Broad Stem Cell Research Center

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The Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA (Broad Stem Cell Research Center [BSCRC]) is committed to a multi-disciplinary, campus-wide, integrated, collaboration of scientific, academic, and medical disciplines for the purpose of understanding adult and human embryonic stem cells. The Center supports innovation, excellence, and the highest ethical standards focused on stem cell research with the intent of facilitating basic scientific inquiry directed towards future clinical applications in the treatment of disease.

NEWS $49.2 million in California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) grants awarded to BSCRC scientists for bench to bedside research in sickle cell disease, HIV/AIDS, and ovarian, colorectal, and brain cancers Three UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center scientists, Drs. Don Kohn, Irvin Chen, and Dennis Slamon, were awarded CIRM (Proposition 71) grants totaling $49.2 million to take leading-edge stem cell science from the laboratory and translate it into new therapies for such devastating diseases as sickle cell, HIV/AIDS and brain, ovarian and colorectal cancers within four years. BSCRC physician-scientists will also participate in awarded grants to develop treatments for leukemia (Hanna Mikkola), stroke (Tom Carmichael), and glioblastoma (Paul Mischel, Timothy Cloughesy, and Linda Liau). READ MORE.... Left to right: Don Kohn, MD, Irvin Chen, PhD, UCLA School of Medicine Dean Gerald Levey, CIRM ICOC member Sherry Lansing, and Dennis Slamon, MD
UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center scientists Drs. Bennet Novitch, Michael Teitell, Robb MacLellan, and Luisa Iruela-Arispe received California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM: Prop. 71) Basic Biology stem cell grants totaling $5.42 million for research that will uncover the basic mechanisms underlying stem cell biology and build a foundation that will support future research designed to translate stem cell science from the lab bench to the patient’s bedside. The grants constituted a third of the total CIRM basic biology awards. READ MORE....	Drs. William Lowry, Kathrin Plath, and associates found that embryonic stem cells and skin cells reprogrammed into embryonic-like cells have inherent molecular differences, demonstrating for the first time that the two cell types are clearly distinguishable from one another. The data, published in Cell Stem Cell, suggest that embryonic stem cells and the reprogrammed cells, known as induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, have overlapping but still distinct gene expression signatures. Read more....
Dr. William Lowry and associates showed for the first time that human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) can be differentiated into electrically active motor neurons. The discovery may aid in studying and treating neurological disorders.	UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center received $3.93M from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to renew a grant to train young scientists to conduct stem cell research. The three-year competitive grant will fund the training of 16 graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and physicians conducting stem cell research per year. CIRM training grant funding to UCLA now totals $7.68M, the largest amount awarded to a stem cell center.
BSCRC investigators led by Dr. Amander Clark, for the first time, reprogrammed human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) into the cells that eventually become eggs and sperm, possibly opening the door for new treatments for infertility using patient-specific cell. The study appeared in the January 26, 2009, early online edition of the peer-reviewed journal Stem Cells.	Drs. Ann Zovein and Luisa Iruela-Arispe and colleagues provide definitive proof that endothelial cells give rise to blood stem cells during embryonic development. The finding ultimately could lead to new therapies for certain blood disorders and cancers.
Drs. Hsian-Rong Tseng and Michael Phelps Receive $1.6 M in CIRM grants to develop innovative tools to aid in stem cell research. Phelps will develop ways to follow the fate and function of transplanted stem cells in patients using positron emission tomography (PET), a technology developed by Phelps. Tseng will develop and validate a robotic microfluidic platform that will aid in working with human pluripotent stem cells, which hold great potential in treating disease and repairing injury.	Dr. Amander Clark and associates identified a transcriptional signature associated with malignant cancer stem cell emergence in testicular cancer. The findings may lead to the development of a strategy to prevent malignant transformation in testicular cancer and preserve testicular tissue in order to ensure reproductive health in men diagnosed with this disease. Additionally, the research may lead to the development of strategies to minimize metastasis in men who present with the late stage or treatment resistance disease.
CIRM inteviews two Broad Stem Cell Research Center scientists: - Dr. Jerome Zack discusses stem cell research and the potential of the new induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology for regenerative medicine. See the Video... - Dr. Amander Clark discusses the research donation of non-viable embryos or embros that would otherwise be destroyed for the creation of human embryonic stem cells that may be suitable for stem cell research and regenerative medicine, as well as to study infertility . See the video...	The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation Donates $20M to UCLA Stem Cell Institute

WHY STUDY STEM CELLS?

“Research on stem cells is advancing knowledge about how an organism develops from a single cell and how healthy cells replace damaged cells in adult organisms. This promising area of science is also leading scientists to investigate the possibility of cell-based therapies to treat disease, which is often referred to as regenerative or reparative medicine.”

“It has been hypothesized by scientists that stem cells may, at some point in the future, become the basis for treating diseases such as Parkinson's disease, diabetes, and heart disease.

“Scientists want to study stem cells in the laboratory so they can learn about their essential properties and what makes them different from specialized cell types. As scientists learn more about stem cells, it may become possible to use the cells not just in cell-based therapies, but also for screening new drugs and toxins and understanding birth defects. …[H]uman embryonic stem cells have only been studied since 1998. Therefore, in order to develop such treatments scientists are intensively studying the fundamental properties of stem cells, which include:

determining precisely how stem cells remain unspecialized and self renewing for many years; and

identifying the signals that cause stem cells to become specialized cells. "

- National Institutes of Health, Stem Cell Basics, http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/basics1.asp

CONTACT US

Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA
University of California, Los Angeles
Box 957357
Los Angeles, California 90095-7357
310.825.4958

MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACT

Ms. Kim Irwin
Director, Media Relations
8-956 Factor Building
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1781
Phone: (310) 206-2805
Fax: (310) 206-5553
Pager: 1-800-233-7231, PIN# 93533
Email: kirwin@mednet.ucla.edu

UCLA Stem Cell Training Grant Course: The objective of this course is to provide students with current knowledge of embryonic and adult stem cells and how these pluripotent/multipotent populations can be used to treat congenital defects, diseases, or injury in humans as well as the ethical, regulatory, and legal issues related to stem cell research.

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