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Category Archives: Stem Cell Therapy

Finding on 'Evil' Stem Cells Boosts Stem Cell Agency PR


The California stem cell agency, which
is struggling to spread the word about its good deeds, made a bit of
progress last week when it was praised – not once but three times –
on a widely followed national media outlet.
Jill Helms, Stanford photo
The PR bonus occurred on Science
Friday, the NPR program that is a favorite on PBS radio stations
around the country. It has 1.4 million listeners and 600,000 podcast downloads each week.
Jill Helms, a surgery professor at
Stanford and a specialist in regenerative medicine, was the guest
last Friday. She talked about what Science Friday host Ira
Flatow called a "paradigm-shifting" finding that
cholestrol and fat are not the likely villains in clogging arteries.
Instead the villain is a stem cell – an evil one.
While evil stem cells are not a matter that is pushed by the California stem cell agency, Helms said her
collaboration began as a result of a CIRM-sponsored meeting in Japan.
Although she and lead researcher Song Li, an associate professor of bioengineering at UC Berkeley, work nearly within shouting distance,
they had never met. She said,
Zhenyu Tang (at microscope) examines vascular stem
cells in culture along with Aijun Wang (left) and Song Li.
UC Berkeley/Zoey Huang photo

"Even though he works just across
the (San Francisco) Bay from me - I met him at a meeting in Japan
that was sponsored by the California Institute for Regenerative
Medicine, or CIRM, and they fund a lot of stem cell research in
California."

Later she said,

"I will tell you that cancer is
certainly a disease that looks very much like a stem cell gone out of
control. And so if we understand what normally regulates a stem
cell's behavior, then we gain some crucial insights into what
regulates maybe a cancer cell's behavior. It's that kind of approach
that I think that CIRM is largely funding initiatives to try to
target human diseases, the big ones, and the ones that make us all
sort of quake in our shoes, and attempt to come up with new
therapies."

And then still later, she said,

"Most basic scientists that work
in stem cells and in the area of stem cell are trying as hard as
possible to move this into translational therapies, things that can
be used in humans. And, of course, CIRM, our funding institution, is
very adamant about this being the trajectory. So, you know, I'll be
taking a stab at it about five to seven years. I think that the
ability to rapidly screen existing drugs for their ability to target
this cell population is why we think that it might have a shorter
course to getting into humans."

We should note that Helms has not
received a grant from the stem cell agency nor is she even one of the
featured players in CIRM's many videos. Song Li does have a $1.3million grant from the agency.
The three-pronged push by Helms is just
what the agency needs if it is to sell its efforts, which are almost
totally ignored by the mainstream media. However, the Science Friday
audience consists almost entirely of "true believers" in
the virtues of science and research. If CIRM is to accomplish its
PR-communications-marketing goals it also has to reach the unwashed
heathens, who are, however, unlikely converts. But most importantly,
CIRM needs to persuade fence-sitters. All of which will require a
long, hard and sometimes frustrating campaign.
One final note: The UC Berkley press release on the research said it was supported by cash from CIRM, the
NIH and the United States Army.  According to CIRM's research blog post
on Li's work, his team included two researchers who were
part of Berkeley’s CIRM-funded training program.

Source:
http://californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Posted in Stem Cell Therapy, Stem Cells | Comments Off on Finding on 'Evil' Stem Cells Boosts Stem Cell Agency PR

