Category Archives: California Stem Cells

For years the California stem cell agency has given the public access to the meetings of its governing board via a one-way audiocast over the Internet and by phone.

But patients, advocates, scientists and business folks have not had the opportunity to comment and make suggestions re the doings of the 29-member board of directors through the same method. The public could only listen unless they were on the scene.

Chiang also uses the same sort of service and company as used by the stem cell agency. But he has added an inexpensive touch that genuinely opens up the meetings to the public.

Mendelson said,

Mendelson continued,

Mendelson said that the move was generated by Chiang's desire to enhance public access and his desire to increase public participation in and increase awareness of the many boards, commissions and authorities" that he chairs.

On-the-scene public participation in CIRM meetings is slim. One of the reasons is that the sessions often require travel and overnight stays that pose barriers for many persons, particularly patients and their advocates. The agency would make it easier for its stakeholders and enhance its reputation for openness and transparency by instituting this inexpensive practice. It also fits with the goal of Randy Mills, the president of the agency, to provide more clarity in what the agency does.

Originally posted here:
California Stem Cell Report: Connecting With the Public ...

October 05, 2015 4:48 PM ET

NeoStem Oncology, LLC discovers, produces, and supplies human cell populations for research, diagnostic, clinical, and therapeutic applications. The company offers stem cell media, such as serum-free media for propagation of human embryonic stem cell (hESC); serum-free media for propagation of human myoblasts; serum-free media formulation to propagate hESC and bias their differentiation to ectodermal lineages; and products for laboratory research purposes. The company also provides human motor neuron progenitors, human cardiac progentior cells, and human neuronal progentior cells for screening and predictive toxicology applications, which are derived from human embryonic stem cells. In addit...

NeoStem Oncology, LLC discovers, produces, and supplies human cell populations for research, diagnostic, clinical, and therapeutic applications. The company offers stem cell media, such as serum-free media for propagation of human embryonic stem cell (hESC); serum-free media for propagation of human myoblasts; serum-free media formulation to propagate hESC and bias their differentiation to ectodermal lineages; and products for laboratory research purposes. The company also provides human motor neuron progenitors, human cardiac progentior cells, and human neuronal progentior cells for screening and predictive toxicology applications, which are derived from human embryonic stem cells. In addition, it offers cell transplant solution, an injectable solution for cell suspensions. NeoStem Oncology, LLC was formerly known as California Stem Cell, Inc. and changed its name to NeoStem Oncology, LLC in May 2014. The company was founded in 2005 and is based in Irvine, California. As of May 8, 2014, NeoStem Oncology, LLC operates as a subsidiary of Caladrius Biosciences, Inc.

5251 California Avenue

Suite 150

Irvine, CA92617

United States

Founded in 2005

Chairman of The Scientific Advisory Board, Chief Executive Officer, and President

Vice President of Research and Development

Compensation as of Fiscal Year 2015.

Neostem, Inc., California Stem Cell, Inc. - M&A Call

Apr 11 14

To discuss the definitive agreement to acquire California Stem Cell, Inc

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Approves California Stem Cell, Inc.'s Phase II Cancer Stem Cell Clinical Trial for Ovarian Cancer

Feb 18 14

California Stem Cell, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the company's application to begin a Phase II clinical trial exploring the potential of a patient specific cancer immunotherapy in women with Stage III or IV ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer. The randomized, double blind study is the company's second cancer therapy approved for clinical trials by the FDA, bolstering its platform approach to treating late stage solid-tumor cancers. The company's patient specific approach to treating metastatic melanoma, recently approved to begin a Phase III trial, provided sufficient safety data to proceed directly to a Phase II study in ovarian cancer. The study design randomizes an estimated 99 adult female patients to two treatment arms. The treatment group will receive Ovapuldencel-T, which is a combination of autologous dendritic cells loaded with irradiated autologous tumor cells in GM-CSF. Ovapuldencel-T is created by first isolating cancer stem cells from the patient's resected tumor sample, then enriching, inactivating and combining these cells with dendritic cells or antigen presenting immune cells which are harvested from the patient's blood. The control group will receive the MC treatment, harvested from the patient's blood combined with GM-CSF, granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor, a white blood cell growth factor. The trial design calls for both groups to receive subcutaneous injections of their respective treatment weekly for three consecutive weeks, then monthly for the following five months. The trial is expected to last approximately sixty months, including enrollment, treatment, and long term patient follow-up.

