Program Type: Discovery
Engineering Cardiac Tissue for Regeneration and Drug Development
The ‘valley of death’ in scientific parlance refers to the time period where biomedical discovery in the laboratory fails to result in a cure for a disease. While the last decade has seen extraordinary developments in regenerative biology, the translation to regenerative medicine will require successful negotiation of the ‘valley of death.’ In most cases, […]
Epithelial progenitors and the stromal niche as therapeutic targets in lung disease
Chronic lung disease is an enormous societal and medical problem in California and the nation as a whole, representing the third most likely cause of death. Treatment costs were $389.2 billion in 2011 and are expected to reach $832.9 billion in 2021 according to the Milken Institute. Chronic lung diseases cover a spectrum of disorders […]
Repair and regeneration of the nephron
Kidney function is essential for removing the wastes that result from normal cell function and maintaining water and salt balance in our internal tissues. These actions are carried out by roughly a million nephrons within the kidney that filter all the body’s blood roughly once every 1-2hours. The kidney also regulates other tissues controlling blood […]
Stem Cell Pathologies in Parkinson’s disease as a key to Regenerative Strategies
Protection and cell repair strategies for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s Disease (“PD”) depend on well-characterized candidate human stem cells that are robust and show promise for generating the neurons of interest following stimulation of inherent brain stem cells or after cell transplantation. These stem cells must also be expandable in the culture dish without […]
Developing a regeneration-based functional restoration treatment for spinal cord injury
One of the most exciting and challenging frontiers in neuroscience and medicine is to repair traumatic injuries to the central nervous system (CNS). Most spinal cord and head injuries result in devastating paralyses, yet very limited clinical intervention is currently available to restore the lost abilities. Traumatic injuries of the spine cause fractures and compression […]
Development of Cellular Therapies for Retinal Disease
The long term goal of our research program is regeneration of the diseased eye. Age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinitis pigmentosa are leading causes of blindness for which there are no effective treatments for the majority of cases. Loss of vision is due to progressive degeneration of the photoreceptor cells, or loss of cells […]
The role of neural stem cells in cerebellar development, regeneration and tumorigenesis
Stem cells have the remarkable ability to renew themselves and to generate multiple different cell types. This allows them to generate normal tissues during development and to repair tissues following injury, but at the same time, renders them highly susceptible to mutations that can result in cancer. Only by understanding the signals that control growth […]
Medical School Loan Repayment Program
Congenital and acquired defects of cardiac pacemakers are leading causes of morbidity and mortality in our society. Dysfunctions of the SA node and the lower conduction cells lead to a variety of complex arrhythmias that typically necessitate anti-arrhythmic therapy and implantation of devices. These treatments have significant limitations in their efficacy and risk-benefit ratio. Thus, […]
Characterization of mechanisms regulating de-differentiation and the re-acquisition of stem cell identity
Stem cells are the building blocks during development of organisms as varied as plants and humans. In addition, adult or “tissue” stem cells provide for the maintenance and regeneration of tissues, such as blood and skin throughout the lifetime of an individual. The ability of stem cells to contribute to these processes depends on their […]
Characterization of mechanisms regulating de-differentiation and the re-acquisition of stem cell identity
Stem cells are the building blocks during development of organisms as varied as plants and humans. In addition, adult or “tissue” stem cells provide for the maintenance and regeneration of tissues, such as blood and skin throughout the lifetime of an individual. The ability of stem cells to contribute to these processes depends on their […]