Center for Regenerative Science and Therapies

UC Davis is establishing the Center for Regenerative Science and Therapies to combine our resources to ensure the success of our research and training efforts in human disease, diseases that might be prevented, reversed, or improved by stem cell therapy. The mission of the center is to enhance the understanding of stem and progenitor cells in health and disease, and to develop novel treatment strategies for humans and animals.

This interdisciplinary research initiative brings together faculty and established research groups from the Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, the College of Biological Sciences, the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering.

The center’s unique organizational and physical structure builds upon established and unique resources that will facilitate the translation of stem cell biology to patients, entered into well-conceived clinical trials and ultimately approved therapy. It will have core laboratories at three primary locations: the California National Primate Research Center on the Davis campus, a central facility on the UC Davis campus, and the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento. This distributed model combined with a central governance structure and cohesive scientific commitment will enhance already established relationships among investigators with expertise in cancer research and therapeutics, neuroscience, and metabolic diseases (vascular/nutrition).

The UC Davis Center builds upon three health-related themes for which we have established highly successful research programs and centers: Cancer and Immunobiology: the National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center including the Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering; Vascular, Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases: the NIH supported Clinical Nutrition Research Unit, the USDA Western Human Nutrition Research Center (WHNRC), and the campuswide Foods for Health initiative; and Neuroscience and Aging: the Center for Neuroscience, the M.I.N.D. Institute, the Alzheimer’s Center, and the Center for Mind and Brain.

The Center for Regenerative Science and Therapies will ensure coordinated and collaborative efforts among basic science and clinical faculty. These researchers are essential for developing the synergistic partnerships and productive teams necessary to move human embryonic stem cell research into a clinical reality. With a recognized history of engaging in interdisciplinary research, UC Davis is well poised to respond to this need through a team approach, encompassing both fundamental scientists and clinical researchers. Moreover, UC Davis will meet the goals of Proposition 71 and continue 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 our 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. We propose an integrated, two-pronged approach to address the development of therapies utilizing stem cells to treat human diseases for the public benefit.

The first 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 the State of California with expertise, services, and resources for the study of human cells in the rhesus host.

The second focus, led by the Translational/Clinical group, emphasizes these areas: cancer, vascular disease, and cancer/immunology. This group, based at the UC Davis Medical Center campus in Sacramento, will focus on all aspects needed to prove the clinical utility of therapeutic stem cell research to directly treat human disease. The UC Davis Health System (UCDHS) is already well positioned to support this group through the Medical Center, General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) located at the Northern California Veterans Administration Health Care System, Clinical and Translational Science Center(CTSC), and the Northern California Shriners Hospital located adjacent to the Medical Center.