California Stem Cell, Inc. Presents at 9th Annual New York Stem Cell Summit, Feb-18-2014 11:00 AM

Jan 25 14

California Stem Cell, Inc. Presents at 9th Annual New York Stem Cell Summit, Feb-18-2014 11:00 AM. Venue: The Convene, Downtown, 32 Old Slip (between Water St. and FDR), New York, NY 10005, United States. Speakers: Hans S. Keirstead, Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board.

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NeoStem Oncology, LLC: Private Company Information ...

SICKLE CELL DISEASE vs. THE CALIFORNIA STEM CELL PROGRAM Disease-a-week Challenge #19

By Don C. Reed

Imagine: inside the veins of an African-American child, red blood cells: round and soft, doing their job, keeping the person alive.

What would happen if those cells hardened and changed shape, curving into the letter C, like a wheat-cutting sickle?

First, the capillaries would clog, in what Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) doctors call a crisis. Excruciating agony, like broken glass in the veins, a crisis may last an hour or a day, and the pain is just the beginning.

By twenty years of age, about 15% of children with SCD suffer major strokes by 40 years of age, almost half have central nervous system damage cognitive dysfunction (mental problems) damage to lungs and kidneys. frequent hospitalizations (and face the likelihood of) early death

https://www.cirm.ca.gov/...

Why does this nightmare condition single out African-Americans? The carrier state for SCD may be a defense against malaria, common to sub-Saharan Africa, but the defense is worse than the disease.

Poverty makes things worse: African-Americans are almost three times more likely than whites to be poor, and accordingly lack decent medical insurance:

The U.S. Census declared in 2010 of the population in poverty, 9.9% are white persons, 28.4% are black persons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/...

Without medical advice, SCD sufferers may not even know even the most basic care: like the vital importance of drinking lots of water to stay well-hydrated.

The more water a person drinks, the less likely it is that their abnormal blood cells will clog

Another effective treatment is a medication called hydroxyurea, which reduces crises by 50% and death by 40%, but most adults are not treated

The problem is getting worse. For a person with sickle cell anemia--

the average life expectancy has (gone down) from 42 in 1995 to 39 today. -- http://www.cirm.ca.gov/...

But doesnt the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) help?

Yes, if your state has it. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) brought reasonably-priced medical care to millions of the poor and middle class. If someone on Obamacare develops SCD, medical care and advice is available to them. This is a wonderful accomplishment, for which history will thank President Obama.

Politics, unfortunately, has gotten in the way.

As originally enacted, the ACA required states to expand Medicaid eligibility to (families)with incomes (close to) the federal poverty levelHowever, a 2012 Supreme Court ruling made it optional for states to expand Medicaid eligibility

http://www.rand.org/...

As of this writing, 21 state governors (all Republicans) have opted out of ACA: denying affordable medical care to millions of low-income Americans: including all too many families of color.

http://www.advisory.com/...

But access to care is only part of the problem; we also need to have therapies waiting, actual cures to make people wellnot just maintain them in their misery.

Which brings us to three men connected to the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Bert Lubin is a member of the California Stem Cell Agencys board of directors.

If you live in Oakland, California, you might know Dr. Lubin, who for more than thirty-six years has been working to save childrens lives from sickle cell disease.

At the Childrens Hospital of Oakland, Dr. Lubin began the Sibling Donor Cord Blood Program, offered to families across the United States who have a child with a blood disorder such as sickle cell anemiaand who are expecting another child. Following the birth of a healthy child, (his/her cord blood) is harvested. Because cord blood is enriched with blood-forming stem cells, it is cryopreserved (frozen) and can be later used for transplantation. A number of lives have been saved following transplantation with cord blood units collected in this program

https://www.cirm.ca.gov/...

A second champion is Dr. Ted Love, who recently retired from the board of the California stem cell program.

Dr. Love is one of the most genuinely charming people you will ever meet, and he has a way of calming down arguments that is amazing to see. When disagreements on the stem cell board got hot and heavy, he could sum up both sides with a gentle voice, allowing problems to be settled amicably. When I told him he would be greatly missed, he said he wanted to dedicate his life to finding a cure for SCD.

How is Dr. Love doing?

Helmed by Bay Area biotech veteran Ted Love, Global Blood Therapeutics is developing treatments for sickle cell disease a genetic blood disorder that in the U.S. affects 1 in 365 African-Americans

http://www.xconomy.com/...

The third man is Dr. Donald Kohn of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), recipient of funding from the California stem cell program.