Finding on ‘Evil’ Stem Cells Boosts Stem Cell Agency PR


The California stem cell agency, which
is struggling to spread the word about its good deeds, made a bit of
progress last week when it was praised – not once but three times –
on a widely followed national media outlet.
Jill Helms, Stanford photo
The PR bonus occurred on Science
Friday, the NPR program that is a favorite on PBS radio stations
around the country. It has 1.4 million listeners and 600,000 podcast downloads each week.
Jill Helms, a surgery professor at
Stanford and a specialist in regenerative medicine, was the guest
last Friday. She talked about what Science Friday host Ira
Flatow called a "paradigm-shifting" finding that
cholestrol and fat are not the likely villains in clogging arteries.
Instead the villain is a stem cell – an evil one.
While evil stem cells are not a matter that is pushed by the California stem cell agency, Helms said her
collaboration began as a result of a CIRM-sponsored meeting in Japan.
Although she and lead researcher Song Li, an associate professor of bioengineering at UC Berkeley, work nearly within shouting distance,
they had never met. She said,
Zhenyu Tang (at microscope) examines vascular stem
cells in culture along with Aijun Wang (left) and Song Li.
UC Berkeley/Zoey Huang photo

"Even though he works just across
the (San Francisco) Bay from me - I met him at a meeting in Japan
that was sponsored by the California Institute for Regenerative
Medicine, or CIRM, and they fund a lot of stem cell research in
California."

Later she said,

"I will tell you that cancer is
certainly a disease that looks very much like a stem cell gone out of
control. And so if we understand what normally regulates a stem
cell's behavior, then we gain some crucial insights into what
regulates maybe a cancer cell's behavior. It's that kind of approach
that I think that CIRM is largely funding initiatives to try to
target human diseases, the big ones, and the ones that make us all
sort of quake in our shoes, and attempt to come up with new
therapies."

And then still later, she said,

"Most basic scientists that work
in stem cells and in the area of stem cell are trying as hard as
possible to move this into translational therapies, things that can
be used in humans. And, of course, CIRM, our funding institution, is
very adamant about this being the trajectory. So, you know, I'll be
taking a stab at it about five to seven years. I think that the
ability to rapidly screen existing drugs for their ability to target
this cell population is why we think that it might have a shorter
course to getting into humans."

We should note that Helms has not
received a grant from the stem cell agency nor is she even one of the
featured players in CIRM's many videos. Song Li does have a $1.3million grant from the agency.
The three-pronged push by Helms is just
what the agency needs if it is to sell its efforts, which are almost
totally ignored by the mainstream media. However, the Science Friday
audience consists almost entirely of "true believers" in
the virtues of science and research. If CIRM is to accomplish its
PR-communications-marketing goals it also has to reach the unwashed
heathens, who are, however, unlikely converts. But most importantly,
CIRM needs to persuade fence-sitters. All of which will require a
long, hard and sometimes frustrating campaign.
One final note: The UC Berkley press release on the research said it was supported by cash from CIRM, the
NIH and the United States Army.  According to CIRM's research blog post
on Li's work, his team included two researchers who were
part of Berkeley’s CIRM-funded training program.

Source:
http://californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Posted in Stem Cell Therapy, Stem Cells | Comments Off on Finding on ‘Evil’ Stem Cells Boosts Stem Cell Agency PR

$30 Million Round Attracts Strong Industry Interest; More Cash Coming?


The California stem cell agency is
considering adding more cash to its upcoming $30 million award round
aimed at aiding projects that can complete – within the next four
years – a clinical trial for a therapy.

CIRM Chairman J.T. Thomas,
a Los Angeles bond financier, last month told agency directors that
there is "some real quality in the mix" among the firms
that have expressed initial interest. Depending on the judgment of
CIRM award reviewers later this year, Thomas said the board could
well be asked to increase the funding.
The "strategic partnership"
round has already exceeded expectations in terms of volume. CIRM told
the California Stem Cell Report that the agency has received
letters of intent from 37 enterprises, including 29 biotech
companies.
The round is an outgrowth of
recommendations two years ago from an "external review"
panel that said that CIRM needed to do a better job of engaging the
biotech industry. The RFA for the round said the agency's intent is
to "enhance the likelihood that CIRM-funded projects will obtain
funding for phase III clinical trials" and attract additional
financing.
Elona Baum, the agency's general
counsel and vice president for business development,, said in a news release earlier this spring,

“The Strategic Partnership Funding
Program represents a new era for CIRM, one that is increasingly
focused on moving therapies from the lab to the clinic, while still
recognizing the importance of maintaining investments in early stage
science,”

