stem cell science and foster the next generation of scientists. This year, we decided to let the students tell their own stories about life in the lab and their hopes for the future. During the course of their internships, we've asked them to submit Instagram photos, YouTube videos, and a blog about their experience. We'll be collecting these perspectives on our website as their internships progress. 

• Read our blog about this year's Creativity Awards internships
• Visit the 2013 High School Creativity Students web page

Tales from ISSCR 2013: The CIRM Blogs

In mid-June, several members of CIRM's science team attended the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research in Boston. Kevin McCormack and Don Gibbons of CIRM's communications team also attended and reported on the meeting as it unfolded in a series of fifteen blogs. The wide range of topics include the latest on basic stem cell research findings, disease modeling with stem cells, an analysis of stem cell funding and patient advocate perspectives, to name just a few.

• Browse and read Kevin's and Don's ISSCR 2013 blogs

New Video - Alpha Stem Cell Clinics: Delivering a New Kind of Medicine

Last November, CIRM convened a workshop to consider how the existing California clinical infrastructure could be enhanced to accelerate the implementation of safe, effective clinical trials for experimental stem cell therapies, with the long-term goal of improving healthcare. The initiative will be brought to the CIRM governing board in July and is detailed in CIRM’s Alpha Stem Cell Clinics white paper report. This video provides a behind-the-scenes view of the workshop through interviews with some of the participants.

• Watch the video
• Read our blog about the workshop
• Read the CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics white paper

New Webinar - Reimbursement Strategies for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Therapies

On June 20th, CIRM hosted a webinar entitled, "Reimbursement Strategies for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Therapies". Topics included a primer on coding, coverage and payment rules and processes that determine whether a regenerative medicine product will be reimbursed as well as understanding why you should develop and adopt a reimbursement strategy early in product development. A recording of the webinar is now available on the CIRM website.

• Watch the webinar and download the presentation slides
• Read our blog about the webinar

CIRM President Alan Trounson's June Stem Cell Research Picks

Each month CIRM President Alan Trounson reports on advances in stem cell science by highlighting recently published papers from CIRM grantees and other leading research teams around the world. The leading story of his June report describes new definitive evidence that humans are able to produce new neurons throughout their adult lives. The long-debated finding relied on a fascinating analysis: measuring carbon 14 levels from 55 cadavers who had lived both before and during the cold nuclear bomb tests of the late 1950's and early 1960's. 

• Read the president's blog summary about his June report
• Browse the president's stem cell picks archive

Upcoming CIRM Events

CIRM Video Seminars Premiere on UCSD-TV in July 

TV schedule for "CIRM Spotlight on Genomics: Understanding Our Genes - A Step to Personalized Medicine":
July 25th, 8pm / July 26th, 10pm / July 28th, 5pm
Click here for information on where to watch in the San Diego area. You can also view the seminar anytime on our video page. 

TV schedule for "World's First Human Embryonic Stem Cell Trial for Spinal Cord Injury: Kate Sharify's Story":
July 11th, 9:30pm / July 12th, 11:30pm / July 16th, 7:30pm
Click here for information on where to watch in the San Diego area. You can also view the seminar anytime on our video page. 

Upcoming CIRM Governing Board Meeting

July 25th: The CIRM governing board will hold its 4th meeting of 2013 at the Hilton Hotel in Burlingame. The agenda and details will be posted to the meetings page 10 days before the event.

CIRM Funding Opportunities

PA 12-08: CIRM Patent Assistance Fund Awards - Application opportunities on a monthly basis until June 30, 2014
Eligibility: Only Technology Transfer Officials at current CIRM Grantee institutions are eligible to apply for funds under this program.

Get more info about CIRM RFAs
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