The following are his own words, taken from public documents.

His method?

Isolate some of the patients own marrow and then use gene therapy methods to correct the sickle gene defect in the blood stem cells before transplanting them back into the patient

What would this do?

correction of the sickle mutation in adult bone marrow (blood stem cells) would allow for permanent production of normal red blood cells each red blood cell (RBC) derived will produce normal, non-sickle red blood cells

What are his hopes?

These advances will have direct and immediate applications to enhance current medical therapies of sickle cell disease

Will this information be kept secret, or be shared with other researchers?

All scientific findings and biomedical materials produced from our studies will be publicly available to non-profit and academic organizations in California

https://www.cirm.ca.gov/...

The first clinical trial of stem cell gene therapy has begun at UCLA and there are great hopes a new therapy will emerge.Dr. Kohn, personal communication.

The struggle is hard. But it must and will go on, funded by both public and private sources.

In our lifetime, will our scientists make an end to this deadly disease? California intends to find out.

Because black lives matter.

Don C. Reed is the author of the forthcoming book, STEM CELL BATTLES: Proposition 71 and Beyond: How Ordinary People Can Fight Back Against the Crushing Burden of Chronic Disease, available by pre-order from Amazon.com. http://www.worldscientific.com/....

Link:
Sickle Cell Disease vs. the California Stem Cell Agency ...

At the California Stem Cell Treatment Center, we provide care for people suffering from diseases that may be alleviated by access to adult stem cell based regenerative treatment. The Center utilizes a fat transfer surgical technology to isolate and implant the patients own stem cells from a small quantity of fat harvested by liposuction on the same day. Patients who seek care at the California Stem Cell Treatment Center are evaluated by a respective member of our multispecialty expert panel of Board Certified physicians representing many medical fields.

At the California Stem Cell Treatment Center, we provide care for people suffering from diseases that may be alleviated by access to adult stem cell based regenerative treatment. The Center utilizes a fat transfer surgical technology to isolate and implant the patients own stem cells from a small quantity of fat harvested by liposuction on the same day. Patients who seek care at the California Stem Cell Treatment Center are evaluated by a respective member of our multispecialty expert panel of Board Certified physicians representing many medical fields.

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Home Page - California Stem Cell Treatment Center

Agenda Topics

Jeff Fan, Exhibition Manager Jeff@selectbio.us +1 510-857-4865

Mark Berman, Past President, American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery; Medical Director, California Stem Cell Treatment Center Gregorio Chazenbalk, Research Associate, Dept of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California-Los Angeles Aaron Cipriano, Student, University of California-Riverside Kristin Comella, Chief Scientific Officer, Bioheart, Inc. Ann Cooper, Research Veterinarian, University of California-Irvine Devon Duron Ehnes, Graduate Student, University of California-Riverside Richard Enmon, US and EU Registered Patent Attorney, Vossius and Partner John Feller, Medical Director, Desert Medical Imaging Fred Fox, Ethicist, BioMedical Research Institute -- BioMed IRB Henry Klassen, Associate Professor, University of California Irvine Elliot Lander, Medical Director, California Stem Cell Treatment Center Jiayu Liao, Associate Professor, Bioengineering and Stem Cells, University of California, Riverside Dennis Lox, Physician, Florida Spine and Sports Medicine Center Maricela Maldonado, Bioengineering, University of California-Riverside Daniel Nampe, Bioengineering, University of California-Riverside Vincent On, Electrical Engineering, University of California-Riverside Michael Pazzani, Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development, University of California-Riverside Ken Pettine, Fellowship Trained Spine Surgeon, Premier Stem Cell Institute Sicco Popma, Scientific Director, Johnson & Johnson Joseph Purita, Medical Director of Stem Cell Centers of America, Institute Of Regenerative and Molecular Orthopedics Ron Shane, Medical and Research Director, Millennia Concepts Biotech, LLC/American Academy of Anti-aging Medicine John Sterling, Editor-in-Chief, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News Shigeki Sugii, Group Leader, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium Prue Talbot, Director, Stem Cell Center, UC Riverside Atena Zahedi, Researcher, University of California-Riverside

This Conference and Associated Clinical Practicum is Ideally Suited for the Following Audiences:

This Conference will include a Panel Discussion led by the Editor-in-Chief of GEN:

John Sterling, Editor-in-Chief, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) will lead a panel focusing on stem cell publications and major industry trends in the broader stem cell field.

