Areas of research focus and respective researchers supported by the CIRM Training Grant include:
Ocular and Neural Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Dennis O. Clegg
MCDB, BMSE, NRI
Director of the UCSB stem cell training program, studies the molecular basis of neural development and disease; retinal development and degeneration; differentiation of ocular cells from embryonic and adult stem cells.
Lincoln V. Johnson
NRI, CSMD
Investigates basic cellular and molecular processes that cause the blinding human disease known as age-related macular degeneration; investigates how hESCs differentiate into retinal pigment epithelial cells for possible treatment of eye disease.
MicroRNA Regulation of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation
Kenneth Kosik
MCDB, BMSE
Investigates basic mechanisms and disorders of neural plasticity, the role of microRNAs in stem cell differentiation.
Genes and Growth Factors Specifying Stem Cell Competence States
Joel Rothman
MCDB, BMSE
Investigates molecular and genetic control of development in the nematode C. elegans; regulation of programmed cell death; mechanisms of tumorigenesis; and the genetic basis of stem cell competence states.
Bill Smith
MCDB, BMSE
Uses primitive chordate model systems (ascidians and Xenopus) to investigate early development, including the formation of the notochord and stem cell differentiation.
Stem Cell Activation in Retinal Degenerative Disease
Steven Fisher
MCDB, NRI
Focuses on cellular and molecular mechanisms of retinal degeneration and regeneration, neural circuitry in the vertebrate retina, and bio-image informatics.
Novel Biomaterials for Stem Cell Culture
Dennis O. Clegg
MCDB, BMSE, NRI
Director of the UCSB stem cell training program, studies the molecular basis of neural development and disease; retinal development and degeneration; differentiation of ocular cells from embryonic and adult stem cells.
High Throughput Sorting of Stem Cells Based on Surface Markers
Tom Soh
Mechanical Engineering
Interested in molecular scale detection and manipulation, nanometer scale electromechanical devices, and application of MEMS technology and nanofabrication, including novel methods for sorting hESC derivatives.
Molecular Mapping of Stem Cell Surfaces
Patrick Daugherty
Chemical Engineering
Uses novel peptide display methods to map hESC cell surfaces to generate novel reagents for sorting of differentiated cells.