News & Media

June 02, 2014

Britney Pennington is a PhD candidate in BioMolecular Science & Engineering. She received Bachelor’s degrees in both Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the Florida Institute of Technology in 2008. She has served as a Teaching Assistant for General Biochemistry, Neurobiology II, and Introductory Biology laboratory, and volunteered as a TA for Stem Cell Biology in Health & Disease. She is noted not only as an excellent teacher by her students, but also as an accomplished and motivated researcher by her faculty colleagues. As one of her faculty references states, “In my 25 years at UCSB, she ranks at the very top in terms of teaching ability and enthusiasm for science education and teaching. She is also an intelligent and capable researcher with a strong and passionate commitment to science, and she is already making an impact on the field. She is one of a kind!”

May 22, 2014

Stem Cell Center scientists turned out for the Santa Barbara VisionWalk in April to raise funds for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Thirteen teams participated in this year’s event, raising nearly $34,000 (and counting) for critical retinal degenerative disease research. If you would like to donate, please send checks to

Foundation Fighting Blindness

Attn: Santa Barbara VisionWalk
2800 28th Street, Suite 310
Santa Monica, CA 90405

February 11, 2014

H Tom Soh joins an elite group of ‘outstanding leaders, engineers, entrepreneurs and innovators in medical and biological engineering’

H Tom Soh, professor of materials, mechanical engineering and chemical engineering at UC Santa Barbara, has been named a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). He is the fifth UCSB faculty member to be elected to the institute. AIMBE Fellows, according to the organization, “represent the top 2 percent of the most accomplished leaders in the field of medical and biological engineering.”

November 27, 2013

It’s not quite the tricorder that doctors in the legendary sci-fi series Star Trek would use to instantly assess a patient’s condition, but it’s close. A small electronic device can continuously track the level of medicines in an animal’s bloodstream. If it works in people, the device could revolutionize how medicines such as anticancer compounds and antibiotics are monitored and administered for life-threatening conditions. Co-Director H. Tom Soh and colleagues describe this work, part of the Garland Initiative for Vision, Science Translational Medicine (featured cover story).

October 02, 2013

October 2nd is Stem Cell Awareness Day, which brings together organizations and individuals around the world in support of stem cell research, with the aim of increasing awareness and education. UC Santa Barbara stem cell researchers are presenting educational outreach seminars at Santa Barbara High School, San Marcos High School, Cate School, and Santa Barbara City College. In addition, tours of the Laboratory for Stem Cell Research and Engineering, our CIRM-funded core facility, are offered to local community groups to provide a glimpse of the exciting ongoing research on human pluripotent stem cells. For more information, see http://www.cirm.ca.gov/stemcellday

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