{"id":1661,"date":"2021-02-08T12:00:23","date_gmt":"2021-02-08T20:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/?p=1661"},"modified":"2021-02-08T12:00:59","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T20:00:59","slug":"i-think-updates-continue-stem-cellar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mydiabeticsoul.com\/?p=1661","title":{"rendered":"#8 (I Think) Updates Continue…Stem Cellar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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New post on The Stem Cellar<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/td>\n

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Month of CIRM: Battling\u00a0COVID-19<\/a><\/h2>\n

by Kevin McCormack<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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All this month we are using our blog and social media to highlight a new chapter in CIRM\u2019s life, thanks to the people of California approving Proposition 14. We are looking back at what we have done since we were created in 2004, and also looking forward to the future.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dr. John Zaia, City of Hope stem cell researcher<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The news that effective vaccines have been developed to help fight COVID-19 was a truly bright spot at the end of a very dark year. But it will be months, in some countries years, before we have enough vaccines to protect everyone. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to keep pushing for more effective ways to help people who get infected with the virus.<\/p>\n

One of those ways is in a clinical study<\/a> that CIRM is funding with City of Hope\u2019s Dr. John Zaia<\/a>. Dr. Zaia and his team, in partnership with the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) in Flagstaff, Arizona, are using something called convalescent plasma to try and help people who have contracted the virus. Here\u2019s the website<\/a> they have created for the study.<\/p>\n

Plasma is a part of our blood that carries proteins, called antibodies, that help defend our bodies against viral infections. When a patient recovers from COVID-19, their blood plasma contains antibodies against the virus. The hope is that those antibodies can now be used as a potential treatment for COVID-19 to help people who are newly infected.<\/p>\n

To carry out the study they are using clinical trial sites around California, including some of the CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Network clinics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For the study to succeed they\u2019ll first need people who have recovered from the virus to donate blood. That\u2019s particularly appropriate in January because this is National Volunteer Blood Donor Month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The team has three elements to their approach:<\/p>\n