Students

SPARKing the genius of the next generation of scientists

/ Kevin McCormack / 4 Comments
Dr. Kelly Shepard, SPARK program director

After almost 18 months – and counting – that have put us all to the test, made us wear masks, work from home, limit contact with all but the closest of family and friends it’s a wonderful thing to be able to get a glimpse of the future and feel that we are in good hands.

That’s how it felt this week when we held our SPARK conference. SPARK stands for Summer Program to Accelerate Regenerative Medicine Knowledge. The program helps high school students, that reflect the diversity of California, to take part in summer research at various institutions with a stem cell, gene therapy, or regenerative medicine focus. 

We hope the experience will inspire these students to become the next generation of scientists. Many of the students are first generation Americans, many also come from families with limited resources and without our help might not be able to afford an internship like this.

As part of the program we ask the students to not only do stem cell research and prepare a poster of their work, we also ask them to blog about it. And the blogs they write are things of beauty.

It’s hard to pick winners from so many fine writers, but in the end a team of CIRMites managed to identify a few we thought really stood out. First was Hassan Samiullah who spent his internship at Cedars-Sinai. Hassan wrote three blogs charting his journey at the research facility, working with mice and a deadly brain cancer. This is part of one of his entries.

“When many of us think of scientists, we think of crazy people performing crazy procedures in a lab. While I won’t try refuting the first part, the crazy procedures can actually be very consequential to society at large. What is now common knowledge was once found in the discussion section of a research paper. The therapies we will use to treat cancer tomorrow are being tested in labs today, even if they’re being injected into mice brains.” 

We liked his writing because he explained complex science clearly, with humor and obvious delight that he got to work in a research facility with “real” scientists. Crazy or otherwise. Here is his final blog which, I think, reflects the skill and creativity he brought to the task.

I’m almost at the end of my 7.5-week internship at Cedars-Sinai through the CIRM SPARK program. Looking back at the whole experience, I don’t think I’ve ever been through anything that’s required as much critical thinking.

I remember seeing pX330-dual-U6-Pten-Cdkn2a-Ex2-chimeric-BB-CBh-espCas9, and not having the slightest idea of what any of it meant. Sure, I understood the basics of what I was told: it’s a plasmid that can be transfected into mice brains to model glioblastoma tumors. But what do any of those strings of letters and numbers have to do with that? Well, I saw “Pten” and read it aloud: “P-t-e-n.” After I spelled it out like a kindergartener, I finally made a realization. p10 is a gene—specifically a tumor suppressor gene. I figured that the two jumbles of letters and numbers to the right must also be genes. Sure enough, the plasmid contains three mutated genes that get incorporated into a mouse’s genome, eventually leading to cancer. We didn’t actually end up using this model, however. Part of being in science is procedures not working out as expected.

Resilience is key.

When I found out that the image analysis software I was supposed to use didn’t support the type of data collection I needed to perform, I had to burn a little midnight oil to count the cells of interest manually. It proved to be well worth the effort: we found that mice tumors treated with radiation saw increased interactions between immune cells and endogenous (brain-resident) stem cells, even though they had fewer cells from the original tumor (difference wasn’t statistically significant due to an outlier in the control group). This is an important finding because it may explain the common narrative of glioblastoma: many patients see their tumors recede but suffer an aggressive relapse. This relapse may be due to immune cells’ interacting with stem cells to make them resistant to future treatments.

Understanding stem cells are so critical to cancer research, just as they are to many other fields of research. It is critical for everyone involved in science, medicine, healthcare, and policymaking to recognize and act on the potential of the regenerative medicine field to dramatically improve the quality of life for so many people.

This is just the beginning of my journey in science! I really look forward to seeing what’s next.

We look forward to it too Hassan.

Hassan wasn’t the only one we singled out for praise. Sheila Teker spent her summer at Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute. She says her internship didn’t get off to a very encouraging start.

“When the CHORI security guard implied that “kids aren’t allowed” on my first day–likely assuming I was a 10-year-old smuggling myself into a highly professional laboratory – I’d also personally doubted my presence there. Being 16, I wasn’t sure I’d fit in with others in such an intimidating environment; and never did I think, applying for this program, that I could be working with stem cells. I’d heard about stem cells in the news, science classes, and the like, but even doing any cell culturing at all seemed inaccessible to me. At my age, I’d become accustomed to and discouraged by rejection since I was perceived as “too young” for anything.”

