News & Media

Researchers Focus on the Eye for Future Stem Cell Therapies

June 11, 2009

Age-related macular degeneration and other eye diseases are possible candidates for future stem cell therapies. Researchers from UC Santa Barbara’s Center for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering and Center for the Treatment of Macular Degeneration are collaborating with the Doheny Eye Institute and the London Project to Cure Blindness at the University College London to generate ocular cells from stem cells. A recent article in Nature discusses ongoing efforts to develop stem cell therapies for the eye.

Nature Reports Stem Cells

MicroRNA Regulation of Pluripotency

April 30, 2009

A team lead by MCDB professor Ken Kosik has made a significant discovery in understanding the way human embryonic stem cells function. New research by CIRM-funded postdoctoral scholar Na Xu, working with Thales Papagiannakopoulos, Guangjin Pan and UCSB Center for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering Co-Director James Thomson, explain nature’s way of controlling whether stem cells will renew, or differentiate to become a brain cell or heart cell, or any other part of the human body. The study is reported in the May 1 issue of the journal Cell.

UCSB Press Release

UCSB Receives Grant for Training Program in Stem Cell Biology and Engineering

January 30, 2009

UC Santa Barbara has received a $1.2 million training grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to continue an interdisciplinary training program in stem cell biology and engineering. The three-year grant will make it possible for pre-doctoral and postdoctoral students to participate in groundbreaking research in two broad but interrelated areas: the fundamental molecular biology of stem cell proliferation and differentiation, and bioengineering approaches to develop novel biotechnologies for stem cell research.

UCSB Press Release

Pages