Program Type: Translation
A CIRM Disease Team for the Repair of Traumatically Injured and Arthritic Cartilage
Arthritis is a disabling condition that afflicts 6 million Californians, costing our state nearly $32 billion annually for health care and lost wages. Given the growth of an aging population encouraged to maintain an active lifestyle due to the overall health benefits, the impact of arthritis is expected to increase significantly. For example, the Center […]
A CIRM Disease Team for the Treatment and Cure of Diabetes
This proposal is for the establishment of a group of faculty, staff and industrial partners to develop a proposal for a Diabetes Disease Team. Diabetes is one of the most devastating diseases. Inadequate blood glucose control results on many long term complications including: kidney disease, blindness, amputation and nerve damage. The diabetes epidemic affects almost […]
Stem Cell Gene Therapy for HIV in AIDS Lymphoma Patients
The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is still a major health problem. In both developed and underdeveloped nations, millions of people are infected with this virus. HIV infects cells of the immune system, becomes part of the cell’s genetic information, stays there for the rest of the life of these cells, and uses these cells as […]
Phase I study of IM Injection of VEGF Producing MSC for the Treatment of Critical Limb Ischemia
Critical limb ischemia (CLI) represents a significant unmet medical need without any approved medical therapies for patients who fail surgical or angioplasty procedures to restore blood flow to the lower leg. CLI affects 2 million people in the U.S. and is associated with an increased risk of leg amputation and death. Amputation rates in patients […]
MSC engineered to produce BDNF for the treatment of Huntington’s disease
One in every ten thousand people in the USA has Huntington’s disease, and it impacts many more. Multiple generations within a family can inherit the disease, resulting in escalating health care costs and draining family resources. This highly devastating and fatal disease touches all races and socioeconomic levels, and there are currently no cures. Screening […]
Stem Cells Secreting GDNF for the Treatment of ALS
This project aims to use a powerful combined stem cell and gene therapy approach to treat patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease). ALS is a devastating disease for which there is no treatment or cure. Progression from early muscle twitches to complete paralysis and death usually happens within 4 years. Every […]
Recombinant Bispecific Antibody Targeting Cancer Stem Cells for the Therapy of Glioblastoma
Glioblastoma multiforme is the most prevalent and aggressive type of brain tumor, and devastating to any patient unfortunate enough to receive its diagnosis. As the most populous state in the nation, more Californians are diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme than any other state. Over the past 20 years, surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy have been utilized […]
A monoclonal antibody that depletes blood stem cells and enables chemotherapy free transplants
Successful stem cell therapy requires replacement of diseased or dysfunctional stem cells with healthy ones. These healthy stem cells can come from either a donor or can be stem cells that are modified by gene therapy techniques. One important step in this process of repair and replacement is to eliminate the existing diseased cells so […]
Anti-Notch1, OMP-52M51: A New Cancer Therapeutic to Reduce CSC Frequency
A important benefit of the tremendous progress in stem cell research has been the recognition that stem cell pathways are frequently re-activated in cancer cells conferring stem cell-like properties on a subset of tumor cells. This understanding is the basis for the emerging field of cancer stem cell (CSC) research. The cancer stem cell paradigm […]
Genetically Engineered Mesenchymal Stem Cells for the Treatment of Vertebral Compression Fractures.
Osteoporosis is an unsolved and highly prevalent health care problem: 10 million Americans suffer from the disease, and an additional 34 million have low bone mass. Roughly half of all women and a fourth of all men older than 50 years will sustain an osteoporosis-related fracture at some time in their lives, and when such […]