Over the course of the summer Sheila showed that while you might question her age, no one should ever question her talent and determination.  

Finally, we thought Alvin Cheng of Stanford also deserved recognition for his fine writing, starting with a really fun way to introduce his research into lower back pain.

“Perhaps a corpse would be reanimated”, Mary Shelley wrote her in 1831 edition of “Frankenstein”. Decades prior, Luigi Galvani discovered with his wife how a dead frog’s leg could twitch when an electric spark was induced. ‘Galvanism’ became the scientific basis behind the infamous novel and bioelectricity.”

While many of the students had to do their research remotely this year, that did not stop them doing amazing work. And working remotely might actually be good training for the future. CIRM’s Dr. Kelly Shepard, the Associate Director of Discovery and Translation and who runs the SPARK program, pointed out to the students that scientists now do research on the international space station from their labs here on earth, so the skills these SPARK students learned this past summer might prove invaluable in years to come.

Regardless of where they work, we see great things in the futures of these young scientists.

Meet the people who are changing the future

/ Kevin McCormack / 2 Comments
Kristin MacDonald

Every so often you hear a story and your first reaction is “oh, I have to share this with someone, anyone, everyone.” That’s what happened to me the other day.

I was talking with Kristin MacDonald, an amazing woman, a fierce patient advocate and someone who took part in a CIRM-funded clinical trial to treat retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The disease had destroyed Kristin’s vision and she was hoping the therapy, pioneered by jCyte, would help her. Kristin, being a bit of a pioneer herself, was the first person to test the therapy in the U.S.

Anyway, Kristin was doing a Zoom presentation and wanted to look her best so she asked a friend to come over and do her hair and makeup. The woman she asked, was Rosie Barrero, another patient in that RP clinical trial. Not so very long ago Rosie was legally blind. Now, here she was helping do her friend’s hair and makeup. And doing it beautifully too.

That’s when you know the treatment works. At least for Rosie.

There are many other stories to be heard – from patients and patient advocates, from researchers who develop therapies to the doctors who deliver them. – at our CIRM 2020 Grantee Meeting on next Monday September 14th Tuesday & September 15th.

It’s two full days of presentations and discussions on everything from heart disease and cancer, to COVID-19, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and spina bifida. Here’s a link to the Eventbrite page where you can find out more about the event and also register to be part of it.

Like pretty much everything these days it’s a virtual event so you’ll be able to join in from the comfort of your kitchen, living room, even the backyard.

And it’s free!

You can join us for all two days or just one session on one day. The choice is yours. And feel free to tell your friends or anyone else you think might be interested.

We hope to see you there.

A bridge to the future: training the next generation of stem cell scientists

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment

At CIRM we don’t just invest in stem cell research, we invest in people. One prime example of that is our Bridges to Stem Cell Research program. This is helping train the next generation of scientists by preparing Californian undergraduate and master’s students for careers in stem cell research.

The students who go through the Bridges program get up to a year-long internship, hands-on training and education in stem cell research. Just as importantly, they also get to work directly with patients to help them understand why we do this work; to help people in need.

One of our recent Bridges graduates is Zach Wagoner. Zach was a biology student and wondering what to do next to help him get some experience for a job when someone told him about the Bridges program. That set him on a course that is changing his life.

So how did the random conversation impact Zach? The team at the UC Irvine Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center shot this video to answer that question.

It’s not just Zach who benefited from the program.  Of the 1257 alumni who graduated from the program by March of this year: 

  • 50% are working full time in academic or biotech research related positions
  • 30% enrolled in graduate or professional school

We think it’s been a wise investment.

Bridges to the Future: 10 Years and Counting!

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment
Bridges conference 2019

When Californians voted for Proposition 71 in 2004, they were investing in hope… the hope that unraveling the mysteries of stem cells could lead to new types of treatments and perhaps one day, even cures for some of the most devastating illnesses and injuries known to mankind. Making this hope a reality, however, requires much more than scientific discovery, it requires a dedicated and skilled work force that can recognize and tackle the challenges that come with such an ambitious dream.

