Broad Stem Cell Annual Fund

Transforming Cells, Revolutionizing Medical Care

Using skin cells to repair brain tissue in stroke victims. Blocking specific cell signals that might stimulate the regrowth of cancerous tumors. Creating blood that can be universally transfused. Arresting and preventing Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a devastating disease that strikes children. Transforming dental-pulp cells into individualized treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

It may sound like science fiction, but to researchers at the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center (BSCRC) it is just science and inspiration. BSCRC scientists are on the cusp of developing personalized stem cell-based therapies for a wide range of diseases, something that will transform patient care. Our commitment to innovation and cross-disciplinary collaboration continually reshapes and expands the culture of scientific exploration at UCLA and positions us as a leader in the field.

Established in 2005, BSCRC is among the youngest and most successful programs of its kind in California. Gifts to the center support innovation, excellence and the highest ethical standards as researchers focus on taking groundbreaking stem cell research discoveries from the laboratory to the patient. We are committed to a multi-disciplinary and integrated collaboration of scientific, academic, and medical disciplines for the purpose of revolutionizing the treatment of disease through personalized cellular therapies and regenerative medicine.

BSCRC has created an environment in which more than 200 members are provided with the most sophisticated laboratory space and technologies to expedite the time between basic science discovery and its clinical application at the bedside.

“In my laboratory at UCLA, we are now able to take skin cells and turn them into embryonic-stem-cell-like cells,” explains Kathrin Plath, professor and researcher. “With this technology, it could change how we think about certain diseases. So that is the promise of embryonic stem cell research. It has excited so many people that they are now able to really go into studying something they couldn’t have studied three years ago. For me, it’s very cool, and for these people, I hope it makes a difference in their research as well. The stem cell field is moving fast.”

And UCLA’s Broad Stem Cell Research Center is setting the pace.