by Don Gibbons – Signals Blog by CCRM
A recent Wall Street Journal article reminded me of the work of someone I came to know well while at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM): Jeanne Loring of the Scripps Research Institute. The article detailed a cell therapy for Parkinson’s Disease being readied for clinical trials later this year by Aspen Neuroscience, a company that grew out of her lab. The tale of the trek to get to that trial provides a vivid reminder that good science often requires a healthy mix of passion, persistence and attention to detail.
Loring spent the better part of the last two decades working toward that trial, doggedly pursuing new science that might push her team closer to a therapy. At CIRM,At CIRM, our board voted on the recommendations of our grant review committee several times a year and Loring was always there to fight for her grant applications and often with patient advocates beside her. And she did receive nearly US$20 million from CIRM over the years.
Image Caption: Dompaminergic neurons derived from human embryonic stem cells. These cells degenerate in Parkinson’s disease. This photo was taken by Jeannie Liu in the lab of Jan Nolta at the University of California, Davis. CIRM on Flickr