To jump start the nascent stem cell/regenerative medicine community in California, CIRM began offering Training Grants to major research and medical institutions to attract talented PhD students and postdoctoral fellows into the field. A few years later, a second type of training program was born to attract a different, yet equally important cadre of professionals – the undergraduate, Bachelors and Master’s level scientists who are the bread and butter of any successful research endeavor.

Bridges students

Over the past 10 years, CIRM has supported 16 of these programs, which have proven to be among the most popular and successful CIRM initiatives to date. As of 2019, the Bridges programs have trained well over 1400 scientists, about half of whom are working full time in research positions at biotechnology companies or academic laboratories, and another third of whom went on to enroll in a graduate or professional school.

Today, there are 14 active Bridges Programs around the state, each with unique attributes, but all sharing the core elements of stem cell-based coursework, hands-on-training through internships at world-class laboratories or biotechnology companies, and formal activities involving patient engagement and community outreach. Every year, the programs produce up to 140 well-rounded, highly skilled individuals that are ready to hit the ground running.

Poster presentations at the Bridges conference

Each July, the most recent cohort of Bridges trainees gather for an Annual Conference to share their research outcomes, network with their peers, and learn more about the current opportunities and challenges facing the regenerative medicine community.

This year, the 10th Annual Bridges Conference was held in San Mateo, CA and included inspiring talks from scientists performing cutting edge research and running some of the first FDA-approved stem-cell based clinical trials in the state.

Anna Simos

Perhaps the biggest highlights were hearing the real-life stories of brave individuals like Anna Simos, whose experience with life-threatening complications from diabetes inspired her life’s work of providing hope and education to those facing similar challenges.

Byron Jenkins

Equally moving was the testimonial of Byron Jenkins, a multiple myeloma patient who received an experimental new CAR-T therapy in a CIRM-supported clinical trial sponsored by Poseida Therapeutics.

Ronnie Kashyup with parents Upasana and Pawash

Last but not least, little Ronnie Kashyup, recently cured of Bubble Baby Disease through another CIRM-funded clinical trial, charmed all attendees with his larger-than-life personality while his father, Pawash Priyank, shared the story of Ronnie’s diagnosis and treatment.

In the video segments to follow:

CIRM Bridges student Sneha Santosh at San Jose State University discusses the role CIRM plays in bridging together the patient advocates with the groundbreaking research conducted by scientists.

Samori Dobson and Esther Nair, CIRM Bridges students at California State University, San Marcos, briefly discuss the positive impact that the program has had on their lives.

Below are some pictures form the 10th Annual Bridges Conference in San Mateo, CA.

For more information about CIRM Bridges Programs, see the following link and video below:

CIRM-funded internship programs

Next generation of stem cell scientists leave their mark

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment

One of the favorite events of the year for the team here at CIRM is our annual SPARK (Summer Program to Accelerate Regenerative Medicine Knowledge) conference. This is where high school students, who spent the summer interning at world class stem cell research facilities around California, get to show what they learned. It’s always an engaging, enlightening, and even rather humbling experience.

The students, many of whom are first generation Californians, start out knowing next to nothing about stem cells and end up talking as if they were getting ready for a PhD. Most say they went to their labs nervous about what lay ahead and half expecting to do menial tasks such as rinsing out beakers. Instead they were given a lab coat, safety glasses, stem cells and a specific project to work on. They learned how to handle complicated machinery and do complex scientific experiments.

But most importantly they learned that science is fun, fascinating, frustrating sometimes, but also fulfilling. And they learned that this could be a future career for them.

We asked all the students to blog about their experiences and the results were extraordinary. All talked about their experiences in the lab, but some went beyond and tied their internship to their own lives, their past and their hopes for the future.

Judging the blogs was a tough assignment, deciding who is the best of a great bunch wasn’t easy. But in the end, we picked three students who we thought captured the essence of the SPARK program. This week we’ll run all those blogs.

We begin with our third place blog by Dayita Biswas from UC Davis.

