March 24, 2017
Shyam Patel,
Senior Science Officer,
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is California’s stem cell agency. Some therapies that come out of stem cell research involve transplanting the cells themselves. Others will be drugs that were discovered through modeling diseases in a petri dish. Still others will be diagnostics that allow doctors to diagnose and treat diseases more effectively—or through technologies that open up whole new fields of research. Our funding promotes all areas of stem cell research that show promise to accelerating treatments to patients in need.
We have a little over 4 years left to make new awards under our current funding paradigm, and if we work diligently, we can accomplish a lot. Imagine 50 new therapeutics candidates discovered under our early stage programs. Or reducing by half the time it takes to move the next great idea through translation into the clinic. And of course, conducting these new clinical trials – all 50 of them! CIRM 2.0 has programs that cover all of it – from the earliest stage seed funding through advanced clinical research. And we want to make sure that you know how to get the most out of it. Over these next four years, we will make approximately $700 million in new awards to advance stem cell research and development. It is both a tremendous opportunity and responsibility. Come join us, and be part of the team that is making stem cell history.
