Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State LA Collaborative CIRM Bridges Program to Enhance Stem Cell Research Training and Education

The primary goals of the CPP/CSULA Stem Cell Bridges Training Program have been: 1) to provide comprehensive training and full-time research internships for qualified students; and 2) to give other students a basic understanding of stem cell research through development of appropriate General Education curriculum.. Since the initiation of the grant (summer 2009), we have generated very strong student and faculty interest in the program by keeping the campus communities regularly informed about our program activities via our website, mass emails to the campus communities, informational meetings and development of stem cell curriculum. To date, 26 students have completed their stem cell research internships at City of Hope, California Institute of Technology, Scripps Research Institute, University of Southern California and Western University of Health Sciences in laboratories supported by CIRM funding. These internships have been invaluable in helping the students in their future career paths. Five students have been hired as research assistants in the same CIRM stem cell labs in which they had done their stem cell internships (City of Hope, USC, Scripps and Cal Tech). Another intern is working at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in stem cell research and another intern has been working as the Laboratory and Training Coordinator for the USC Stem Cell CORE Facility in which this student had done a stem cell internship. Five students are completing their Master’s degrees with a thesis focus on stem cell research. One student has completed a Master’s degree in stem cell research and is working as a Junior Chemist at Metropolitan Water District. Another student who completed a Master’s degree in stem cell research is now working at California Stem Cell Inc. (Irvine, California) in the manufacturing division. One undergraduate student is completing her Bachelor’s Project on stem cell research and is planning on applying to PhD programs. Four interns have been accepted to PhD Programs and will begin their studies in the Fall of 2013. A former intern is now in Medical school and another will start Medical School in Fall of 2013 while a third intern is in Dental School. Success of the CIRM Program for these students is evident in their personal statements, examples of which are as follows: "I will be forever grateful for the opportunity each of you have allowed me. " "I believe my acceptance to medical school was greatly in part due to my involvement with CIRM. It proved to the admissions committee that I was a dedicated and passionate person and ultimately made a lasting impression on them. I'm very fortunate and grateful for the opportunity granted to me by Cal Poly Pomona and CIRM." "I really appreciate that CIRM gave me this wonderful opportunity." "Neither of these degrees (MS and PhD) are ones that I would have considered had it not been for my experience with the CIRM Bridges Program, which exposed me to research" " I am glad that CIRM gave me the opportunity and connection to continue my career with stem cells." The impact of the CIRM Program has extended beyond the student interns to the faculty, staff and students at CPP and CSULA through the 1) campus wide seminar programs (6 per year) 2) the development of 3 upper division stem cell classes which enrolled approximately 95 students for which critical supplies were provided by CPP/CSULA CIRM funding, 3) development of a general education video module explaining the basics of stem cell research and 4) in the creation of an artistic collaboration between the PI and the dance professor at CPP which resulted in the dance entitled, “Exploring Stem Cells Through Dance”. This dance premiered at the statewide CSUPERB Student/Faculty 25th Annual Biotechnology Research Symposium, and has been digitally recorded and edited to be viewed by the general public on our CIRM Program website. It is clear that the whole Cal Poly Pomona/CSULA program has had a profound effect on the lives of the students and faculty at both campuses and will continue to do so in the future as the students progress in their careers and the faculty continue to incorporate stem cell curriculum into the courses that they teach.