Personal Renaissance: A Journey from Scientific Curiosity to Confirmed Passions

By Dayita Biswas

As I poured over the pages of my battered Campbell textbook, the veritable bible for any biology student, I saw unbelievable numbers like how the human body is comprised of over 30 trillion cells! Or how we have over 220 different types of cells— contrary to my mental picture of a cell as a circle. Science, and biology in particular, has no shortage of these seemingly impossible Fermi-esque statistics that make one do a double-take. 

My experience in science had always been studying from numerous textbooks in preparation for a test or competitions, but textbooks only teach so much. The countless hours I spent reading actually demotivated me and I constantly asked myself what was the point of learning about this cycle or that process — the overwhelming “so what?” question. Those intriguing numbers that piqued my interest were quickly buried under a load of other information that made science a static stream of words across a page. 

That all changed this summer when I had the incredible opportunity to work in the Nolta lab under my mentor, Whitney Cary. This internship made science so much more tangible and fun to be a part of.  It was such an amazing environment, being in the same space with people who all have the same goals and passion for science that many high school students are not able to truly experience. Everyone was so willing to explain what they were doing, and even went out of their way to help if I needed papers or had dumb questions.

This summer, my project was to create embryoid bodies and characterize induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from children who had Jordan’s Syndrome, an extremely rare neurodevelopmental disease whose research has applications in Alzheimer’s and autism.

 I had many highs and lows during this research experience. My highs were seeing that my iPSCs were happy and healthy. I enjoyed learning lab techniques like micro-pipetting, working in a biological safety hood, feeding, freezing, and passaging cells. My lows were having to bleach my beloved iPSCs days after they failed to survive, and having unsuccessful protocols. However, while my project consistently failed, these failures taught me more than my successes.

I learned that there is a large gap between being able to read about techniques and being “book smart” and actually being able to think critically about science and perform research. Science, true science, is more than words on a page or fun facts to spout at a party. Science is never a straight or easy answer, but the mystery and difficulty is part of the reason it is so interesting. Long story short: research is hard and it takes time and patience, it involves coming in on weekends to feed cells, and staying up late at night reading papers.         

The most lasting impact that this summer research experience had was that everything we learn in school and the lab are all moving us towards the goal of helping real people. This internship renewed my passion for biology and cemented my dream of working in this field. It showed me that I don’t have to wait to be a part of dynamic science and that I can be a small part of something that will change, benefit, and save lives.

This internship meant being a part of something bigger than myself, something meaningful. We must always think critically about what consequences our actions will have because what we do as scientists and researchers— and human beings will affect the lives of real people. And that is the most important lesson anyone can hope to learn.

                                                                                                   

And here’s a bonus, a video put together by the SPARK students at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Mending Stem Cells: The Past, Present & Future of Regenerative Medicine

/ Kevin McCormack / Leave a comment
UCSF’s Mission Bay Campus

For years we have talked about the “promise” and the “potential” of stem cells to cure patients. But more and more we are seeing firsthand how stem cells can change a patient’s life, even saving it in some cases. That’s the theme of the 4th Annual CIRM Alpha Stem Cell Clinics Network Symposium.

It’s not your usual symposium because this brings together all the key players in the field – the scientists who do the research, the nurses and doctors who deliver the therapies, and the patients who get or need those therapies. And, of course, we’ll be there; because without CIRM’s funding to support that research and therapies none of this happens.

We are going to look at some of the exciting progress being made, and what is on the horizon. But along the way we’ll also tackle many of the questions that people pose to us every day. Questions such as:

  • How can you distinguish between a good clinical trial offering legitimate treatments vs a stem cell clinic offering sham treatments?
  • What about the Right to Try, can’t I just demand I get access to stem cell therapies?
  • How do I sign up for a clinical trial, and how much will it cost me?
  • What is the experience of patients that have participated in a stem cell clinical trial?

World class researchers will also talk about the real possibility of curing diseases like sickle cell disease on a national scale, which affect around 100,000 Americans, mostly African Americans and Hispanics. They’ll discuss the use of gene editing to battle hereditary diseases like Huntington’s. And they’ll highlight how they can engineer a patient’s own immune system cells to battle deadly cancers.

So, join us for what promises to be a fascinating day. It’s the cutting edge of science. And it’s all FREE.

Here’s where you can go to find out more information and to sign up for the event.

