Year 6
The goal of San Francisco State University’s CIRM Bridges Program is to prepare students for the technical and intellectual demands needed to keep California at the forefront of innovation in the development and use of stem cells to improve human health. The program at SFSU has been funded since 2009. The program is a 2-year masters in science with an emphasis in stem cell biology. The program provides graduate course work in the broad area of stem cell biology and has a strong focus on hands-on research training. The program has partnered with leading stem cell research universities and institutes including UCSF, Stanford, the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, UC Berkeley, and Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute. We have trained over 60 students most of which have obtained excellent positions in biotech companies such as Genentech, Amgen, Novartis, Baxter Biosciences, and Gilead. They have also joined small start up companies such as StemCentrx, BioLegend, and Cellurant. Some of the graduates of our program have decided to continue with their training in PhD programs at premier institutions such as UCSF, Harvard, Stanford, and UC Davis. All of the CIRM Bridges graduates have made a significant impact in the research labs they trained in. Many have continued to work as Senior Research Associates at UCSF and Stanford to maintain the momentum of the research projects. The CIRM Bridges students have given over 80 poster presentations at local, national, and international meetings. They have also co-authored over 25 publications in the field of stem cell research in prestigious journals such as Nature and Cell Stem Cell. These are very significant achievement when considering that these students are funded for only one-year by CIRM and that this is a 2-year training program.