The primary goals of the Cal Poly Pomona (CPP)/Cal State Los Angeles (CSULA) Stem Cell Bridges Training Program have been: 1) to provide comprehensive training and full-time research internships for qualified students; and 2) to give other university students a basic understanding of stem cell research through development of appropriate stem cell curriculum and an opportunity to attend seminars from leading stem cell experts. Since the initiation of the grant in the summer of 2009, we have generated very strong student and faculty interest in the program by keeping the campus communities regularly informed about our program activities via our website, mass campus emails, and exposure to cutting-edge stem cell researchers from industry and academia through our seminar series. The program has allowed us to continue to offer three upper division stem cell classes at CPP and CSULA which have now enrolled approximately 200 students. We have continued to develop general education stem cell materials, such as user-friendly digital presentations, highlighting recent advances in stem cell research. Through these various activities we have stimulated on-campus discussions about the impact of stem cell research on the health of future generations. To date, 36 students have completed their stem cell research internships in CIRM funded laboratories at City of Hope, California Institute of Technology, Scripps Research Institute, and University of Southern California. These internships have been invaluable in helping the students gain the skills they needed for pursuing their future career goals which have included entering PhD programs (8 students), MD/PhD programs (1 student), Medical (3 students) and Dental (1) programs, employment in stem cell research laboratories (9 students) and employment in non-stem cell research laboratories (3 students). The remaining students who have finished their internships are currently completing their CPP or CSULA degrees. Of the many experiences in the CIRM Bridges to Stem Cell Research Program, the interns from Cohort 5 report that the most valuable are as follows: 1. Having a one year research experience with stem cells that often involved translational research at prestigious academic institutions in southern California 2. Opportunities to learn how to use various methodologies to ask different questions and do the research needed to obtain meaningful results. 3. An understanding of research time management 4. Opportunities to interact with professional scientists and physician/scientists 5. Experience working and communicating with colleagues in a full time laboratory setting 6. Ability to work independently on a research project 7. Exposure to new laboratory procedures 8. Participation in meetings where stem cell journal articles are discussed. 9. Understanding the need to optimize experimental procedures to have reproducible results Some of the student intern highlights from this past year include the following: 1) Raha Shirkhani was hired as a Production Specialist at Cellular Dynamics International, a CIRM funded stem cell company located in Navato, California, as a result of networking with a former Cal Poly Pomona CIRM intern 2) Grace Asuelime was hired into a position at Capricor, a CIRM funded company associated with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Caprico is currently entering Phase 2 clinical trials with a stem cell therapeutic platform for the treatment of heart disease. 3)Danilo Aurelio who was employed at a stem cell based company, Stemcyte, a cord blood therapeutics company in Covina California will enter medical school this coming fall at Medical School at Touro University in Nevada. It is clear that this program continues to have a profound effect on the students and faculty at both campuses not only through the experiences of the student interns but also through the exposure of the campus communities to the promises of new medical treatments resulting from stem cell research.

The primary goals of the Cal Poly Pomona (CPP)/Cal State Los Angeles (CSULA) Stem Cell Bridges Training Program have been: 1) to provide comprehensive training and full-time research internships for qualified students; and 2) to give other university students a basic understanding of stem cell research through development of appropriate stem cell curriculum and an opportunity to attend seminars from leading stem cell experts. Since the initiation of the grant in the summer of 2009, we have generated very strong student and faculty interest in the program by keeping the campus communities regularly informed about our program activities via our website, mass campus emails, and exposure to cutting-edge stem cell researchers from industry and academia through our seminar series. The program has allowed us to continue to offer a total of three upper division stem cell course at CPP (2 courses) and CSULA (1 course) which have now enrolled approximately 400 students. We have continued to develop general education stem cell materials, such as user-friendly digital presentations, summarizing recent articles about advances in stem cell research. Through these various activities we have stimulated on-campus discussions about the impact of stem cell research on the health of future generations. To date, 48 students have completed their stem cell research internships in CIRM funded laboratories at City of Hope, California Institute of Technology, Scripps Research Institute, University of Southern California and Western University of Health Sciences. Since our last year-end report was submitted in May 2014, 4 interns have reported being accepted to medical school (Duke University, UCSF, UC Davis and Brown University), 2 interns have been accepted into PhD programs (Cornell University and USC) and 1 intern was accepted into Physician Assistant school at Western University. These internships have been invaluable in helping the students gain the skills and knowledge they needed for pursuing their future career goals. In total, this has included entrance into PhD programs (10 students), MD/PhD programs (1 student), Medical (7 students) and Dental (1) programs, employment in stem cell research laboratories (10 students) and employment in non-stem cell research laboratories (3 students). The remaining students who have finished their internships are currently completing their CPP or CSULA degrees. Of the many experiences in the CIRM Bridges to Stem Cell Research Program, the interns from Cohort 6 report that the most valuable are as follows: 1. Learning the new techniques has made me become independent with my project and experiments. 2. Networking with people from the scientific community and learning how to use various equipment (Florescent microscope, PCR machine, FACs machine, etc) and programs (MAC operating system, adobe illustrator, BD FACs DIVA, etc). Getting over presentation anxiety. 3. A full time experience in research and how you must dictate your own pace and manage your time. You must learn how to create your own goals for each day to stay productive. 4. Learning so much about hematology- oncology, and conducting experiments. 5. Learning how a laboratory for profit works in the real world. Organization, networking and business is almost equal in priority to the actual science. 6. Knowing that although experiments do not turn out as expected, one can adapt to the challenges and learn from them. 7. Learning new techniques and learning to be more independent. 8. Being an active full time member of a research intensive laboratory really helped me solidify my decision to pursue a PhD in developmental/ stem cell biology. 9. The experience and the connections I've made. It is clear that this program continues to have a profound effect on the students and faculty at both campuses not only through the experiences of the student interns but also through the exposure of the campus communities to the promises of new medical treatments resulting from stem cell research.