Stem cell summer: high school students document internships via social media, Part 3

/ Todd Dubnicoff / 4 Comments

Today we share our third and final pair of social media awards from CIRM’s 2018 SPARK (Summer Program to Accelerate Regenerative medicine Knowledge) program, a 6-12 week summer internship program that provides hands-on stem cell research training to high school students throughout California.

AnthonyTan

CIRM SPARK 2018 Best Instagram Post winner by Caltech SPARK intern Anthony Tan

As part of their curriculum, the students were asked to write a blog and to post Instagram photos (follow #cirmsparklab) to document their internship experiences. Several CIRM team members selected their favorite entries and presented awards to the winning interns at the SPARK Student Conference earlier this month at UC Davis.

The two winners featured today are Caltech SPARK student, Anthony Tan – a senior at John A. Rowland High School – one of the Instagram Award winners (see his Instagram post above) and UCSF SPARK student Gennifer Hom – a senior at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts – one of the Blog Award winners. Read her blog below. (To learn about the other 2018 social media winners, see our previous blog posts here and here.)

Best Blog Award:
My SPARK 2018 summer stem cell research internship experience
By Gennifer Hom

genniferhom

Gennifer Hom

When I was seven, I remember looking up at the stars, I stared hard at the moon through my car window, thinking that it only revolves around me as it followed me home. I later learned in class that we rotate around the sun, as gravity holds the spinning planets in place, simultaneously, the moon revolves around the earth. Out of nowhere, I abruptly felt an actual light bulb switched on above my head once I learned how day and night came. Overcome with curiosity,“ Where did the Big Bang take place? When will my Big Bang happen?”

My interest dissipated as I entered into my high school career. I was struck with incoherence, an inconsistency to my thoughts, as I leaned my shoulder against the wall—for I had already decided to let my fatigue to take over. I felt lacking, unconfident in my abilities even to solve a simple balance chemical equation in chemistry class. Science was not my forte. I could never see myself working in a lab setting.

Still, a spark within me still held onto that childhood curiosity of mine. I remember sitting on the bus on my way to school reading about stem cells, which were fascinating to me. We can use these little cells for so many scientific research.

My Big Bang unfolded when I was accepted into the UCSF SEP internship program. I
studied the human-specific population of cortical neural stem cells and evaluated the signaling mechanisms that govern the formation of their identity. Through my performance, I am also contributing to this phenomenal study, helping my community by potentially providing information to help cure mental illnesses. At times, the results of our data did not come out as we wanted it to be. The staining went wrong, and the images were lacking. I would have to repeat the experiment or troubleshoot on the spot continually. However, it’s all a learning process. Even if I do get beautiful image stainings, I still need to repeat the experiments to confirm my results.

Learning was not the only side that is needed under this program. CIRM encouraged us to share our internship experiences on social media. I posted once a week on my studies, what I’ve learned, and how I could teach my viewers about this new research I am performing. I remember in one of the first few meetings we had, where we had to share our research with our peers, “ I can actually understand your studies,” a friend of mine claimed.

I felt powerful, in a sense, that I was able to communicate my knowledge to others to help them understand and teach my study. When I talk to my family and friends about my summer, I feel confident in my ability to comprehend these complex ideas. I could see myself researching, engineering, and fighting for a solution. I want to find the best form of gene therapy, and map each neuron of the brain. Through this two month program, science has become a new passion for me, a cornerstone of my new academic pursuits. It strengthened my theoretical knowledge and gave me an experience where I witnessed the real world laboratory setting. Not only did I learn the fundamental techniques of immunohistochemistry and microscopy, but I was able to receive encouraging advice from the scientists in the Kriegsteins lab and especially my mentor, Madeline Andrews. The experience in a lab comforted me by the idea of the never-ending changes that lured me to a world of thought and endless potential.

Stem cell summer: high school students document internships via social media, Part 2

/ Todd Dubnicoff / 2 Comments

Well, just like that, summer vacation is over. Most kids in California are back in school now and probably one of the first questions they’ll ask their friends is, “what did you do this summer?”. For 58 talented high school students, their answer will be, “I became a stem cell scientist.”