Regulatory Trends and Ethics Issues:

Mr. Fred Fox, Chairman, BioMed IRB will focus on regulatory trends and ethics issues to be addressed as stem cell research translates towards the clinic.

Clinical Practicum on Day 1 Evening After Conclusion of Main Conference Presentations:

Offers Delegates Hands-on View of Adipose-derived Stem Cell Harvest, Generation of the SVF, and Demonstration of Tools and Technologies Utilized by Clinicians [Will be Hosted by Local Surgery Center and Performed by Licensed Clinicians in Full Compliance with Relevant Regulations].

Kosher Food Available for Speakers and Delegates:

Since this conference is held on the last two days of Passover, we will be offering Kosher Food to respect the dietary requirements of our speakers and delegates.

See the article here:
SELECTBIO - Clinical Translation of Stem Cells 2014

Years ago, I was interviewed by famed KGO Radio talk show host Ronn Owens and was impressed by his asking just the right questions. Interviewing is a subtle skill, and what seemed like casual conversation -- warmth and encouragement spiced up with humor -- was in fact a friendly interrogation. Afterward I felt as if my brain had been vacuumed.

With a new book on stem cells coming out next month, naturally I thought of the Bay Area's legendary journalist, only to find out he was just recovering from surgery for Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) to ease the symptoms of his Parkinson's disease.

Asked what he was doing in the hospital, Owens replied:

"Just the normal thing, go in and have a couple holes drilled into your head and have some wires put in."

DBS has been called a pace-maker operation for the brain. A battery device the size of a silver dollar is put under the skin near the collarbone, with a wire going up through the neck into the brain; there it will produce mild shocks to counteract the "abnormal nerve signals that cause PD symptoms".

If all goes well, many of the problems of Parkinson's (tremors and shaking) will be considerably reduced, perhaps for 5-7 years. And, conveniently, if something better comes along, the device can be removed.

To me as a non-scientist, it sounded great. If I had Parkinson's, I would definitely investigate it.

But DBS does not solve the problem: it does not slow neurodegeneration -- the breakdown of the nerves.

If you visit the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) website, you will find about two dozen approaches (at a cost of $44 million) attempting to defeat Parkinson's.

This is as it should be. PD afflicts millions of people around the world, an enormous burden to families and nations. We need to try many ways until we can find the cause, and implement the cure.

Remember Thomas Edison and the light bulb? He and numerous scientists went through thousands of substances, looking for a filament that would carry the light inside the bulb. They finally settled on--carbonized bamboo. When that worked, the world changed.

Everything depends on funding. Here is Dr. Jeanne Loring of Scripps Institution, and the Summit for Stem Cell Foundation. Dr. Loring has had CIRM grants in the past, and hopes for another, this one to challenge PD. Here is how she would fight:

"...The idea is simple; we obtain skin cells from patients and turn them into pluripotent stem cells. Then these cells are made into neurons that make dopamine, with the plan to put those neurons back into the brains of patients to replace the cells that have died. Currently, we have a plan to obtain FDA approval for the therapy in two and a half years, and estimate that it will cost $7.3 million reach that goal ...we are hopeful that there will soon be opportunities for us to apply for... CIRM funding."--Dr. Jeanne Loring, personal communication.

Stem cells may help the body produce the dopamine, the natural chemical which makes motion smooth and coordinated.

For instance, Dr. Xianmin Zeng of the Buck Institute received a CIRM grant for "banking transplant-ready dopaminergic neurons..."

If there was a variety of healthy nerve cells ready to go, the right match could be available for someone in need. This would save time searching-- and prevent the body from rejecting the transplant.

Or, stem cells could be used as a disease model: to test new therapies and medications, to find the cause and cure of the disease.

Dr. Xinnan Wang's work at Stanford University begins with skin cells taken from a Parkinson's patient. She then re-programs the patient cells back to an embryonic-like state. She turns these cells into the nerve cells affected by Parkinson's -- and here it gets exciting.

Dr. Wang's idea is this: in a Parkinson's-affected nerve cell, the mitochondria (the power sources of the cell) are damaged. A healthy body is able to sweep away the damaged mitochondria, as with an invisible broom. But if the "broom" is not working right, damaged mitochondria will just stay there, and essentially rot, spreading poison through the cell. When the nerve cells become intoxicated, the body can't control itself, and the tremors and shakes begin.

"But if you could fix the broom, the body might get rid of the poisons in the nerve cell -- and maybe cure Parkinson's." -- Xinnan Wang, personal communication.

