Stephen S Lin
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, USA
Title: Initiatives to advance stem cell science and medicine at California’s $3 billion stem cell agency
Biography
Biography: Stephen S Lin
Abstract
The mission of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) is to accelerate stem cell treatments to patients with unmet medical needs. With $3 billion in funding and 300 active programs, it is the world’s largest institution dedicated to helping people by developing cell therapies. To accomplish its mission, CIRM has funded a breadth of activities spanning from basic research to translation to clinical trials. In addition to individual grants, CIRM has created resources to help the stem cell community worldwide. Some resources promote research and drug development using stem cells. CIRM has established an iPSC Repository maintained by the Coriell Institute that is currently the largest publically accessible pluripotent stem cell bank in the world. CIRM also has a genomics research initiative that applies cutting edge sequencing and bioinformatics approaches to stem cell research and therapeutic development. Other resources established at CIRM promote the acceleration of stem cell discoveries into therapeutic development, including: the Stem Cell Center, which supports preclinical IND-enabling and clinical trial management activities related for stem cell therapies, and an Alpha Clinics network that conducts clinical trials for stem cell related therapies. CIRM supports additional activities that promote standardization, clarity, and speed to this emerging therapeutic area. In total, these resources are designed to catalyze the flow of stem cell discoveries to the clinic, which can come from both inside and outside of California.