Best Instagram Post Award: Mia Grossman

https://www.instagram.com/p/BleQFSFASgQ/?tagged=cirmsparklab

Those students participated in a CIRM-funded internship called the Summer Program to Accelerate Regenerative medicine Knowledge, or SPARK for short, with seven programs throughout Northern and Southern California which include Caltech, Cedars-Sinai, City of Hope, Stanford, UC Davis, UCSF and the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. Over the course of about 8 eight weeks, the interns gained hands-on training in stem cell research at some of the leading research institutes in California. Last week, they all met for the annual SPARK conference, this year at the UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, to present their research results and to hear from expert scientists and patient advocates.

As part of their curriculum, the students were asked to write a blog and to post Instagram photos (follow #cirmsparklab) to document their internship experiences. Several CIRM team member selected their favorite entries and presented awards to the winning interns at the end of the conference. We featured two of the winners in a blog from last week.

Our two winners featured today are Cedars-Sinai SPARK student, Mia Grossman – a senior at Beverly Hills High School – one of the Instagram Award winners (see her looping video above) and UC Davis SPARK student Anna Guzman – a junior at Sheldon High School – one of the Blog Award winners. Here’s her blog:

The Lab: A Place I Never Thought I’d Be
By Anna Guzman

AnnaGuzman

Anna Guzman

My CIRM SPARK journey started long before I ever stepped foot in the Institute for Regenerative Cures at UC Davis. Instead, my journey started two years earlier, when my older sister came home from the same internship with stories of passaged cells, images of completed western blots, and a spark in her eye when she described the place she had come to love. Barely 14 years old, I listened wide-eyed as my sister told us about the place she disappeared to each morning, stories of quirky professors, lovable mentors, and above all, the brilliant flame that everyone in her lab shared for learning. But even as she told her stories around the dinner table, I imagined this cold place where my charismatic, intelligent, and inquisitive sister was welcomed. I imagined the chilling concentration of dozens of geniuses bent over their work, of tissue culture rooms where every tiny movement was a potential disaster, and above all, of a labyrinth of brilliant discoveries and official sounding words with the door securely locked to 16 year old girls – girls who had no idea what they wanted to do with their life, who couldn’t confidently rattle words like “CRISPR,” “mesenchymal” and “hematopoietic” off their tongues. In short, this wasn’t a place for me.

But somehow I found myself applying for the CIRM SPARK internship. Seconds after I arrived for my first day at the place I was sure I would not belong, I realized how incorrect my initial assumption of the lab was. Instead of the intimidating and sophisticated environment filled with eye-rolling PhDs who scoffed at the naïve questions of a teenager, I found a room filled with some of the kindest, funniest, warmest people I had ever met. I soon found that the lab was a place of laughter and jokes across bays, a place of smiles in the hallways and mentors who tirelessly explained theory after theory until the intoxicating satisfaction of a lightbulb sparked on inside my head. The lab was a place where my wonderful mentor Julie Beegle patiently guided me through tissue culture, gently reminding me again and again how to avoid contamination and never sighing when I bubbled up the hemocytometer, miscalculated transduction rates, or asked question after question after question. Despite being full of incredibly brilliant scholars with prestigious degrees and publications, the lab was a place where I was never made to feel small or uneducated, never made to feel like there was something I couldn’t understand. So for me, the lab became a place where I could unashamedly fuel my need to understand everything, to ask hundreds of questions until the light bulbs sputtered on and a spark, the same spark that had glowed in the eyes of my sister years ago, burned brightly. The lab became a place where it was always okay to ask why.

At moments towards the middle of the internship, when my nerves had dissolved into a foundation of tentative confidence, and I had started to understand the words that tumbled out of my mouth, I’d be working in the biosafety cabinet or reading a protocol to my mentor and think, Wow. That’s Me. That’s me counting colonies and loading gels without the tell-tale nervous quiver of a beginner’s hand. That’s me explaining my project to another intern without an ambiguous question mark marring the end of the sentence. That’s me, pipetting and centrifuging and talking and understanding – doing all the things that I was certain that I would never be able to do. That’s the best thing that the CIRM SPARK internship has taught me. Being an intern in this wonderful place with these amazing people has taught me to be assured in my knowledge, unashamed in my pursuit of the answer, and confident in my belief that maybe I belong here. These feelings will stay with me as I navigate the next two years of high school and the beginning of the rest of my life. I have no doubt that I will feel unsure again, that I will question whether I belong and wonder if I am enough. But then I will remember how I felt here, confident, and unashamed, and assured in the place where I never thought I’d be.

