Regenerative medicine is an emerging field that will only realize its highest potential through novel and collaborative research approaches. The University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) is well positioned to make significant contributions by leveraging fundamental stem cell-based biomedical research efforts with enabling technologies in materials, microfluidics and bioengineering. We have developed and renovated a 1400 sq. ft. shared-use stem cell laboratory called the Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering. The overall mission of this laboratory is to facilitate and promote stem cell research by investigators at UCSB, as well as those at neighboring universities, research institutes, and biotechnology companies on the California central coast. Since the initiation of this endeavor, the facility has become an essential core facility supporting novel, interdisciplinary research investigations, invigorating new collaborations and grant activity not previously possible. Past and current users of the Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering include 52 researchers from 18 research groups, representing collaborations with 12 companies and 17 different universities and research institutes. Additionally, grantees from CIRM-funded Disease Teams, Training Grants and Tools and Technologies have used the Facility. We are also involved with the CIRM Bridges program at California State University – Channel Islands, hosting a total of 5 interns thus far. Ongoing projects are supported by grants from CIRM, the US Army, the NIH and NSF, as well as private sources, resulting in important publications that have advanced the field. Research carried out in the facility has made significant, high impact contributions in three areas of stem cell research: Molecular Mechanisms/Basic Science, Translational Bioengineering, and Regenerative Medicine. Discoveries in fundamental basic research have revealed how human embryonic stem cells regulate gene expression to maintain pluripotency, how induced pluripotent stem cells retain a “memory” of their origin, and how adult stem cells differentiate in response to their environmental milieu. Advances in bioengineering have addressed problems of how to control growth and differentiation of stem cells using novel biomaterials, how to sort and purify specific stem cell products, and how to deliver and sustain stem cell grafts in vivo. Collaborations with clinical groups are contributing to novel regenerative strategies for treatments of eye disease and neurodegenerative disorders.
Reporting Period:
Year 2
Regenerative medicine is an emerging field that will only realize its highest potential through novel and collaborative research approaches. The University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) is well positioned to make significant contributions by leveraging fundamental stem cell-based biomedical research efforts with enabling technologies in materials, microfluidics and bioengineering. We have developed and renovated 1400 sq. ft. shared-use stem cell laboratory called the Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering, which has been in use since May 2010. The overall mission of this laboratory is to facilitate and promote stem cell research by investigators at UCSB, as well as those at neighboring universities, research institutes, and biotechnology companies on the California central coast. Since the initiation of this endeavor, the facility has become an essential core facility supporting novel, interdisciplinary research investigations, invigorating new collaborations and grant activity not previously possible. Past and current users of the Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering include 58 researchers (6 new researchers in the past year) from 18 research groups, representing collaborations with 12 companies and 17 different universities and research institutes. Additionally, grantees from CIRM-funded Disease Teams, Training Grants and Tools and Technologies have used the Facility. We are also involved with the CIRM Bridges program at California State University – Channel Islands, hosting a total of 6 interns thus far. Ongoing projects are supported by grants from CIRM, the US Army, the NIH and NSF, as well as private sources, resulting in important publications that have advanced the field. Research carried out in the facility has made significant, high impact contributions in three areas of stem cell research: Molecular Mechanisms/Basic Science, Translational Bioengineering, and Regenerative Medicine. Discoveries in fundamental basic research have revealed how human embryonic stem cells regulate gene expression to maintain pluripotency, how induced pluripotent stem cells retain a “memory” of their origin, and how adult stem cells differentiate in response to their environmental milieu. Advances in bioengineering have addressed problems of how to control growth and differentiation of stem cells using novel biomaterials, how to sort and purify specific stem cell products, and how to deliver and sustain stem cell grafts in vivo. Collaborations with clinical groups are contributing to novel regenerative strategies for treatments of eye disease and neurodegenerative disorders.
