CIRM October Newsletter

• Heart disease, Blindness, Alzheimer’s and MD research get multi-million dollar funding boost from CIRM
• CIRM Spotlight on Liver Disease Videos Now Available On-Line
• Video: $18 Million Stem Cell Research Award Applauded by ALS Advocates
• Alan Trounson's Stem Cell Research Picks
• 1000 and Counting: The Latest Publications on CIRM-Funded Research
• Upcoming Events
   

Heart disease, Blindness, Alzheimer’s and Muscular Dystrophy Research get Multi-Million Dollar Funding Boost from CIRM

At its September meeting, the CIRM governing board awarded $63 million in funding to researchers working on stem cell-based treatments for heart disease, muscular dystrophy, Alzheimer’s and retinitis pigmentosa. One of the projects, using stem cells to try and reduce scarring and regenerate heart muscle after a heart attack, has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to move into clinical trials. The board also awarded more than $38 million to 28 other projects as part of its Basic Biology awards program, and $6.7 million in funding for a Research Leadership Award which will bring neurobiologist Dennis Steindler from Florida to the Parkinson’s Institute in Sunnyvale.

• Read our press release
• Read our blog about the awards
   

CIRM Spotlight on Liver Disease Videos Now Available On-Line

On September 6, the governing board heard about the current standard of care for metabolic liver diseases and current progress of CIRM-funded research which aims to provide an alternative, stem cell-based treatment. The board also heard from a young woman who has battled liver disease.

• Watch the videos
• Read our blog about the videos
   

Video: $18 Million Stem Cell Research Award Applauded by ALS Advocates

On July 26th, the governing board approved an $18 million Disease Team II research grant that aims to bring a stem cell-based ALS treatment to clinical trials. This video captures the ALS patient advocate community's testimony in support of the grant. In total, the board approved twelve Disease Team II grants totaling $214 million.

• Watch the video
   

CIRM President Alan Trounson's September 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.

• Read the president's report
   

1000 and Counting: The Latest Publications on CIRM-funded Research

With over 1000 publications and counting, CIRM grantees are making steady progress on understanding the molecular basis of stem cell biology and moving stem cell-based therapies toward clinical trials. Here is a partial list of science journals that published CIRM-funded research in September along with press releases from the grantees' home institutions:

September 2nd - Nature Immunology

• UCLA Release: UCLA scientists discover 'missing link' between blood stem cells, immune system

September 18th - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

• Salk Release: Discovery of reprogramming signature may help overcome barriers to stem cell-based regenerative medicine
   

Upcoming Events

ICOC Governing Board Meeting

Oct 25: The CIRM governing board will hold its sixth meeting of 2012 at the Crown Plaza SFO-International Airport Hotel in Burlingame, CA. The agenda and details will be posted to the meetings page 10 days before the event.

Stem Cell Awareness Day - What are you doing to spread the word?

October 3rd: Patients, advocates, researchers and students around the globe will celebrate Stem Cell Awareness Day with classroom lectures, tours of stem cell facilities, and other special activities. Visit the Stem Cell Awareness Day website for a list of events.

Stem Cells on the Mesa - Registration Now Open

October 29-31: The 2nd Annual Investor and Partnering Forum, organized by CIRM, Sanford Consortium, and Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, will be held as part of the Stem Cell Meeting on the Mesa. The conference aims to bring together senior members of the business development and scientific research communities in regenerative medicine to advance stem cell science into cures for debilitating diseases and injuries. Six CIRM Disease Team prinicipal investigators are scheduled to speak at the forum.

Upcoming Requests for Applications (RFAs) Schedule

• RFA 12-06: CIRM Genomics Award - Letter of Intent (LOI) due 5:00 pm (PDT), October 3, 2012
• RFA 12-07: CIRM Early Translational IV Research Awards - Pre-applications due 5:00pm (PDT), October 26, 2012

Get more info about CIRM RFAs
Sign up to receive CIRM funding announcements