UCSF Broad Stem Cell Center

Congratulations to our Broad Center members (Bruce Conklin, Tippi MacKenzie, Jingjing Li, Benoit Bruneau, and Holger Willenbring) and colleagues on their newly awarded CIRM Discovery (DISC0) grants!

From cloudy mornings to golden sunsets—the UCSF Broad Stem Cell Center always has a view worth sharing. 🌿☀️ Thanks to Lael and Cassie from the IRM Admin Team for these shots! #UCSF #Dolby #KarlTheFog #OfficeViews #CampusViews #GoldenHour

Congratulations, Tomasz Nowakowski, PhD! 🧬🧠✨ #UCSFProud

YouTube video by University of California The University of California: Boldly Californian

The University of California provides transformative educational opportunities, life-saving health care and research that moves our state forward and powers our economy.

Stand with UC for the future of California: bit.ly/46LvcMo

youtu.be/OpvhTJtxF5o?...

Two UCSF Researchers Are Named Pew Latin American Fellows Two new Pew Latin American fellows, Beatriz De Moraes, PhD, and Lilian Gomes de Oliveira, PhD, will each receive a $30,000 annual stipend for two years to support their work at the crossroads of immun...

Read more at the UCSF News article here: www.ucsf.edu/news/2025/08...

The Pew Charitable Trusts today announced the 2025 class of the Pew Latin American Fellows Program in the Biomedical Sciences. The 10 postdoctoral fellows from five Latin American countries—Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico—will receive two years of funding to conduct research in laboratories throughout the United States. They will work under the mentorship of prominent biomedical scientists, including alumni from the Latin American fellows program and the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences. “Scientific exchange and collaboration foster new discoveries that help advance human health for all,” said Donna Frisby-Greenwood, Pew’s senior vice president for Philadelphia and scientific advancement. “Pew is proud to support this outstanding group of young researchers, whose pursuits will help pave the way to biomedicine’s future.” Fellows who choose to return to Latin America to launch their own research labs will receive additional funding from Pew. Nearly 70% of program participants have taken this path, which has helped cultivate a robust biomedical research community in Latin America. Scientists in the 2025 class are exploring a range of research topics, including examining how brain tumors evolve to resist therapy, the ways in which immune cells reduce chronic pain during pregnancy, and how the nervous system rebuilds after injury.

Congrats to Lilian Gomes de Oliveira, PhD, who joins the 2025 class of Pew scholars and fellows! As a Pew Latin American Fellow, Lilian will explore how the Zika virus disrupts cerebral cortex development during the second trimester of pregnancy. Learn More: www.pew.org/en/about/new...

What’s the story? The protocol provides step-by-step methods to efficiently and safely edit the genome in human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) using the CRISPR/AAV editing platform, from preparing the repair template, maintaining the HSCs, and evaluating the editing outcomes. What did they learn? The researchers demonstrated that using their CRISPR‑Cas9 plus AAV protocol on human HSCs leads to highly efficient genome editing and robust production of functional erythroid cells in vitro. What’s the impact? The piece, published in STAR Protocols journal, provides a reliable, efficient way to edit human HSCs while keeping them healthy, paving the way for developing new genome editing therapies for blood disorders.

New from the Cromer Lab detailing methods for achieving high-efficiency CRISPR-based genome editing in primary hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). Discover more @cp-starprotocols.bsky.social | star-protocols.cell.com/protocols/4394

So proud of Kaylee who won a #GordonConference Travel Award! 🥇 🤩 Congrats to @brisapalikuqilab.bsky.social for a fantastic #GRS and Profs Karina Yaniv and Anne Eichmann for an outstanding #Angiogenesis conference @ucsfchildrens.bsky.social @ucsfstemcell.bsky.social

Congratulations, Jaela Caston and @elizabethcrouch.bsky.social!! We’re #UCSFProud to celebrate you as 2025 Gilliam Fellow & Advisor 🎉 @ucsanfrancisco.bsky.social

www.hhmi.org/programs/gil...

You’ll also hear from a sickle cell warrior who received gene therapy earlier this year — followed by an open Q&A where attendees can ask questions directly to the expert and the patient.
🗓️ Sat, Aug 16
🕚 11:00 AM
📍 Zoom link sent upon registration (due Aug 15)
www.eventbrite.com/e/sickle-cel...

🧬 The gene therapy landscape for sickle cell is evolving—join the UCSF Sickle Cell Center of Excellence for a powerful virtual town hall with Dr. Mark Walters, an expert in sickle cell and cell/gene therapy. This session is perfect for patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and advocates.

Thank you to all the incredible trainees, program directors, patient advocates, and inspiring speakers who joined us for the 2025 #CIRMTraineeConference!

We’re grateful for the insights you shared and the community we continue to build together in advancing #RegenerativeMedicine. #BlueskyBiotech

Astrocyte specification in the mouse septum is shaped by both developmental origin and local signals Nature Neuroscience - The relative contribution of intrinsic and extrinsic factors to astrocyte heterogeneity is unknown. Using heterotropic transplantation of septal astrocytes with distinct...

New in @natneuro.nature.com: Astrocyte fate isn’t hardwired — it’s shaped by where they grow up. Local neuron signals — not just where they come from — shape their identity. A key step toward understanding brain health and developing new therapies. rdcu.be/eyoIX #NewResearch

Curing Genetic Disease Before Life Begins with Tippi MacKenzie Fetal surgeon Tippi MacKenzie on curing genetic disease before birth using in utero therapy.

