New Facility Will Expand UC Merced's Groundbreaking Stem Cell Research

By Patty Guerra, UC Merced

September 30, 2024

A $5.4 million grant will fund RESTORE.

Stem cells hold a vast potential to help people live healthier lives. UC Merced researchers have delving into expanded uses of these cells, which can be used to create any cell in the body, to replace damaged cardiac tissue and grow new blood vessels, among other uses.

A $5.4 million grant from one of the world's largest institutions dedicated to regenerative medicine will fund a new facility to support research in vascular models and human stem cells.

The UC Merced Resources for Expanding Stem cell-derived Tissues and Organs for Regenerative Engineering (RESTORE), aims to broaden research and education in human stem cells, said lead principal investigator Kara McCloskey, professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering.

UC Merced's award is part of nearly $27 million allocated by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to fund six new Shared Resources Laboratories. The SRL will be led by a team consisting of McCloskey, molecular and cell biology Professor Jennifer Manilay and electrical engineering Professor Changqing Li, with project scientist David Gravano serving as the facility's technical director.

"The laboratory will be the newest addition to the UC Merced Office of Research and Economic Development's core facilities, which are laboratories with specialized equipment and services available to all UC Merced researchers and external partners," Manilay said.

The SRL will focus on using human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to build and direct blood vessels and tissues. The lab also will generate and offer new human stem cell products. These human stem cell products will be available for all researchers at UC Merced and other institutions.

In addition, the SRL will host three distinct intensive summer courses: "Human iPSC Generation and Characterization" (online), and two hands-on, in-person courses - "Advanced iPSC Generation, Differentiation, and Characterization for Generating Vascular Models," and "Advanced Characterization of iPSCs In Vivo: Small Animal Imaging."

The SRL's lead researchers are all members of the university's Health Sciences Research Institute, which helped coordinate the proposal submission and will manage the finances, staffing and major equipment purchases.

"This is a large, multidisciplinary collaborative effort," HSRI Executive Director Trevor Hirst said. "It's exactly the type of award HSRI was set up to target."

One potential outcome of the SRL is creating new collaborations and fostering new ideas for stem cell research projects at UC Merced. The lab's leadership team has a successful history of collaborations resulting in equipment acquisition and sharing, development of new degree programs, and creating and delivering unique training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.

McCloskey has more than 20 years of experience in mouse and human embryonic stem cells and, more recently, (iPSC) cultures and cardiac and vascular stem cell differentiation. She will lead the generation and characterization of diverse new iPSC lines, differentiated endothelial cells and vascular tissue modeling, and serve as a course instructor in human ESC and iPSC generation, characterization, differentiation, microfluidic device design and fabrication, cell-material hydrogel assemblies and image analysis.

Manilay has over 20 years of experience studying hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and hematopoiesis in the context of the bone marrow niche and cell fate. Her expertise in HSC biology, immune system development and stem cell transplantation in mouse models will support the SRL's core mission, and she will instruct the introductory course and one on animal model use for stem cell research.

Li has more than 20 years of experience in small animal imaging. Recently, Li secured funds to purchase a microPET scanner and will help with its training and use and serve as course instructor for the lab's small animal imaging systems, such as a new microCT scanner and an IVIS optical scanner purchased with this grant.

Gravano has managed a core facility for over 10 years that focuses on cellular and tissue analysis techniques. He will focus on lab development, operations and equipment, and serve as course instructor in cell and tissue characterization using fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry and histology.

CIRM was established in 2004 through Proposition 71, the "California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative," and extended with Proposition 14 in 2020. UC Merced has benefited from several grants from CIRM, including two New Faculty Awards, a Major Facilities Grant (which supported the Stem Cell Instrumentation Foundry), a Basic Biology Award, a SEED Grant, a Tools and Technologies grant and a COMPASS Training Grant.

Patty Guerra