Newsroom – California State University, Northridge

Building ‘Bridges’ to Regenerative Medicine: CSUN, UCLA Pair Up to Prepare Stem Cell Researchers

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Jul. 13th, 2010) ―

Damaged hearts regenerate. Paralyzed children run again. The blind regain vision, and cancer is eradicated.

It may sound like the stuff of miracles, but it’s also the future of medicine, and based on recent breakthroughs in stem cell science, researchers are closing fast on this life-saving era. So fast, in fact, that California—a leader in regenerative medical science—expects a shortage of qualified people to elucidate the nearly boundless potential of these deceptively simple cells.

“Name any disease, and there could be a relevant stem cell therapy,” said Cal State Northridge assistant professor of biology Cindy Malone, who specializes in genetics and molecular biology. “The push right now is for universities to produce skilled scientists who can do this kind of work. But the bulk of California’s students are at teaching universities, and they’re not being exposed to this cutting-edge research.”

To meet the challenge, Malone and Northridge biology professor Randy Cohen are launching their own experiment in accelerated results: the CSUN-UCLA Bridges to Stem Cell Research Program. The Bridges program pairs select students with premiere research scientists from the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research (Broad Stem Cell Research Center) at UCLA.

Funded by a $1.6 million grant from The California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), these full-immersion internships allow 10 Northridge students each year to conduct independent research under the guidance of scientists and medical doctors who are conducting groundbreaking experiments in adult and embryonic stem cell research. The goal: to leave the novice at the door and shape each student into a skilled researcher who will be an immediate asset to any biotech company, graduate program, or research institution.

“Training is critical to our mission of developing new therapies,” said Robert Klein, chair of CIRM’s governing board. “During a time when the state is forced to cut funding to higher education, our agency wants to ensure that highly qualified students receive the training necessary to fill the high-tech stem cell research jobs of the future.”

One of the nation’s largest teaching universities, CSUN also has a big-league reputation for preparing highly diverse students for advanced degrees in the sciences. According to Bridges collaborator Dr. Michael Teitell, chief of Pediatric and Developmental Pathology at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, the intellectual edge of CSUN’s students was not lost on the Broad Center’s outreach faculty. When CIRM announced the Bridges grant, courting CSUN for the partnership was a no-brainer.

“We specifically targeted Northridge so we could build our relationship with them,” said Teitell, who will be among 40 world-class scientists CSUN students can work with as interns this fall under the CSUN-UCLA Bridges to Stem Cell Research Program. “They have really strong students from a wonderful array of backgrounds and ethnicities. When they’re finished here, I’m sure some will be hired on as technicians or transition into UCLA’s graduate programs.”

Destaye Moore and Joseph Mendelis are among this fall’s cohort of six graduate and four undergraduate students who were selected for the coveted 40-hour-week internships. Like other Bridges awardees, said Malone, they represent the promise of what she, Cohen, and Teitell envisioned for the program.

Moore is a graduate student in biochemistry who earned a BFA in fashion design, then realized she wanted to pursue a career where her capacity to enhance people’s lives went beyond mere window dressing. Mendelis, who’s mastered an exceptional academic life while simultaneously running his family’s cabinetry business, is the first in his family to go to college, and is set on trading his table saw for a stethoscope. He knocked on Malone’s lab door last year, asking if he could join her small research team.

“That’s something you can’t do at larger research universities,” said Mendelis, who’s currently applying to medical school. “Here we have access to faculty, research, and amazing opportunities like Bridges. I’m just humbled to have made the cut.”

Final selection came down to research experience, says Malone, who’s enhancing the students’ base skills this summer with a crash course in cell and tissue culturing. “When they enter these labs,” said Malone, “they’ll be more prepared than some Ph.D. students. I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up mentoring UCLA undergrad students working beside them.”

The CIRM grant also funds new semester-length courses in regenerative medicine and the Full Immersion Research Experience (FIRE) class, which teaches students high-tech laboratory skills—such as tissue culturing and DNA sequencing—that standard lab courses don’t generally offer.

Three cohorts will be funded over three years. Each recipient receives a hefty stipend and lab material allowance that equals what an entry-level lab technician might make in a year, says Malone (about $25,000).

“There is no question that when these kids are done, they will be in high demand—whether in academia or…the work place,” said Cohen.

In the emerging field of regenerative medicine, added Malone, “it’s an asset to have tomorrow’s technology in your back pocket.”

Read more great stories in CSUN’s Northridge Magazine: http://www.northridgemagazine.com/stories/60/

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