California and Victoria Host Stem Cell Awareness Day On September 25

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., September 18, 2008 – On September 25, CIRM will mark Stem Cell AwarenessDay in California in partnership with Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories in Victoria,Australia. A wide variety of activities and events are planned for the day which aims to foster greater understanding about stem cell research and the range of potential application for disease and injury.

“Exciting advances in stem cell research that bring us closer to real therapies are being announced on a weekly basis” stated Dr. Alan Trounson, president of CIRM “The events on Stem Cell Awareness Day are designed to inform a broad audience of patients, clinicians, students and the general public about some of the many advances in the field that California is helping to accelerate through CIRM funding.”

Stem Cell Awareness Day Activities

-	8:00 AM – Spotlight on Disease: Juvenile Diabetes: The regularly scheduled meeting of the Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee (ICOC) on September 25th will begin with a presentation on Juvenile Diabetes that was Web cast at 8:00 a.m.
-	During the ICOC board meeting CIRM will preview its new Web site with significantly more consumer and educational information. The retooled, more robust website is scheduled to go live next month.
-	The Buck Institute for Age research will hold a community seminar titled “Aging in Global Populations: Challenge or Opportunity – How Can Science Help?” Speakers include Buck Institute faculty Gordon LIthgow, PhD and Adele Hayutin, PhD, Director of the Global Aging Population at the Stanford Center on Longevity. The event begins at 10:30 in the Drexler Auditorium at the Buck Institute’s Novato campus. Please call 415-493-3638 to RSVP. There is a $10 registration fee.
-	3:00 – 5:00 PM – Interactive Online Q&A with California Stem Cell Scientists: Stem cell research scientists across the state will participate in a live chat moderated by CIRMÂ’s Chief research scientists across the state will participate in a live chat moderated by CIRM’s Chief Scientific Officer Marie Csete. Students and the general public could log and submit a questions that were be answered by one of a half dozen scientists including: Amander Clark, PhD (UCLA), Dr. Bruce Conklin (Gladstone),Susan Fisher, PhD (UCSF), Dr. Larry Goldstein (University of California, San Diego), Jan Nolta, PhD (UC Davis), and Renee Reijo Pera, PhD (Stanford University).
-	Stanford University School of Medicine will launch its new website for the Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Institute (www.stemcell.stanford.edu)
-	The University of California, Davis will break ground on their CIRM Institute being partially funded by a $20 million CIRM Major Facilities grant. Visit the Web site to learn more about the UC Davis program: http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/stemcellresearch/.
-	Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories (MISCL) hosted a full day of Stem Cell Awareness Day activities.

About CIRM: The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) was established in 2005 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act. The statewide ballot measure, which provided $3 billion in funding for stem cell research at California universities and research institutions, was overwhelmingly approved by voters, and called for the establishment of an entity to make grants and provide loans for stem cell research, research facilities, and other vital research opportunities. To date, the CIRM governing board has approved 253 research and facility grants totaling more than $635 million, making CIRM the largest source of funding for human stem cell research in the world. For more information, please visit www.cirm.ca.gov.

Contact:

Don Gibbons 415-396-9117 415-740-5855 (mobile)