CIRM’s recognizes undergraduate and mater’s level college students each year with Bridges to Stem Cell Research Awards. How good a program is it? It’s terrific. You don’t have to take my word for it. Just read this piece by a great stem cell champion, Don Reed. Don is the author of two books about CIRM, Stem Cell Battles and California Cures! so he clearly knows what he’s talking about.
By Don C. Reed
Imagine yourself as a California college student, hoping to become a stem cell researcher. Like almost all students you are in need of financial help, and so (let’s say) you asked your college counselor if there were any scholarships available.
To your delight, she said, well, there is this wonderful internship program called Bridges, funded by the California Institution for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) which funds training in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine — and so, naturally, you applied…
If you were accepted, how might your life change?
After completing basic training at the college, you receive a one‑year internship grant of about $40,000 to work at a world‑renowned stem cell research facility. It’s an incredible career jump—hands‑on training, real job experience, and advanced education all in one.
Want to see where the 14 participating California colleges are located? Click below:
Let’s look at one of these college programs in action and see what happened to students who received a Bridges award, helping them move from studying stem cell research to applying it.
Amy Sprowles, PhD
HSU information comes from Dr. Amy Sprowles, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and Co‑Director of the Bridges program at Humboldt State University (HSU), located 279 miles north of San Francisco.
Dr. Sprowles says the HSU Bridges program was developed by four key people: Rollin Richmond, then HSU President, who worked with Susan Baxter, Executive Director of the CSU Program for Education and Research in Biotechnology, to secure the CIRM Bridges initiative; Jacob Varkey, HSU Professor of Biological Sciences, who pioneered the university’s undergraduate biomedical education program; and Sprowles herself, then a lecturer with a PhD in Biochemistry.
The program has two parts: an introductory stem cell research course and a twelve‑month internship in a leading stem cell research lab. For HSU students, those labs are at Stanford University, UC Davis, UCSF, or the Scripps Research Institute.
Like all CIRM Bridges programs, HSU’s version is tailored to the needs of its community.
Each of the 15 CIRM Bridges programs funds up to ten paid internships, but campus directors design their own curriculum and activities. HSU prepares candidates by requiring a semester‑long lecture and stem cell biology lab course before selecting interns—a course Sprowles has designed and taught since the program began.
She explains that the pre‑internship course trains students in essential scientific concepts, lab skills, and professional behavior before they enter their host labs. Because HSU is more than 300 miles from the internship sites, this upfront preparation is critical. It also helps faculty assess each student’s work ethic and mentoring needs, which supports better placement and guidance throughout the program.
How is it working?
Ten years after it began, 76 HSU students have completed the CIRM Bridges program at HSU. Of those, the overwhelming majority (over 85%) are committed to careers in regenerative medicine: either working in the field already, or continuing their education toward that goal.
But what happened to their lives? Take a brief look at the ongoing careers of a “Magnificent Seven” HSU Bridges scientists:
CARSTEN CHARLESWORTH
“Motivated by the chance to complete a paid internship, I applied to the Humboldt CIRM Bridges program. I was fortunate to be accepted. Fascinated by the emerging field of genome editing and the rise of CRISPR‑Cas9, I chose to intern in the lab of Dr. Matthew Porteus at Stanford, a pioneer in genome editing who focuses on modifying hematopoietic stem cells to treat diseases such as sickle cell disease.
In August 2018, I began a PhD in Stanford’s Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine program. I am now a second‑year graduate student in Dr. Hiro Nakauchi’s lab. I work on developing human organs in interspecies human‑animal chimeras. My acceptance into Stanford’s world‑class PhD program stems directly from the CIRM Bridges training I received at Humboldt State.”
ELISEBETH TORRETTI
“While exploring opportunities at HSU, I discovered the CIRM Bridges program. It was exactly what I wanted—a paid year‑long internship in high‑profile labs where I could build my research skills. The best fit was Jeanne Loring’s lab at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. Dr. Loring is one of the world’s leading stem cell researchers, and her lab focuses on developing a cure for Parkinson’s disease. They convert skin cells, or fibroblasts, into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), then turn those into dopaminergic neurons for transplantation.
