California Institute for Regenerative Medicine

06/12/2026

Infrastructure is essential to moving promising research toward patients. The Broad Stem Cell Research Center at UCLA’s new Center for Advanced Biotherapies will expand on-campus manufacturing capacity for cell and gene therapies, supporting a wider range of personalized treatments and helping researchers move therapies into early clinical trials more efficiently.

CIRM invested $2 million in this significant initiative, underscoring the commitment to advancing regenerative medicine and gene therapy in California. These investments not only build essential capacity for innovative treatments but also nurture the next generation of scientific leaders.

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For 30 years, the UCLA Human Gene and Cell Therapy Facility has been the quiet engine behind some of the university’s most ambitious clinical research, supporting more than 25 clinical trials and producing over 300 personalized therapy products for patients with cancer, HIV/AIDS, sickle cell disea...

06/11/2026

Looking for a clinical trial in California just got a lot easier.

More than a decade ago, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) began funding clinical trials across the state. Today, there are more than 100 CIRM-funded trials underway—and more than double that taking place at CIRM-supported facilities. Now, CIRM has launched a new online dashboard to help anyone in California quickly find cell and gene therapy trials.

The dashboard lists all active trials at nine CIRM-funded Alpha Clinics—some of the top medical centers in California.

If you or someone you love is exploring clinical trial options, this tool can help you take the first step. Access shouldn’t be complicated—and now it doesn’t have to be.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/4ojqyfx

06/01/2026

More than 20 years ago, California voters decided to invest in stem cell research. That decision made California a global leader in regenerative medicine.

On the Sanford Stem Cell Institute reGEN Podcast, CIRM’s President and CEO, Jonathan Thomas, discusses the growth of CIRM’s vision from seed funding and infrastructure into support for clinical trials, research across 85+ diseases, and nearly 1,500 grants statewide.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/4wZCOFG

05/29/2026

At UCLA Health California Center for Rare Diseases, “rare” represents more than 7,000 conditions affecting 3 million Californians. Through multidisciplinary care, genetic diagnosis, registries, clinical trials, and novel therapies, UCLA is advancing rare disease research and treatment in real time.

Recent milestones reflect that momentum, from the launch of the nation’s first Multidisciplinary Bloom Syndrome Clinic to advances in gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and other genetic conditions. Among these efforts is promising investigational gene therapy research led by Dr. Donald Kohn, whose work, funded by CIRM, is helping expand what may be possible for families affected by rare diseases.

Stories like these really highlight how important it is to keep investing in research that translates into real treatments, and how working together in teams can help bring new therapies to patients.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4tUh4Z5

At the UCLA California Center for Rare Diseases (CCRD), “rare” is a word that includes over 7,000 conditions and affects 3 million Californians. With hundreds of thousands of patients and families touched by rare diseases nationwide, CCRD, directed by Stanley Nelson, MD, has leveraged UCLA’s l...

05/28/2026

How do we get better therapies to patients faster?

On the Sanford Stem Cell Institute's reGEN Podcast, City of Hope's Dr. Leo Wang shares how the CIRM Alpha Clinics Network is helping expand access to cutting-edge therapies across California, not just in major research hubs.

He highlights the network’s collaborative model, its focus on implementation and dissemination, and the importance of building infrastructure to enable more patients to access life-saving treatments closer to home.

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Our conversation with Leo D. Wang, MD, PhD, includes unique insight...

05/26/2026

Rare diseases may be rare individually, but altogether they affect more than 30 million people in the US alone. A treatment for a single rare disease can transform lives, as we learned from Jordan Janz's story. Hoping to transform the lives of many others with rare diseases, CIRM recently launched the RAPID initiative, aiming to use a single platform approach to develop multiple related therapies for multiple rare diseases simultaneously.

Learn more about how RAPID is hoping to transform rare disease treatment and how the stem-cell-based genetic therapy developed by Dr. Stephanie Cherqui and her team at UC San Diego Health, supported by CIRM, changed Jordan's life: https://bit.ly/3PQ0ZFQ

05/22/2026

Like many at CIRM, Maria Gonzalez Bonneville's work is personal.

CIRM's vice chair joined the agency in 2011, not long after her father's Parkinson's diagnosis. The job offered her a chance to combine her deep commitment to public service in California with her desire to support this voter-supported effort to accelerate treatments and cures for conditions like her father's.

Maria's role at CIRM now extends to serving as Chair of CIRM's Accessibility and Affordability Working Group, where she's helping ensure that the potentially life-changing therapies that come from CIRM-supported research and clinical trials are accessible to all Californians who need them.

CIRM supports stem cell and genetic research and clinical trials into treatments for hundreds of different conditions, including Parkinson's disease, which affects about a million people in the United States alone.

Maria's work reflects a broader commitment that her work and CIRM's aren't just about finding breakthroughs but about ensuring that patients can access them.

"It isn't just about funding the science," she says. "It's about making sure it gets to people."

Read Maria's story: https://bit.ly/3QZj052

05/20/2026

Clinical trials assess the safety and efficacy of new treatments through a series of phased studies, meticulously monitored and subject to regulatory oversight.

Learn more on our blog: https://bit.ly/4wL1oua

05/19/2026

It is hard to create or identify a life-saving therapy if you are not trained to recognize one. James DeKloe, PhD, a distinguished professor of biotechnology and biomanufacturing at Solano Community College, knows this firsthand, and it is one reason why he spoke so passionately about the importance of the Creating Opportunities through Mentorship and Partnership Across Stem Cell Science (COMPASS) program at Solano in a recent presentation for CIRM’s "Closer to Cures" speaker series.

“I have saved dozens of lives in this year and a half,” said Joel Saenz, a graduate of the COMPASS program at Solano Community College who now works at the CIRM-funded UC Davis Good Manufacturing Practice Facility, which manufactures cell, gene, and drug products, including CAR-T cell therapies for cancer.

“Whether it's someone's mom, dad, brother, sister, whoever it may be, I know that I am able to help with that,” said Joel. “And if it wasn't for CIRM, I can't say that I would have that opportunity and be in the position that I'm in today.”

16 California colleges and universities received COMPASS program grants. This education program pairs undergraduate students with mentors who are experts in stem cell research and related fields to help students gain hands-on experience in the lab.

Students in Solano’s COMPASS program learn about the sciences, work in the lab, and participate in outreach opportunities, including volunteering with local K-12 and adult schools and the NMDP. They also learn about FDA regulations and the business part of the industry.

“Our goal is to make sure that every kid knows that if they want to pursue something more, here is a great opportunity for them to do it, and the lives that you save won't just be the patients that you serve,” said another Solano COMPASS trainee alum, Michael Silva, EdD.

Read the full recap of the presentation on our blog: https://bit.ly/4uivoeW

05/14/2026

Hear how California leads the way in scientific research funding for vital stem cell and gene therapies on the Podcast.

This episode features CIRM's President and CEO, Jonathan Thomas (JT). Beyond highlighting California's unique approach to supporting research, JT highlights CIRM's Alpha Clinics Network, which gives the people most in need of these new therapies access to important clinical trials across the state.

Listen to the full podcast episode: https://bit.ly/4u84YfQ

This episode features our conversation with Jonathan Thomas, PhD, J...