Featured Speaker: Maria Milan at the TLCI 4th Annual Forum, Oct. 28th. Register Here!
- 02 Aug, 2022
- The Latino Cancer Institute
- 0 Comments
Spotlighting the DEI in California’s leading edge stem cell research agency, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). Join us!
Direct differentiation using an inducible MADR-Tet-on-system. That’s a mouthful and hardly something I’d say in conversation.
Actually, it’s the title of a project authored by Henry Diaz-Guijarro De Las Heras, from Cal State University Channel Islands. His project was one of 122 complex and varied stem cell and gene therapy research posters, presented by undergrad and graduate students from California’s colleges and universities at a recent meeting in San Diego. The meeting was hosted by the publicly funded California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
For the majority of us, stem cells are a mystery, even though they are the body’s raw materials. These are like mother cells from which all other cells with specialized functions are generated. And once grown in the lab, they are manipulated to become specific types of cells, such as heart muscle, blood or nerve cells. These can then be implanted into a patient, in an effort to treat a broad range of fatal and debilitating conditions like Parkinson’s, cancer and sickle cell.
Photo: Genetically engineered human embryonic stem cells by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
To date, CIRM, which financially supports the student project called Bridges, has funded 80 clinical trials that include babies, children and adults.
In 2020, to continue to “accelerate world class science and deliver transformative regenerative treatments”, California taxpayers voted to refund CIRM with a second round of over 5 billion dollars, which included a continued commitment to invest in educating young scientists and training the future workforce.
CIRM’s Bridges program has opened doors to research, academia and industry jobs for more than 1600 program alumni. And most recently CIRM has committed to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in all its programs, including BRIDGES, so that more racial/ethnic students, like Henry Diaz- Guijarro De La Heras, and the over 20 Latino students at this July’s meeting, also find support, mentorship, and success as California’s future science leaders.
The Latino Cancer Institute is excited to have CIRM’s President, Maria Milan, join our 4th Annual National Forum, Oct 28th, to discuss the organizations commitment to put the DEI in the leading stem cell program in the country.