🎧 Don’t miss this podcast with Dr. Tippi MacKenzie, Broad Center Director, on in utero therapies & the future of regenerative medicine.

📍19:40: vision for the Center → discover, engineer, heal.

🔗 bit.ly/46qjYgi

#UCSF #StemCells #FetalSurgery #GeneTherapy #GenomeEditing #DiscoverEngineerHeal

Science x Art Science x Art - Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI)

Did you know that the illustrations in our resources like CRISPRpedia are free to use for non-commercial, educational purposes? Check out our Science x Art page to see a selection of work from our designers & artists. Tag us to show us how you're using them! innovativegenomics.org/science-x-art/ 🧬🎨

It's #WorldBrainDay!

The brain controls everything that makes life possible.

Scientific research provides the tools and knowledge needed to protect, restore, and enhance brain health for all.

Are you a #neurowiz?

Take this short quiz to find out: vist.ly/3yr5j

Why Is Discovery Research So Important? Neuroscientist Grae Davis, PhD, unpacks why public understanding of science matters.

Why Is Discovery Research So Important? Broad Center member Grae Davis unpacks how big breakthroughs happen and why public understanding of science matters: magazine.ucsf.edu/why-discover...

A full circle ⭕️ moment interviewing @ameliecollins79 . Dr. Collins was my fellow during my #neonatology sub-I. Fascinating #hsc work (the mother cell of #immunology!) ✅it out and her 😍publication: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38428422/ @ucsfchildrens.bsky.social @ucsfstemcell.bsky.social

🚨 REMINDER: Prospective DISC4 applicants, the Pre-Submission Form deadline is June 16 at 2 PM.
The DISC4 Awards support large, cross-disciplinary teams working on innovative ways to understand and treat human disease. Learn more at www.cirm.ca.gov/disc4/.

We are thrilled that @semilc.bsky.social and the Choksi Lab will be part of our RMB community! 🎉

CBER Roundtable on Cell and Gene Therapy The Roundtable will provide you with an opportunity to share your thoughts on advancing the field of cell and gene therapy.

🔊 TOMORROW, June 5: Join @fda.gov’s Cell and Gene Therapy Roundtable featuring ASGCT Board Members Terry Flotte, Paula Cannon, and more, on the panel! Watch on YouTube from 9 a.m. to noon (ET).

Do not miss out on this opportunity to hear from top regulatory leaders! www.fda.gov/vaccines-blo...

Today! Join us for our Getting to Patients seminar. Dr. Matthay will share “Allogeneic Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells for ARDS: Pre-Clinical and Clinical Data” with patient perspective and discussion moderated by Dr. Julia Brown tiny.ucsf.edu/StromalCells... @ucsfsurgery.bsky.social

CIRM is excited to announce that we have launched our new funding programs: the DISC4 (for multidisciplinary, collaborative basic #research), #Preclinical Development (PDEV), and #ClinicalTrial (CLIN2) Awards!

Learn more about our funding programs on our website at www.cirm.ca.gov/researchers/...

The rapid advancement of CRISPR-Cas gene editing is transforming medicine, offering precise treatments for genetic disorders. Evaluating unintended effects remains crucial. UNCOVERseq, a new method, improves detection of off-target edits, enhancing the safety and effectiveness: bit.ly/UNCOVERseq

Slide for AGC 28th Annual Meeting keynote lecture by Tippi C. MacKenzie, MD, titled "Prenatal Gene Therapies for Severe, Early-Onset Genetic Diseases," scheduled for May 15.

Hear how gene therapies can address serious genetic diseases before birth. Dr. Tippi MacKenzie will deliver a George Stamatoyannopoulos Memorial Lecture at the @asgct.bsky.social Annual Meeting on May 15. #ASGCT2025 #GeneTherapy #PrenatalResearch #raredisease

We love to see and hear this! ☀️ Thank you, @elizabethcrouch.bsky.social 😀

Join us today for Getting to Patients! — 4 PM in HSW-300

The promise of cerebral organoids for neonatology : Current Opinion in Pediatrics . Human cell-derived cerebral organoid models are an appealing way to address some of these gaps. In this review, we will touch on previous work to model neonatal conditions in cerebral organoids, som...

#cerebralorganoids 🧠🧫hold much promise in #neonatology but have yet to deliver directly for our #patients 👶🏾👶🏻 We outline some high yield areas for future study (vasculature! Cortical circuits!) @ucsfchildrens.bsky.social @ucsfstemcell.bsky.social ✅it out! journals.lww.com/co-pediatric...

The Game is On: Meet the UCSF Grad Slam Finalists! Get ready for UCSF Grad Slam! The Graduate Division’s popular annual research communications contest returns on April 2 as part of UCSF’s celebration of National Graduate Student Appreciation Week.

So proud of #Crouchlab MSTP KWP (Kaylee Wedderburn-Pugh)! Come listen to her amazing talk on #bloodbrainbarrier gene modules during development @ucsfstemcell.bsky.social 🧠💻🧬 graduate.ucsf.edu/news/game-me...

Join us for Getting to Patients on Thurs, 3/20, in HSW-300! Drs. Peter Stock & Julie Sneddon share “Beta Cell Replacement Therapies for the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus” with patient perspective and discussion with @juliaehbrown.bsky.social tiny.ucsf.edu/Diabetes