As the RFA is currently configured, CIRM
will provide grants or loans of up to $10 million to three
recipients. Applicants will have to match the size of the award. For
the first time, CIRM will also require applicants to demonstrate the
financial ability to carry the project forward.
In response to a query, CIRM spokesman
Kevin McCormack said,

"We received 37 letters of intent
(LOIs), including 8 from non-profits and 29 from biotech companies.
 Based on the information in the LOIs, and on discussions with
applicants, we were able to determine that some of the proposals were
for projects that were outside the scientific scope of the RFA and
that some of the applicants did not meet the minimum specified
criteria in the RFA for 'Commercial Validation.' We currently expect
to receive 10-15 applications for projects that appear to be
eligible."

A "commercial validation"
review is scheduled for this fall by the directors' Intellectual
Property and Industry Subcommittee, which is co-chaired by
Stephen Juelsgaard, former executive vice president of Genentech,
and Duane Roth, CEO of CONNECT, a San Diego nonprofit
that supports technology and life sciences business development. The
others on the six-member panel are Chairman Thomas, Michael
Goldberg, a general partner at the MDV venture capital
firm, and two academics, Os Steward, chair and director of the
Reeve-Irvine Research Center for Spinal Cord Injury at UC
Irvine, and Susan Bryant, former vice chancellor for research,
also at UC Irvine.
CIRM's short version of commercial
validation says that applications must have "the financial
capacity to move the project through development or of being able to
attract the capital to do so. This may be evidenced by, for example,
(i) significant investment by venture capital firms, large
biotechnology or pharmaceutical companies and/or disease foundations;
(ii) a licensing and development agreement with a large biotechnology
or pharmaceutical company, or a commitment to enter into such an
agreement executed prior to the disbursement of CIRM funding; and/or
(iii) financial statements evidencing significant liquid assets."
Applications are due June 26 with
reviews in September. The directors' Industry Subcommittee will meet
following the reviews. CIRM said funding would come no earlier than
January of next year.

Source:
http://californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Posted in Stem Cell Therapy | Comments Off on $30 Million Round Attracts Strong Industry Interest; More Cash Coming?

Finding on ‘Evil’ Stem Cells Boosts Stem Cell Agency PR


The California stem cell agency, which
is struggling to spread the word about its good deeds, made a bit of
progress last week when it was praised – not once but three times –
on a widely followed national media outlet.
Jill Helms, Stanford photo
The PR bonus occurred on Science
Friday, the NPR program that is a favorite on PBS radio stations
around the country. It has 1.4 million listeners and 600,000 podcast downloads each week.
Jill Helms, a surgery professor at
Stanford and a specialist in regenerative medicine, was the guest
last Friday. She talked about what Science Friday host Ira
Flatow called a "paradigm-shifting" finding that
cholestrol and fat are not the likely villains in clogging arteries.
Instead the villain is a stem cell – an evil one.
While evil stem cells are not a matter that is pushed by the California stem cell agency, Helms said her
collaboration began as a result of a CIRM-sponsored meeting in Japan.
Although she and lead researcher Song Li, an associate professor of bioengineering at UC Berkeley, work nearly within shouting distance,
they had never met. She said,
Zhenyu Tang (at microscope) examines vascular stem
cells in culture along with Aijun Wang (left) and Song Li.
UC Berkeley/Zoey Huang photo

"Even though he works just across
the (San Francisco) Bay from me - I met him at a meeting in Japan
that was sponsored by the California Institute for Regenerative
Medicine, or CIRM, and they fund a lot of stem cell research in
California."

Later she said,

"I will tell you that cancer is
certainly a disease that looks very much like a stem cell gone out of
control. And so if we understand what normally regulates a stem
cell's behavior, then we gain some crucial insights into what
regulates maybe a cancer cell's behavior. It's that kind of approach
that I think that CIRM is largely funding initiatives to try to
target human diseases, the big ones, and the ones that make us all
sort of quake in our shoes, and attempt to come up with new
therapies."