My project focused on a different disease: ADCY5‑related dyskinesia. During my time in Dr. Loring’s lab, I gained invaluable research experience. I now work at a mid‑sized biotech company focused on cancer research—something that would have been difficult to achieve in a competitive area like San Diego without the training I received through the CIRM Bridges program.”
BRENDAN KELLY
“After completing my CIRM internship in Dr. Marius Wernig’s lab at Stanford, I joined a startup called I Peace. I helped launch the company with Dr. Koji Tanabe, whom I met during my internship. I am now pursuing my PhD at Cardiff University in Wales, using patient‑derived iPSC neurons to model Huntington’s disease. All of these opportunities grew from my CIRM Bridges experience, which opened the door for me.”
SAMANTHA SHELTON
“CIRM Bridges provided invaluable hands-on training in cell culture and stem cell techniques that have shaped my future in science. My CIRM internship in John Rubenstein’s Lab of Neural Development taught me amazing laboratory techniques such as stem cell transplantation as well as what goes into creating a harmonious and productive laboratory environment. My internship projects led to my first co-first author publication.
After my Bridges internship, I joined the Graduate Program for Neuroscience at Boston University. My PhD work aims to discover types of stem cells in the brain and how the structure of the brain develops early in life. During this time, I have focused on changes in brain development after Zika virus infection to better understand how microcephaly (small skulls and brains, often a symptom of Zika-DR) is caused. There is no doubt that CIRM not only made me a more competitive candidate for a doctoral degree but also provided me with tools to progress towards my ultimate goal of understanding and treating neurological diseases with stem cell technologies.”
DU CHENG
“Both my academic and business tracks started in the CIRM-funded…fellowship (at Stanford) where I invented the technology (the LabCam Microscope adapter) that I formed my company on (iDU Optics LLC). The instructor of the class, Dr. Amy Sprowles, encouraged me to carry on the idea. Later, I was able to get in the MD-PhD program at Weill Cornell Medical College because of the invaluable research experiences CIRM’s research program provided me. CIRM initiated the momentum to get me where I am today. Looking back, the CIRM Bridges Program is an instrumental jump-starter on my early career… I would not remotely be where I am without it.…”
CODY KIME
“Securing a CIRM grant helped me to take a position in the Nobel Prize winning Shinya Yamanaka Lab at the Gladstone Institutes, one of the most competitive labs in the new field of cell reprogramming. I then explored my own reprogramming interests, moving to the Kyoto University of Medicine, Doctor of Medical Sciences Program in Japan, and building a reprogramming team in the Masayo Takahashi Lab at RIKEN. My studies explore inducing cells to their highest total potential using less intrusive means and hacking the cell program. My systems are designed to inform my hypotheses toward a true お好みの細胞 (okonomi no cybo) technology, meaning ‘cells as you wish’ in Japanese, that could rapidly change any cell into another desired cell type or tissue.”
SARA MILLS
“The CIRM Bridges program was the key early influencer which aided in my hiring of my first industry position at ViaCyte, Inc. Also a strongly CIRM funded institution, I was ultimately responsible for the process development of the VC-01™ fill, finish processes and cGMP documentation development. Most recently, with over two years at the boutique consulting firm of Dark Horse Consulting, Inc., I have been focusing on aseptic and cGMP manufacturing process development, risk analysis, CMC and regulatory filings, facility design and project management to advise growing cell and gene therapy companies, worldwide.”
Like warriors fighting to save lives, these young scientists are engaged in an effort to study and defeat chronic disease. It is to be hoped the California stem cell program will have its funding renewed, so the “Bridges” program can continue.
For more information on the Bridges program, which might help a young scientist (perhaps yourself) cut and paste the following URL:
https://www.cirm.ca.gov/our-impact/internship-programs
One closing paragraph perhaps best sums up the Bridges experience:
“During my CIRM Bridges training in Stanford University, I was fortunate to work with Dr. Jill Helms, who so patiently mentored me on research design and execution. I ended up publishing 7 papers with her during the two-year CIRM internship and helped making significant progress of turning a Stem Cell factor into applicable therapeutic form, that is currently in preparation for clinical trial by a biotech company in Silicon Valley. I also learned from her how to write grants and publications, but more importantly, (to) never limit your potential by what you already know.” — Du Cheng
Very good! It’s interesting how the doors are opening!