Do you see why scientists all across the world are excited about the California stem cell program? Here, thanks to the vision of the California voters, it is possible to take the risk of making a mistake -- to try new ways -- to challenge incurable disease.

Edison needed thousands of tries to get the light bulb right; what if he had only had the money to try five or six? The world might still be groping in the dark.

If we want to save lives and ease suffering, we might consider California's example, and make funding available to pay for the research. If every state had a department of regenerative medicine, imagine the progress we might make!

And Ronn Owens? He is recovering nicely. I am sure you will join me and the San Francisco Bay Area in wishing him a speedy and full recovery.

Don C. Reed is the author of the forthcoming book, "STEM CELL BATTLES: Proposition 71 and Beyond: How Ordinary People Can Fight Back Against the Crushing Burden of Chronic Disease", available for pre-order now at Amazon.com.

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Parkinson's vs. The California Stem Cell Agency: Disease-a ...

En Espaol

There is no shortage of myths and misconceptions when it comes to stem cell research and regenerative medicine. Here we address the most common concerns.

If you have more questions that aren't addressed here, please visit our other Stem Cell FAQ pages.

Is CIRM-funded stem cell research carried out ethically? Where do the embryos come from to create stem cell lines? I'm opposed to abortion. Can embryonic stem cell lines come from aborted fetuses? Does creating stem cell lines destroy the embryo? Are adult stem cells as goodor betterthan embryonic stem cells? Don't iPS cells eliminate the need to use embryos in stem cell research? Can't stem cell research lead to human cloning?

Stem cell research, like field within biomedicne, poses social and ethical concerns. CIRM, as well as the broader research community, takes these seriously.

As a state funding body, CIRM has comprehensive policies to govern research, similar to our national counterpart, the National Institutes of Health. CIRM-funded researchers must comply with a comprehensive set of regulations that have been carefully developed and are in accordance with national and international standards.

These regulations were among the first formal policies governing the conduct of stem cell research and are in accordance with recommendations from the National Academies and from the International Society for Stem Cell Research. CIRMs Standards Working Group meets regularly to consider new ethical challenges as the science progresses and to revise standards to reflect the current state of the research.

Find out More:

CIRM regulations National Academies of Science guidelines International Society for Stem Cell Research guidelines National Academies of Science podcast about guidelines for embryonic stem cell research More about CIRM-grantee ethics training (4:03)

All the human embryonic stem cell lines currently in use come from four to five day-old embryos left over from in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures. In IVF, researchers mix a man's sperm and a woman's eggs together in a lab dish. Some of those eggs will become fertilized. At about five days the egg has divided to become a hollow ball of roughly 100 cells called a blastocyst which is smaller than the size of the dot over an i. It is these very early embryos that are implanted into the woman in the hopes that she becomes pregnant.

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California's Stem Cell Agency - Myths and Misconceptions ...

BLINDNESS vs. THE CALIFORNIA STEM CELL PROGRAM: Disease-a-week Challenge #6

by Don C. Reed

When I was ten I fell on a bamboo stick, which penetrated my right eye. The doctor taped a patch over it and said that was all he could do, we would just have to wait and see. What did that mean? Losing one eye did not sound too bad, like a pirate in the movies, but what if I lost the other one too? To no longer read comic books, or watch expressions change on a persons face, or see the colors of the sky? I experimented with being blind, blindfolding myself with tied-together gymsocks, stumbling around the room.

In time I recovered partial vision (20/400), meaning I could see at twenty feet what others see at 400. With corrective lenses, all is wellbut I will never take vision for granted again.

Do you know the Saturday Night Live comedian Will Forte? The humorist was friends with another standup comedian, Dennis Rickman, Ph.D.. Rickmans day job was in medical research: trying to use stem cells to defeat blindness. Forte helped Rickman raise $10,000 to start a program called SCIfEyes (Stem Cell Initiative for Eyes) at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

http://dukeeyecenter.duke.edu/...

I spoke to Dr. Rickman and his wife, Dr. Catherine Bowes Rickman, a recognized authority on Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), the most common form of adult blindness in Western society.

Dennis Rickman advocated the ethical use of both adult and embryonic stem cells for scientific research-- and had a very good reason for doing so.

In 1995, Dennis Rickman had been diagnosed with leukemia

After a two-year search, a young woman in Germany was found with bone marrow like Rickmans; she shared her stem cells with him.

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BLINDNESS vs CALIFORNIA STEM CELL PROGRAM: Disease-a-week ...