SFSU CIRM Bridges Science Master’s Program prepares talented and motivated graduate students for successful careers in the biomedical workforce in order to accelerate the discovery, development and delivery of stem cell, gene therapy and related technologies for improving human health. The program focuses on preparing competent graduates from diverse and disadvantaged groups for both academia and industry. This 2-years science master’s program, provides course work in STEM, business, and research practices, and is tailored to students interested in pursuing leadership positions in the biotechnology sector or advanced academic training programs.
For the Year 2 cohort, eleven students were appointed for 12-month from the SFSU MS-Biomedical Science Master’s program. The Year 2 Bridges trainees have participated in course work and internship training activities that prepared them for career paths of their individualized professional interests. Trainees conducted research in laboratories at UCSF (T. MacKenzie lab, S. Fisher lab, K. Cromer lab, E. Crouch lab, C. Harwell lab, N. Ahituv lab, F. Faranak lab, M. Pinney lab AND N. Shah lab) and Stanford (R. Majzner lab). Their training projects ranged from hematopoietic stem cell genome editing, hiPSC lines characterization, neurovascular unit in vitro tri-cellular organoid model, gliogenesis in brain cortex development, CRISPRa in adipose progenitor-derived adipocytes, neuroinflammation of the enteric nervous system, chronic myeloid leukemia stem cell, CAR-T cells engineering on acute lymphoblastic leukemia, to high-throughput microfluidics. Eight trainees have completed CIRM training in December 2023 and will defend their master’s degree in May 2024. They plan to pursue professional careers in the biotechnology sectors or advanced academic training programs upon graduation (e.g., two trainees have applied to competitive PhD programs and plan to reapply next fall).