California Institute for Regenerative Medicine

11/13/2025

When California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) student Nancy Huang stepped into the university’s new Cell Therapy Lab, she didn’t just find advanced equipment— she found a new passion for science.

Supported by CIRM’s COMPASS and Bridges grants, the Cell Therapy Lab gives students hands-on experience in one of biotech’s fastest-growing fields.

Students like Nancy and graduate student Carly Markowski are gaining real-world skills that translate directly to industry internships at Novo Nordisk and ThermoFisher Scientific, demonstrating Cal Poly’s “learn by doing” spirit is thriving in regenerative medicine.

When biomedical engineering student Nancy Huang walked into Cal Poly’s new Cell Therapy Lab, she was met with machines more often found in industry than in classrooms. Among them was a magnetic cell separator, a tool that opened doors to new skills and new opportunities.  “This lab reignited my...

11/12/2025

University of California, Irvine neuroscientist Leslie Thompson, PhD, is working to find out why Huntington’s disease destroys some brain cells but spares others.

Backed by over $2 million in funding from CIRM. Using stem cell–based models, her team will study how the defective Huntington’s protein interacts with other molecules across different cell types to uncover why certain neurons are more vulnerable.

This research could reveal new therapeutic targets for Huntington’s and other neurodegenerative diseases — and bring us one step closer to effective treatments.

Read the full article: https://bit.ly/4qE0vAe

Goal is to determine why the fatal condition destroys some brain cells but spares others

11/04/2025

Yael Wyte has spent over two decades advocating for people living with Alzheimer’s Disease. Now, she brings that passion and experience to the CIRM Board as a patient advocate.

With a background in speech therapy and social work, Yael is committed to ensuring that regenerative medicine research leads to real, accessible solutions for patients and families. Her story is one of compassion, determination, and hope.

Read more about her journey and vision on our blog: https://bit.ly/48HhD1B

10/30/2025

Access to clinical trials shouldn’t depend on where you live.

That’s why CIRM has approved $27 million to establish three Community Care Centers of Excellence (CCCEs) across California—in South Los Angeles, the Inland Empire and Desert Region, and in the Central Valley.

These centers will expand access to cutting-edge stem cell and gene therapy clinical trials for conditions such as cancer, Parkinson’s, and sickle cell disease, while also training the next generation of regenerative medicine professionals.

Together, the CCCEs mark a major step toward ensuring Californians have access to life-changing treatments close to home.

Read the full press release here: https://bit.ly/3Wwl4Rq

10/29/2025

As a child, Olga Jaime immigrated from Mexico and struggled to learn English. With the help of a dedicated teacher, she persevered and is now a PhD candidate at the UC Irvine School of Medicine, studying how stem cell therapies could help regenerate damaged skeletal muscle.

Her journey in regenerative medicine began as a CIRM Scholar, where she discovered her passion for advancing science that can change lives.

Olga also co-founded SoCal BioEYES, a program bringing hands-on biology lessons to underserved middle schools in Santa Ana, inspiring the next generation of scientists and future leaders in STEM.

Olga Jaime, in addition to conducting research that could one day help our bodies regenerate damaged skeletal muscle, is paying it forward as a volunteer for STEM-education outreach programs.

10/22/2025

Yael Wyte has spent over two decades advocating for people living with Alzheimer’s Disease. Now, she brings that passion and experience to the CIRM Board as a patient advocate.

With a background in speech therapy and social work, Yael is committed to ensuring that regenerative medicine research leads to real, accessible solutions for patients and families. Her story is one of compassion, determination, and hope.

Read more about her journey and vision on our blog:

Written by Holly Alyssa MacCormick Yael Wyte knows all too well how difficult it can be to have or care for someone with Alzheimer’s Disease—she has been working with and advocating for people with…

10/17/2025

In a clinical trial led by UCLA and funded by CIRM, 95% of the 62 children who participated in the trial were born with a rare and life-threatening immune disorder—“bubble baby disease” or adenosine deaminase–deficient severe combined immunodeficiency (ADA-SCID)—and are now thriving, thanks to a gene therapy that helps their bodies rebuild healthy immune systems.

