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| Assistant Professor Marcos Garcia-Ojeda, a member of UC Merced's Stem Cell Consortium, will discuss current stem cell research at the campus during Stem Cell Awareness Day. |
Research institutions, patient groups and educators from across the globe have planned activities to mark the day. The goal of Stem Cell Awareness Day is to foster greater understanding about stem cell research and its potential to treat disease and injury.
At UC Merced, the newest campus of the prestigious University of California system, members of the Stem Cell Consortium will observe the day by highlighting some of the interdisciplinary research being done here and give updates on the program and construction of the planned Stem Cell Instrumentation Foundry. The event starts at 5:30 p.m. in Room 105 of the Classroom and Office Building at UC Merced, 5200 N. Lake Road. The event is open to the public. Admission is free.
UC Merced's Stem Cell Consortium is a research group of faculty, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who are investigating the underpinnings of stem cell fate decisions, tissue development and organization.
"This work is the foundation for groundbreaking treatments and cures for debilitating conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, heart disease and spinal cord injuries," said professor Maria Pallavicini, dean of the School of Natural Sciences.
During Wednesday's event, professors Marcos García-Ojeda, Néstor Oviedo and Pallavicini will provide a short primer on stem cells — what they are and how they work. They will also describe how organisms such as worms can lend insight into stem cell biology and discuss and new approaches of understanding how stem cells make decisions.
Speakers will also give an update on the planned Stem Cell Instrumentation Foundry, funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). CIRM is a state agency established in 2004 through the passage of Proposition 71. CIRM provides funding for stem cell research and facilities to California universities and research institutions.
As of August 2009, UC Merced has received $8.49 million from CIRM, including $4.36 million to build the instrumentation foundry in the campus' Science and Engineering Building. The unique facility will enable investigators at UC Merced and elsewhere in California to apply sophisticated microfabrication and nanofabrication technologies to understand stem cells fate decisions. It will be the only facility of its kind in the Central Valley.
Several UC Merced researchers from the schools of Natural Sciences and Engineering have received funds from CIRM for stem cell research, including professors García-Ojeda, Kara McCloskey, Jennifer Manilay, Michael Cleary and Michael Colvin. UC Merced graduate students and post-doctoral fellows have received CIRM training scholarships through a UC Davis-UC Merced training grant partnership.
For more information on Stem Cell Awareness Day and related research at UC Merced:
- Stem Cell Awareness Day
- UC Merced's Stem Cell Consortium
- UC Merced wins $4.36 million from CIRM for Stem Cell Instrumentation Foundry
- UC Merced professor receives $483,000 grant to develop tool used in stem cell research
- $2.2 million CIRM award for bioengineer to create heart cells
UC Merced opened Sept. 5, 2005, as the 10th campus in the University of California system and the first American research university of the 21st century. The campus significantly expands access to the UC system for students throughout the state, with a special mission to increase college-going rates among students in the San Joaquin Valley. It also serves as a major base of advanced research and as a stimulus to economic growth and diversification throughout the region. Situated near Yosemite National Park, the university is expected to grow rapidly, topping out at about 25,000 students within 30 years.