It was not until the end of my internship, as I stood up to present a journal article to a collection of the very people who had once terrified me, that I realized the biggest thing I was wrong about two years ago. I was wrong when I assumed that this was a place where I would never belong. Instead, as I stood in front of this community of amazingly brilliant and kind people, my mouth forming words that I couldn’t have dreamed of understanding a month ago, I realized that this was precisely where I belonged. This was the place for me.

Stem cell summer: high school students document internships via social media, Part 1

/ Todd Dubnicoff / 1 Comment

My fellow CIRM team members and I just got back from two days in Sacramento where we attended one of our favorite annual events: the CIRM SPARK Student Conference. SPARK, which is short for Summer Program to Accelerate Regenerative medicine Knowledge, is a CIRM-funded education program that offers California High School students an invaluable opportunity to gain hands-on training in stem cell research at some of the leading research institutes in California.

This meeting represents the culmination of the students’ internships in the lab this summer and gives each student the chance to present their project results and to hear from stem cell research experts and patient advocates. Every summer, without fail, I’m blown away by how much the students accomplish in such a short period of time and by the poise and clarity with which they describe their work. This year was no exception.

Best Instagram Post Award: Skyler Wong

To document the students’ internship experiences, we include a social media curriculum to the program. Each student posts Instagram photos and writes a blog essay describing their time in the lab. Members of the CIRM team reviewed and judged the Instagram posts and blogs. It was a very difficult job selecting only three Instagrams out of over 400 (follow them at #cirmsparklab) that were posted over the past eight weeks. Equally hard was choosing three blogs from the 58 student essays which seem to get better in quality each year.

Over the next week or so, we’re going to feature the three Instagram posts and three blogs that were ultimately awarded. Our two winners featured today are UC Davis SPARK student, Skyler Wong, a rising senior at Sheldon High School was one of the Instagram Award winners (see his photo above) and Stanford SPARK student Angelina Quint, a rising senior at Redondo Union High School, was one of the Blog Award winners. Here’s her blog:

Best Blog Award:
My SPARK 2018 summer stem cell research internship experience
By Angelina Quint

Angelina2

Angelina Quint

Being from Los Angeles, I began the SIMR program as a foreigner to the Bay Area. As my first research experience, I was even more so a foreigner to a laboratory setting and the high-tech equipment that seemingly occupied every edge and surface of Stanford’s Lorry I. Lokey Stem Cell building. Upon first stepping foot into my lab at the beginning of the summer, an endless loop of questions ran through my brain as I ventured deeper into this new, unfamiliar realm of science. Although excited, I felt miniscule in the face of my surroundings—small compared to the complexity of work that laid before me. Nonetheless, I was ready to delve deep into the unknown, to explore this new world of discovery that I had unlocked.

Participating in the CIRM research program, I was given the extraordinary opportunity to pursue my quest for knowledge and understanding. With every individual I met and every research project that I learned about, I became more invigorated to investigate and discover answers to the questions that filled my mind. I was in awe of the energy in the atmosphere around me—one that buzzed with the drive and dedication to discover new avenues of thought and complexity. And as I learned more about stem cell biology, I only grew more and more fascinated by the phenomenon. Through various classes taught by experts in their fields on topics spanning from lab techniques to bone marrow transplants, I learned the seemingly limitless potential of stem cell research. With that, I couldn’t help but correlate this potential to my own research; anything seemed possible.

However, the journey proved to be painstakingly arduous. I soon discovered that a groundbreaking cure or scientific discovery would not come quickly nor easily. I faced roadblocks daily, whether it be in the form of failed gel experiments or the time pressures that came with counting colonies. But to each I learned, and to each I adapted and persevered. I spent countless hours reading papers and searching for online articles. My curiosity only grew deeper with every paper I read—as did my understanding. And after bombarding my incredibly patient mentors with an infinite number of questions and thoughts and ideas, I finally began to understand the scope and purpose of my research. I learned that the reward of research is not the prestige of discovering the next groundbreaking cure, but rather the knowledge that perseverance in the face of obstacles could one day transform peoples’ lives for the better.