The primary goals of the Cal Poly Pomona (CPP)/California State University Los Angeles (CSULA) Stem Cell Bridges Training Program have been: 1) to provide comprehensive training and full-time research internships for qualified students; and 2) to give other university students a basic understanding of stem cell research through development of appropriate stem cell curriculum and an opportunity to attend seminars from leading stem cell experts. Since the initiation of the grant in the summer of 2009, we have generated very strong student and faculty interest in the program by keeping the campus communities regularly informed about our program activities via the University CIRM website, campus emails, and exposure to cutting-edge stem cell researchers from industry and academia through our seminar series. The program has allowed us to continue to offer a total of three upper division stem cell courses at CPP (2 courses) and CSULA (1 course). These courses have now enrolled approximately 400 students. We have continued to develop general education stem cell materials, such as user-friendly digital presentations which summarize the main points of impactful stem cell articles about advances in stem cell research. Through these various activities we have stimulated on-campus discussions about the impact of stem cell research on the health of future generations. To date, 62 of our students have completed their stem cell research internships in research-intenselaboratories at City of Hope, California Institute of Technology, Scripps Research Institute, University of Southern California and Western University of Health Sciences. student have graduated with a degree (24 from CPP and 20 from CSULA), including 26 undergraduate (UG) level and 18 Master of Science degree (MS) level participants. About 89% of our UG level interns have entered higher degree educational programs (MS/PhD),professional schools (MD/Dental/Pharmacy/Physician Assistant) or the research work force, and 100% of our MS level interns have joined a PhD or MD program or the research work force. Since our last year-end report was submitted in May 2015, Julio Sanchez and Alberto Herrera from Cohort 6 have been accepted into Ph.D. programs at Cornell University and City of Hope, respectively. Another undergraduate intern, Sevan Esaian from Cohort 6 has begun the Master’s of Science Program at CSULA. Anthony Park and Kevin Parducho from Cohort 6 have continued to work in the laboratories in which they did their stem cell internships, and Elena Chavez from Cohort 6 is now employed as a Research Assistant at USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. It is clear that this program continues to have a profound effect on the students and faculty at both campuses not only through the research experiences of the student interns but also through the exposure of the campus communities to the promises of future medical treatments that will be derived from stem cell research.

The primary goals of the Cal Poly Pomona (CPP)/California State University Los Angeles (CSULA) Stem Cell Bridges Training Program have been: 1) to provide comprehensive training and full-time research internships for qualified students; and 2) to give other university students a basic understanding of stem cell research through development of appropriate stem cell curriculum and an opportunity to attend seminars from leading stem cell experts. To date, 68 of our students have completed their stem cell research internships in research-intense laboratories at City of Hope, California Institute of Technology, Scripps Research Institute, University of Southern California and Western University of Health Sciences. To date, 61 students have graduated with a degree from either CPP or CSULA. About 89% of our UG level interns have entered higher degree educational programs (MS/PhD),professional schools (MD/Dental/Pharmacy/Physician Assistant) or the research work force, and 100% of our MS level interns have joined a PhD or MD program or the research work force. Since our last year-end report was submitted in May 2016, Meher Masihi, MS student from CSULA, has been accepted into a graduate program at UC Santa Cruz in biomedical sciences and engineering beginning Fall 2017 and Linda Tsai, another MS student, is in a PhD program at City of Hope. She started in fall of 2016 with a H.N. and Francis Berger Foundation Fellowship. Sevan Esaian continues to work on his Master’s degree in the LSAMP Bridges to the Doctorate Fellow at CSULA and has recently published a paper with his CIRM mentor, Dr. Bronner (CIT). Carla Gonzales, one of our undergraduate interns, will be attending Keck Graduate Institute in the Masters of Bioprocessing Engineering program in Fall 2017. Julio Sanchez and Alberto Herrera who were both undergraduare interns from Cohort 6 have begun their 2nd year in Ph.D. programs at Cornell University and City of Hope, respectively. It is clear that this program had a profound effect on the students and faculty at both campuses not only through the research experiences of the student interns but also through the exposure of the campus communities to the promises of future medical treatments that will be derived from stem cell research.