Activities 2025

CIRM-UCLA Educational Initiatives Working Group

In 2024, we organized our Educational Initiatives Collaborative Working Group to discuss opportunities for curricular sharing, best practices, and networking of the respective programs, leadership and trainees. With multiple levels to stem cell training, our focus was to bring together the various CIRM-sponsored programs for trainees, thereby increasing cross-collaboration across the following programs: Creating Opportunities for Mentorship and Partnership Across Stem Cell Science (COMPASS, link), Bridges to Stem Cell Research and Therapy Program (Bridges, link), UCLA CTSI Research Associates Program (CTSI-RAP, link) and the GMP educational initiatives of our UCLA Human Gene and Cell Therapy Facility (HGCTF, link) Team. 

In 2025, we have continued our fruitful partnership and cross-collaboration in this working group, leading to support for the UCLA HGCTF GMP Internship Program (2025) and the FIAT LUX Freshman Seminar Course in Winter 2025 on Regenerative Medicine and Cell/Gene Therapy (see below for more information).

FIAT LUX - New Frontiers: Regenerative Medicine & Cell/Gene Therapy

FIAT LUX is a series of freshman seminar courses at UCLA which provide students an opportunity to engage in meaningful discussions on a variety of topics. For Winter 2025, the Alpha Clinic arranged a series of discussions led by subject-matter experts in Regenerative Medicine and Cell and Gene Therapy. The course enrolled a total of 25 students who toured clinic and GMP facilities here at UCLA, obtained Good Clinical Practice (GCP) certification, and created their own protocol for a sample clinical trial.

Key topics covered during the 5 bimonthly sessions:
1) Introduction to Clinical Research and Regenerative Medicine
2) Scientific & Translational Research and Regenerative Medicine, Cell and Gene Therapy Clinical Trials
3) Introduction to the Regulatory Environment and the Food and Drug Administration; Careers in Clinical Research
4) Human Gene and Cell Therapy Facility and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)
5) Science Communications

Translational Science 2025 - Poster Presentations

The Association for Clinical and Translational Science hosts an exciting event annually in Washington, D.C. comprised of scientific sessions and networking opportunities with leaders in translational science and clinical research. In 2025, 5 abstracts were submitted and accepted for poster presentations, with 2 ranking in the Top 50 of the Workforce Development and Education category.