CIRM brings together experts in the 6th annual Alpha Clinics Network Symposium at UC Irvine 

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) Alpha Clinics network specializes in delivering stem and gene cell clinical trials to patients. The key to the network’s success is the ability to foster partnerships with patients, medical providers, and clinical trial sponsors. The CIRM Alpha Clinics Network consists of nine leading medical centers throughout California. 

Every year, CIRM sponsors a public Alpha Clinic Network Symposium to educate and explore key issues in the field of stem cell and gene therapies.   This year, the 6th annual symposium was hosted at UC Irvine.  

The two-day event brought together the nine Alpha Clinics to highlight efforts by the network’s physicians and scientists to ensure treatment access for California’s diverse population.  

“The CIRM Alpha Clinics are designed with the goal of offering vital operational support for the implementation of clinical trials focused on stem and gene cell therapies, all the while establishing centers renowned for excellence in approved stem cell treatments,” said Emily (Reyes) Crotti, MPH Project Manager, Medical Affairs & Policy. 

Topics at this year’s symposium ranged from cell therapy for high blood pressure to curative therapies for hemoglobin disorders. 

Keynote speaker Jonathan Watanabe, PhD, associate dean of pharmacy assessment and quality and professor of clinical pharmacy at the UC Irvine School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences discussed barriers to patient access. 

“Access to effective and affordable medicines is imperative for public health, social equity and economic development,” he said. Among his many recommendations were accelerating entry and use of generics to foster competition, consolidating and applying government purchasing power to adopting a Medicaid Subscription-Based Payment Model, or the “Netflix Subscription Model.” 

Patient voices were also featured throughout the Symposium.  

 “We thought my diagnosis was a death sentence,” said Travis Winsor, a patient advocate who participated in a clinical trial at a CIRM-funded Alpha Clinic. “Through research and support, there are so many more resources available out there. Thank you to everyone in the room for the work you are doing. It has been a long journey.” 

“Research is key, especially for rare diseases,” said Kim Cade, Director of Sister’s Hope Foundation. Her brother was misdiagnosed for two years until doctors discovered he had adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia (ALSP). “On behalf of patients, I’m so grateful for how much research has progressed. That hope and help is what our communities are clinging to.” 

To learn more about the CIRM Alpha Clinics, visit our website.  

cell therapy
generics
medical
public health
therapy