Center for Regenerative Science and Therapies
UC Davis has established the Center for Regenerative Science and Therapies to help combine and coordinate resources and ensure success for research efforts into human disease - diseases that might be prevented, reversed, or improved by stem cell therapies. The center's mission is to enhance the understanding of stem and progenitor cells in health and disease, and to eventually develop novel treatment strategies for humans.
This interdisciplinary research initiative brings together faculty at the School of Medicine with other established research groups in veterinary medicine, biological sciences, agricultural and environmental sciences, and biomedical engineering. The new effort builds upon UC Davis' established and unique resources and is designed to help facilitate the translation of stem cell biology to patients, with the intent of going from clinical trials to, ultimately, approved therapies for individuals.
The center will have core laboratories both on campus and at the medical center in Sacramento, where the School of Medicine conducts much of its research and all of its patient care. Having facilities across campus, along with a cohesive scientific commitment, will enhance collaborative and multi-disciplinary efforts among the various scientific teams and labs.
The new stem cell center builds upon three of the most important health-related focus areas in the School of Medicine: cancer, vascular disease, and neuroscience. It also complements established, highly successful research programs and centers at the university, including NCI-designated UC Davis Cancer Center, the NIH-supported Clinical Nutrition Research Unit of the USDA Western Human Nutrition Research Center, and the Center for Neuroscience, the M.I.N.D. Institute, the Alzheimer's Center, and the Center for Mind and Brain.
Basic science and clinical faculty researchers are essential for developing the synergistic partnerships and productive teams necessary to move human embryonic stem cell research into a clinical reality. Moreover, UC Davis is ideally positioned to meet the goals of the California stem cell initiative passed by voters in 2004, while also continuing its emphasis on the training of graduate students, post-doctoral researchers and research fellows in stem cell research and ethical considerations.
The UC Davis effort begins with an expertise in disease biology and clinical care and supports that expertise with scientific models of stem cell therapy in humans and models in preclinical relevant systems such as non-human primates. It proposes an integrated, two-pronged approach to address the development of therapies utilizing stem cells to treat human diseases for the public benefit.
One focus, led by the Preclinical/Translational Medicine group, emphasizes the following areas: neuroscience, aging, vascular and metabolic disturbances, and cancer. Based on the Davis campus, this group of researchers will focus on the preclinical aspects of stem cell research that are necessary in order to expedite their application to clinical trials. This group will use established models and techniques needed to explore the safety and efficiency of differentiated human stem cells transplanted into monkeys, and to provide scientists throughout California with expertise, services, and resources for the study of human cells in the non-human primate host.
A second emphasis, led by the Translational/Clinical group, focuses on cancer, immunology and vascular disease. This group, based at the UC Davis Medical Center, will focus on all aspects needed to prove the clinical utility of therapeutic stem cell research in directly treating human disease. The UC Davis Health System is already well positioned to support this group through its medical center, and partnerships with the federally-designated general clinical research center at the Northern California Veterans Administration medical facility in Sacramento and with the Northern California Shriners Hospital, which is adjacent to UC Davis Medical Center.
This interdisciplinary research initiative brings together faculty at the School of Medicine with other established research groups in veterinary medicine, biological sciences, agricultural and environmental sciences, and biomedical engineering. The new effort builds upon UC Davis' established and unique resources and is designed to help facilitate the translation of stem cell biology to patients, with the intent of going from clinical trials to, ultimately, approved therapies for individuals.
The center will have core laboratories both on campus and at the medical center in Sacramento, where the School of Medicine conducts much of its research and all of its patient care. Having facilities across campus, along with a cohesive scientific commitment, will enhance collaborative and multi-disciplinary efforts among the various scientific teams and labs.
The new stem cell center builds upon three of the most important health-related focus areas in the School of Medicine: cancer, vascular disease, and neuroscience. It also complements established, highly successful research programs and centers at the university, including NCI-designated UC Davis Cancer Center, the NIH-supported Clinical Nutrition Research Unit of the USDA Western Human Nutrition Research Center, and the Center for Neuroscience, the M.I.N.D. Institute, the Alzheimer's Center, and the Center for Mind and Brain.
Basic science and clinical faculty researchers are essential for developing the synergistic partnerships and productive teams necessary to move human embryonic stem cell research into a clinical reality. Moreover, UC Davis is ideally positioned to meet the goals of the California stem cell initiative passed by voters in 2004, while also continuing its emphasis on the training of graduate students, post-doctoral researchers and research fellows in stem cell research and ethical considerations.
The UC Davis effort begins with an expertise in disease biology and clinical care and supports that expertise with scientific models of stem cell therapy in humans and models in preclinical relevant systems such as non-human primates. It proposes an integrated, two-pronged approach to address the development of therapies utilizing stem cells to treat human diseases for the public benefit.
One focus, led by the Preclinical/Translational Medicine group, emphasizes the following areas: neuroscience, aging, vascular and metabolic disturbances, and cancer. Based on the Davis campus, this group of researchers will focus on the preclinical aspects of stem cell research that are necessary in order to expedite their application to clinical trials. This group will use established models and techniques needed to explore the safety and efficiency of differentiated human stem cells transplanted into monkeys, and to provide scientists throughout California with expertise, services, and resources for the study of human cells in the non-human primate host.
A second emphasis, led by the Translational/Clinical group, focuses on cancer, immunology and vascular disease. This group, based at the UC Davis Medical Center, will focus on all aspects needed to prove the clinical utility of therapeutic stem cell research in directly treating human disease. The UC Davis Health System is already well positioned to support this group through its medical center, and partnerships with the federally-designated general clinical research center at the Northern California Veterans Administration medical facility in Sacramento and with the Northern California Shriners Hospital, which is adjacent to UC Davis Medical Center.