UC Davis Vice Chancellor for Human Health Sciences Claire Pomeroy this week announced the successful recruitment of Jan A. Nolta as director of the university's new stem cell research program and Gerhard Bauer as the program's specialized cell and gene therapy laboratory director. Both Nolta and Bauer will be based at the UC Davis campus in Sacramento, where new state-of-the-art stem cell research facilities will be located.
Nolta and Bauer will be coming from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Nolta, an associate professor of medicine who has more than 20 years experience in the area of human stem cell research, is scientific director for the school's cell processing and gene therapy, Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility. Bauer is laboratory director for the GMP facility, which is designed to provide an environment for processing the biological products used in human treatments.
For the past six years, Nolta has been working with stem and progenitor cell groups to examine how adult stem cells can be directed to areas of tissue damage, which is a key step in developing better methods for using stem cell therapies to treat diabetes, liver and cardiovascular diseases, among others.
“UC Davis is focused on taking its research from the laboratory bench to the patient's bedside, so Jan Nolta is a perfect fit for us,” said Pomeroy, who is also dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine. “Her leadership skills and expertise in human stem cells offer a path to groundbreaking discoveries. Along with Gerhard Bauer's expertise in the design and management of specialized manufacturing labs, Dr. Nolta will help establish the best ways to safely move tissue repair and cellular therapies into the clinical setting for studies and, eventually, into patient treatment and care.”
UC Davis envisions renovating approximately 100,000 square feet of space in a building on Stockton Boulevard to house the stem cell research programs. The facility will include custom-designed testing and manufacturing laboratories that meet the strict U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements and are certified for Good Manufacturing Practice. Stem cells that could be used in clinical trials or therapies need to be developed in these specialized labs to ensure the highest quality and purity.
"California's embrace of stem cell research is impressive, and at UC Davis, the range of research efforts and the emphasis on collaboration offer tremendous opportunities for success,” said Nolta. “I'm excited to be part of a team and institution that is so supportive and focused on research efforts that ultimately can mean better treatments and care for patients.”
Much of Nolta's work has focused on understanding the function of human stem cells in animal models. While at Washington University, she began work to develop a frozen mesenchymal (bone marrow-derived) stem cell bank for use with patients suffering acute tissue damage, such as in cases of heart attacks and disease. These particular cells have the ability to regenerate blood vessels and revitalize scarred or dead tissue areas.
“We have good evidence that using mesenchymal cells in this manner can work well,” said Nolta. “Once UC Davis' GMP facility is up and running in Sacramento, we will further develop and test this unique and highly innovative approach as one of the many potential therapies in regenerative medicine.”
Nolta has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles on stem cell-related research. She served as editor of the newly released book, Genetic Engineering of Mesenchymal Stem Cells, and serves on the editorial boards of several professional journals, including Human Gene Therapy, Blood, Molecular Therapy, Leukemia, and Experimental Hematology.
A California native from Glenn County, Nolta received her undergraduate degree from California State University, Sacramento. She worked for several years in the hematology and cytogenetics laboratories at UC Davis Medical Center before earning a Ph.D. in molecular microbiology from the University of Southern California. Nolta conducted postdoctoral work in gene therapy at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and has been at Washington University since 2002. Her new appointment at UC Davis is now going through the faculty approval process and she is scheduled to begin work in November.
Bauer, who begins work on September 1, has also worked in the field of gene and cell therapy for over two decades. He will help supervise the design and construction of the new research center's GMP laboratory and will direct the facility upon completion. Bauer leaves Washington University's Siteman Cancer Center, where he has extensive experience in developing clinical applications of cellular therapies, particularly gene therapies, that can be used to improve medical outcomes for cancer and other disorders. |
