Stem cell biologists have tried unsuccessfully for years to produce cells that will give rise to functional arteries and offer physicians new options for combating cardiovascular disease, the world’s leading cause of death.

But new techniques developed by scientists from UC Santa Barbara, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Morgridge Institute for Research have produced, for the first time, functional arterial cells at both the quality and scale to be relevant for disease modeling and clinical application.

Leah Foltz, a graduate student in the lab of MCDB professor Dennis Clegg, delivered an engaging summary of recent strides in stem cell research and how her lab uses this biological material to study blinding diseases. Her research explores whether scientists will one day be able to use someone’s own cells to cure their blindness. Foltz’s lively delivery earned her a first-place finish in the campuswide competition. Now she’s headed to San Francisco to test her mettle Thursday, May 4, against participants from the nine other University of California campuses.