Cal Poly will soon be instructing undergraduate and masters-level students in the quickly developing field of regenerative medicine, or stem cell research, thanks to a nearly $1.4 million research grant from the state.
The university was one of 11 within the California State University system to receive a Bridges to Stem Cell Research Award by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state agency responsible for providing grants and loans for stem cell research. About $15 million total was given out.
The nearly $1.4 million going to Cal Poly will fund comprehensive courses incorporating hands-on stem cell training in both academic and industrial research settings, assisting in internship placement and career opportunities for students in this expanding industry.
Other campuses in the CSU system that were awarded grants include Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Los Angeles, Channel Islands, Humboldt, Long Beach, Sacramento, San Marcos, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose.
According to Research and Graduate Programs Dean Susan Opava, the Bridge Awards issued by CIRM will provide students with experience in an emerging industry that promises to revolutionize medical and biological science.
“The issue with stem cells is that it opens up an entire universe actually, of potential for new research and new treatments,” Opava said. “A stem cell can become any cell, it’s what we call plural potential – it can be anything.”
As one of only eight states to currently permit such research, California is working to ensure that students entering the medical and biological sciences have the advantage of training with these techniques prior to seeking jobs such as research technicians and laboratory managers.
“This is all about training and education,” Opava said. “CIRM focused on doing research initially… then they realized that you need a trained workforce, as well. If you’re going to do research then you need people in laboratories that know how to work with cells and these kinds of cells in particular.”
She added, “You also need to provide a pipeline for people who will become researchers in this area. So, if you start now and expose students to what can be done with stem cells, then it’s more likely that when they go into a doctoral program, they will be interested in working with that kind of a model.”
The degree programs involved include the M.S. in biomedical engineering, biology and agriculture animal science. Students will be learn content and techniques in courses related to the technology specialization such as tissue engineering, cell transplantation, biomedical imaging and stem cell history. Other specific student activities related to stem cells will vary depending upon their internship host.
CIRM was established in 2005 after the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, the prior year, which provided $3 billion to state universities and research institutions. To date, CIRM has approved more than $693 million in grants, making it the single largest source of funding embryonic and pluripotent stem cell research in the world.
In late January, the 29-member Independent Citizen’s Oversight Committee (ICOC), the governing board of CIRM, voted to support 26 grants to public universities pending future financial availability, including the 11 grants of the Bridges to Stem Cell Research program.
According to Erik Fallis, spokesman for the CSU Chancellor’s Office, interested universities submitted grant applications at CIRM’s request. The applicants then went through a comprehensive review process where they were ranked by an independent panel of experts, who made funding recommendations to the ICOC. The ICOC issued approvals in March.
“CSU campuses are the training grounds for the scientists and professionals who fuel California’s knowledge-based economy,” said CSU Chancellor Charles Reed in a press release late last month. “These grants will allow the university to take the next step into an exciting and rapidly expanding area of biotechnology.”
News of the awards came less than a month after President Barack Obama lifted federal restrictions of embryonic stem cell research put in place by the Bush administration in 2001. Considering CIRM’s record of funding for such research, combined with the possibility for federal funding in the future, it’s uncertain whether California will be at the forefront of the regenerative medicine and technology industry.
Opava said the deciding factor in research is who can compete for federal funding.
“That’s the primary source of research support in the country. And it’s a screen — if you’re really good, and your proposals are really good, you publish and get a lot of results, then you will get federal funding,” Opava said. “And there might be a second tier… but there just isn’t enough federal money and a lot of times state programs and private foundations will pick up that research.”