Reporting Period:
Year 3
Regenerative medicine is an emerging field that will only realize its highest potential through novel and
collaborative research approaches. The University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) is well positioned to make significant contributions by leveraging fundamental stem cell-based biomedical research efforts with enabling technologies in materials, microfluidics and bioengineering. We have developed and renovated 1400 sq. ft. shared-use stem cell laboratory called the Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering, which has been in use since May 2010. The overall mission of this laboratory is to facilitate and promote stem cell research by investigators at UCSB, as well as those at neighboring universities, research institutes, and biotechnology companies on the California central coast. Since the initiation of this endeavor, the facility has become an essential core facility supporting novel, interdisciplinary research investigations, invigorating new collaborations and grant activity not previously possible.
Past and current users of the Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering include 68 researchers (10 new researchers in the past year) from 19 research groups, representing collaborations with 12 companies and 17 different universities and research institutes. Additionally, grantees from CIRM-funded Disease Teams, Training Grants and Tools and Technologies have used the Facility. We are also involved with the CIRM Bridges program at California State University –Channel Islands, hosting a total of 6 interns thus far. Ongoing projects are supported by grants from CIRM, the US Army, the NIH and NSF, as well as private sources, resulting in important publications that have advanced the field.
Research carried out in the facility has made significant, high impact contributions in three areas of stem cell research: Molecular Mechanisms/Basic Science, Translational Bioengineering and Regenerative Medicine. Discoveries in fundamental basic research have revealed how human embryonic stem cells regulate gene expression to maintain pluripotency, how induced pluripotent stem cells retain a “memory” of their origin, and how adult stem cells differentiate in response to their environmental milieu. Advances in bioengineering have addressed problems of how to control growth and differentiation of stem cells using novel biomaterials, how to sort and purify specific stem cell products, and how to deliver and sustain stem cell grafts in vivo. Collaborations with clinical groups are contributing to novel regenerative strategies for treatments of eye disease and neurodegenerative disorders.
Reporting Period:
Year 4
Regenerative medicine is an emerging field that will only realize its highest potential through novel and collaborative research approaches. The University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) is well positioned to make significant contributions by leveraging fundamental stem cell-based biomedical research efforts with enabling technologies in materials, microfluidics and bioengineering. We have developed and renovated 1400 sq. ft. shared-use stem cell laboratory called the Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering, which has been in use since May 2010. The overall mission of this laboratory is to facilitate and promote stem cell research by investigators at UCSB, as well as those at neighboring universities, research institutes, and biotechnology companies on the California central coast. Since the initiation of this endeavor, the facility has become an essential core facility supporting novel, interdisciplinary research investigations, invigorating new collaborations and grant activity not previously possible.
Past and current users of the Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering include 74 researchers (7 new researchers in the past year) from 19 research groups, representing collaborations with 12 companies and 17 different universities and research institutes. Additionally, grantees from CIRM-funded Disease Teams, Training Grants and Tools and Technologies have used the Facility. We are also involved with the CIRM Bridges program at California State University–Channel Islands, hosting a total of 8 interns thus far. Ongoing projects are supported by grants from CIRM, the US Army, the NIH and NSF, as well as private sources, resulting in important publications that have advanced the field.
Research carried out in the facility has made significant, high impact contributions in three areas of stem cell research: Molecular Mechanisms/Basic Science, Translational Bioengineering and Regenerative Medicine. Discoveries in fundamental basic research have revealed how human embryonic stem cells regulate gene expression to maintain pluripotency, how induced pluripotent stem cells retain a “memory” of their origin, and how adult stem cells differentiate in response to their environmental milieu. Advances in bioengineering have addressed problems of how to control growth and differentiation of stem cells using novel biomaterials, how to sort and purify specific stem cell products, and how to deliver and sustain stem cell grafts in vivo. Collaborations with clinical groups are contributing to novel regenerative strategies for treatments of eye disease and neurodegenerative disorders.
Reporting Period:
Year 5
The Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering supports stem cell research at the University of California, Santa Barbara in three major areas:
Molecular Mechanisms/Basic Science, Translational Bioengineering, and Regenerative Medicine. Studies in the areas of Molecular Mechanisms/Basic Science and
Translational Bioengineering are being actively pursued by UCSB researchers and their collaborators worldwide. The laboratory serves as a hub of stem cell
research activity on campus, and also serves as a core facility for other institutions and industry scientists on the central coast of California. During the past year, the facility has extended its participation in the multiple CIRM-funded research and training programs on campus and
contributed to significant research progress in Regenerative Medicine.