And then still later, she said,

"Most basic scientists that work
in stem cells and in the area of stem cell are trying as hard as
possible to move this into translational therapies, things that can
be used in humans. And, of course, CIRM, our funding institution, is
very adamant about this being the trajectory. So, you know, I'll be
taking a stab at it about five to seven years. I think that the
ability to rapidly screen existing drugs for their ability to target
this cell population is why we think that it might have a shorter
course to getting into humans."

We should note that Helms has not
received a grant from the stem cell agency nor is she even one of the
featured players in CIRM's many videos. Song Li does have a $1.3million grant from the agency.
The three-pronged push by Helms is just
what the agency needs if it is to sell its efforts, which are almost
totally ignored by the mainstream media. However, the Science Friday
audience consists almost entirely of "true believers" in
the virtues of science and research. If CIRM is to accomplish its
PR-communications-marketing goals it also has to reach the unwashed
heathens, who are, however, unlikely converts. But most importantly,
CIRM needs to persuade fence-sitters. All of which will require a
long, hard and sometimes frustrating campaign.
One final note: The UC Berkley press release on the research said it was supported by cash from CIRM, the
NIH and the United States Army.  According to CIRM's research blog post
on Li's work, his team included two researchers who were
part of Berkeley’s CIRM-funded training program.

Source:
http://californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Posted in Stem Cell Therapy | Comments Off on Finding on ‘Evil’ Stem Cells Boosts Stem Cell Agency PR

Stem cell treatment offers hope to those sickened after getting bone marrow

wwltv.com

Posted on June 15, 2012 at 5:53 PM

Updated today at 6:22 PM

Meg Farris / Eyewitness News Email: mfarris@wwltv.com | Twitter: @megfarriswwl

NEWORLEANS- She was only in kindergarten when doctors gave her family the bad news.

Now she's one of the first in Louisiana to try a new treatment for people who get gravely ill after a bone marrow transplant.

The last three years of Sami Smith's life have been physically and emotionally painful.

"I literally, they try to scare me and they can't, because I've been through the scariest thing that you can," said Smith, 9, of Ponchatoula.

Her mother noticed she was napping more and bruising. Doctors diagnosed AML, a type of leukemia or blood cancer. Had she not gotten to the doctor then, she would not have made it much longer. A Child's Wish sent her to Disney World. The good news, one of her teen sisters Mary Hannah, 13, was a good bone marrow match. The transplant worked and Sami was cancer free.

Then devastating news. Sami got a condition called GvHD (Graft-versus-host disease) where the new marrow launches a painful attack on the recipient's body. It's the leading cause of transplant-related death.

The rest is here:
Stem cell treatment offers hope to those sickened after getting bone marrow

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Stem cell treatment helps heal stroke victims

"So it's interesting to see that in all the patients so far they have improved slightly over the course of their involvement in the study."

The six patients suffered strokes between six months and five years before they were treated, and all had been left with limb weakness.

The patients were assessed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale which ranked the first five patients with a median score of eight before the treatment and four points three months afterwards.

The sixth patient was treated less than three months ago. Six further patients will be treated as part of this Phase 1 trial.

Professor Muir said he was "intrigued" by the early results.

He added: "We know that if you're involved in a trial you are going to see patients change in behaviour, particularly if you're doing something invasive, so we need to be very cautious indeed in interpreting these results.

"However, that said, it is not something we'd anticipated seeing in this group of patients."

Further trials are needed to establish whether stem cells actually help the brain repair damaged tissue.

Michael Hunt, chief executive officer of the company developing the treatment, ReNeuron, said: "The clinical trial is primarily a safety study and we must therefore treat any of the observed early indications of functional benefit with considerable caution at this stage.

"That said, we remain encouraged by the results seen in the study to date and we look forward to providing further updates."

See original here:
Stem cell treatment helps heal stroke victims

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