As I look back on my journey, I am filled with gratitude for the lessons that I have learned and for the unforgettable memories that I have created. I am eternally grateful to my mentors, Yohei and Esmond, for their guidance and support along the way. Inevitably, the future of science is uncertain. But one thing is always guaranteed: the constant, unhindered exchange of knowledge, ideas, and discovery between colleagues passionate about making a positive difference in the lives of others. Like a stem cell, I now feel limitless in my ability to expand my horizons and contribute to something greater and beyond myself. Armed with the knowledge and experiences that I have gained through my research, I aspire to share with others in my hometown the beauty of scientific discovery, just as my mentors have shared with me. But most of all, I hope that through my continued research, I can persist in fighting for new ways to help people overcome the health-related challenges at the forefront of our society.

 

Headline: Stem Cell Roundup: Here are some stem cell stories that caught our eye this past week.

/ Kevin McCormack / 1 Comment

In search of a miracle

Jordan and mother

Luane Beck holds Jordan in the emergency room while he suffers a prolonged seizure. Jordan’s seizures sometimes occur one after another with no break, and they can be deadly without emergency care. Photo courtesy San Francisco Chronicle’s Kim Clark

One of the toughest parts of my job is getting daily calls and emails from people desperate for a stem cell treatment or cure for themselves or a loved one and having to tell them that I don’t know of any. You can hear in their voice, read it in their emails, how hard it is for them to see someone they love in pain or distress and not be able to help them.

I know that many of those people may think about turning to one of the many stem cell clinics, here in the US and in Mexico and other countries, that are offering unproven and unapproved therapies. These clinics are offering desperate people a sense of hope, even if there is no evidence that the therapies they provide are either safe or effective.

And these “therapies” come with a big cost, both emotional and financial.

The San Francisco Chronicle this week launched the first in a series of stories they are doing about stem cells and stem cell research, the progress being made and the problems the field still faces.

One of the biggest problems, are clinics that offer hope, at a steep price, but no evidence to show that hope is justified. The first piece in the Chronicle series is a powerful, heart breaking story of one mother’s love for her son and her determination to do all she can to help him, and the difficult, almost impossible choices she has to make along the way.

It’s called: In search of a miracle.

A little turbulence, and a French press-like device, can help boost blood platelet production

Every year more than 21 million units of blood are transfused into people in the US. It’s a simple, life-saving procedure. One of the most important elements in transfusions are  platelets, the cells that stop bleeding and have other healing properties. Platelets, however, have a very short shelf life and so there is a constant need to get more from donors. Now a new study from Japan may help fix that problem.

Platelets are small cells that break off much larger cells called megakaryocytes. Scientists at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) created billions of megakaryocytes using iPS technology (which turns ordinary cells into any other kind of cell in the body) and then placed them in a bioreactor. The bioreactor then pushed the cells up and down – much like you push down on a French press coffee maker – which helped promote the generation of platelets.

In their study, published in the journal Cell, they report they were able to generate 100 billion platelets, enough to be able to treat patients.

In a news release, CiRA Professor Koji Eto said they have shown this works in mice and now they want to see if it also works in people:

“Our goal is to produce platelets in the lab to replace human donors.”

Stem Cell Photo of the Week 

Photo Jul 11, 6 00 19 PM

Students at the CIRM Bridges program practice their “elevator pitch”. Photo Kyle Chesser

This week we held our annual CIRM Bridges to Stem Cell Research conference in Newport Beach. The Bridges program provides paid internships for undergraduate and masters-level students, a chance to work in a world-class stem cell research facility and get the experience needed to pursue a career in science. The program is training the next generation of stem cell scientists to fill jobs in California’s growing stem cell research sector.

This year we got the students to practice an “elevator Pitch”, a 30 second explanation, in plain English, of what they do, why they do it and why people should care. It’s a fun exercise but also an important one. We want scientists to be able to explain to the public what they are doing and why it’s important. After all, the people of California are supporting this work so they have a right to know, in language they can understand, how their money is changing the face of medicine.