Clinical progress and promise of stem cell based therapies - Kevin Whittlesey, Ph.D.
Channel: Science@Cal
Date: 2015-07-08

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) was created by Proposition 71 to accelerate the development of stem cell-based therapies for patients with unmet medical needs. 

The entire regenerative medicine field has seen tremendous advances in recent years, and CIRM is similarly seeing significant progress as many of our translational research programs are moving into clinical trials. In addition to a robust portfolio of earlier phase projects, CIRM is currently funding 11 projects which have received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to enroll patients in clinical trials and test these stem cell based therapies for their safety and effectiveness. We will provide an update on the clinical progress of stem cells and regenerative medicine therapeutic approaches to treat diseases such as diabetes, HIV/AIDS, heart disease, and retinal disease.


Kevin Whittlesey is a Senior Science Officer at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state’s stem cell research funding agency. He works in CIRM’s Organ Systems Therapy Development Team, involved with clinical stage translational projects. 

Prior to joining CIRM, Kevin spent two years at the Food and Drug Administration as a Commissioner’s Fellow working on stem cell and regenerative medicine regulatory policy. Kevin also spent several years working in science policy, first as a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Graduate Fellow at the National Academies of Science and then for two years working in the U.S. Congress, first as a AAAS Congressional Science and Technology Policy Fellow for Representative Doris Matsui and then as a Legislative Assistant for Representative Anna Eshoo. 

Kevin received his Ph.D. in biological sciences from Northwestern University and conducted a postdoctoral fellowship at Aastrom Biosciences.