The gene therapy approach developed by Donald Kohn, MD, and his team at the Broad Stem Cell Research Center at UCLA, uses a patient’s own blood stem cells, modified to fix a defective gene, to rebuild the immune system.

This milestone represents more than a decade of scientific progress and collaboration, offering children born with ADA-SCID the chance to live full, healthy lives.

CIRM has supported research that led to this milestone since its earliest stages.

Read the full story: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/exposure-germs-ve-killed-11-years-later-s-living-normal-life-thanks-ge-rcna237621

10/16/2025

CIRM is pleased to announce the release of its 2025 Annual Report, Looking Forward: Advancing California’s Scientific Vision.

This year’s report underscores our commitment to a future-focused mission that emphasizes scientific progress, sustained momentum, and long-term impact. It reflects California’s leadership in regenerative medicine and highlights the promise of continued innovation in the field.

The report features stories from patients, families, and researchers showcasing groundbreaking scientific advancements, and outlines efforts aimed at expanding access to cell and gene therapies across the state.

We invite you to read the full report and join us in recognizing the progress being made to advance California’s scientific vision for the benefit of communities both locally and globally.

Access the report at https://adobe.ly/42FSVed

10/15/2025

“It is so inspiring to feel that I am part of an institute that is making this wonderful contribution.”

That’s how Kim Barrett describes her experience as a CIRM board member. For her, the role is more than governance—it’s an opportunity to help bring science from the lab into the lives of patients.

Kim’s story is a reminder that behind every decision, there are people dedicated to accelerating progress in regenerative medicine: https://bit.ly/3W2nUNF

Written by Holly Alyssa MacCormick It’s not every day that you get to contribute to something that could help save a life, but when Kim Barrett joined the board of the California Institute for Rege…

10/08/2025

Today is Stem Cell Awareness Day, which holds special significance for CIRM. We were founded in 2004, when federal funding for stem cell research was scarce, and since our inception, we’ve focused on developing new therapies.

From our earliest days building the field in California – supporting new research directions, training a workforce to help develop stem cell-based cures, and creating infrastructure to house the research – we're proud of how far we've come.

Now, we’ve expanded our scope to include gene therapy research and have an increased focus on diseases of the central nervous system.

Overall, we’ve approved $4.6 billion to support cell and gene therapy research, education, and infrastructure in California.

This day serves as a reminder of California's progress in the industry and the greater impact we can achieve when science, innovation, and advocacy work together.

Take this fun “Which Stem Cell Are You?” personality quiz—created by one of our brilliant CIRM Scholar trainees—and discover your inner stem cell: https://findyourstemcell.netlify.app/

10/06/2025

Today, the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recognized groundbreaking discoveries about how the immune system fights infection without fighting the body’s own tissues—essential knowledge for treating autoimmune diseases and improving the success of organ transplants.

The discoveries honored this year took place over decades of research and now underlie clinical trials world-wide that are testing possible disease therapies, two of which CIRM is funding at Stanford University. One clinical trial, led by Everett Meyer, MD, PhD, is focused on helping people who have transplanted kidneys avoid organ rejection without the need for lifelong immunosuppression. The second clinical, led by Rosa Bacchetta, MD, is evaluating whether genetically modified immune cells can help patients with a rare and life-threatening autoimmune disease called IPEX Syndrome.

All therapies and all clinical trials underway today came out of the kinds of discoveries that are honored each year through the Nobel Prize. Learn more about this year’s winners and their discoveries at

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2025 was awarded to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi “for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.”

10/01/2025

Behind every breakthrough lies years of foundational science.

Kim Barrett points out that the UC Davis CuRe Trial for spina bifida was possible only because of earlier studies that paved the way. For her, supporting basic science, such as that funded under CIRM’s Discovery program, is essential, because without it, cures and treatments can’t move forward.

CIRM’s investment across the full pipeline from discovery to clinical trials ensures discoveries today can become therapies tomorrow.

Read more of Kim's story: https://bit.ly/3W2nUNF