Reporting Period:
Year 6
The Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering supports stem cell research at the University of California, Santa Barbara in three major areas: Molecular Mechanisms/Basic Science, Translational Bioengineering, and Regenerative Medicine. Studies in the areas of Molecular Mechanisms/Basic Science and Translational Bioengineering are being actively pursued by UCSB researchers and their collaborators worldwide. The laboratory serves as a hub of stem cell research activity on campus, and also serves as a core facility for other institutions and industry scientists on the central coast of California. During the past year, the facility has extended its participation in the multiple CIRM-funded research and training programs on campus and contributed to significant research progress in Regenerative Medicine.
Reporting Period:
NCE (Year 7)
The Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering supports stem cell research at the University of California, Santa Barbara in three major areas: Molecular Mechanisms/Basic Science, Translational Bioengineering, and Regenerative Medicine. Studies in the areas of Molecular Mechanisms/Basic Science and Translational Bioengineering are being actively pursued by UCSB researchers and their collaborators worldwide. The laboratory serves as a hub of stem cell research activity on campus, and also serves as a core facility for other institutions and industry scientists on the central coast of California. During the past year, the facility has extended its participation in the multiple CIRM-funded research and training programs on campus and contributed to significant research progress in Regenerative Medicine.
Grant Application Details
Application Title:
Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering
Public Abstract:
Regenerative medicine is an emerging area that will only realize its great potential through novel collaborative research approaches, and the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) is well positioned to make significant contributions by leveraging fundamental biomedical research efforts with enabling technologies in materials, microfluidics and bioengineering. This proposal details plans for the development and renovation of shared-use laboratory facilities for the culture of human embryonic stem cells (hESC). The Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering will be designed to promote stem cell research by investigators at UCSB, as well as those at neighboring universities and research institutions on the California central coast. Availability of a core stem cell laboratory will facilitate expansion of current stem cell studies at UCSB and stimulate new investigations into the biology and engineering of stem cells. The Laboratory will be embedded within a new UCSB Center for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering that is planned for the 3rd and 4th floors of Biological Sciences 2 building. Our clientele will include researchers in 13 different Departments and Institutes at UCSB, as well as nearby institutions. Research supported by the facility will include: investigations of the molecular mechanisms of hESC proliferation and differentiation; translational bioengineering to study novel methods of hESC culture, sorting, and delivery; and studies in regenerative medicine that test hESC derivatives in animal models of disease.
Statement of Benefit to California:
California, like much of the United States, is facing a staggering challenge to its health care system. Increasingly physicians are treating chronic, debilitating, and therefore expensive diseases with organ specific impairments. Examples include diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and Parkinson’s disease. The demographic wave of the Baby Boomers will accelerate many of these issues. By 2020 they will average 64 years of age. As a result, the percentage of the elderly in California is expected to grow from what was 14 percent in 1990 to 22 percent in 2030.
Treatment of chronic degenerative diseases of an aging population, which is proportionally a high percentage along the Central Coast, is an imperative. Degenerative diseases are those diseases caused by the loss or dysfunction of cells. Examples include cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, Parkinson’s disease, osteoporosis, and macular degeneration. Among these, stem cell work at UCSB would leverage a strong existing program in macular degeneration, a condition that is not being addressed in the stem cell field nationally or in California. Stem cell work for eye disease holds the promise of being a poster child for the entire field. There is no doubt that an early clinical success will benefit the state.
In terms of advanced biomedical research our geographic region is not well represented, but its engineering sector is primed with enabling technology. The area is ripe for growth in biotechnology that would serve as a pipeline to large pharmaceutical corporations as stem cell technologies move toward the clinic. The proposed Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering will promote this movement and enhance the research stature of The University and attract leading researchers to California.
