Inland Empire Stem Cell Consortium to enhance collaboration among three universities

3 local universities join hands to bring increased visibility to stem cell research in the region

Stem cell research laboratories at the University of California, Riverside, Loma Linda University and the California State University at San Bernardino have formed the "Inland Empire Stem Cell Consortium" to enhance collaboration among the three universities and bring focus to stem cell work being done in inland Southern California.

The consortium also will enhance student education in stem cell biology, and educate and inform the public, through outreach, about stem cell research in the region.

"During the past five years, the consortium universities have developed stem cell research and teaching programs, and this is a wonderful time for the campuses to collaborate and take advantage of our complementary expertise in stem cell biology and to share our technical expertise in this research area," said Prue Talbot, the director of the UC Riverside Stem Cell Center. "With this consortium, we now have more labs for outreach participation. We think that communication with citizens of the Inland Empire is important and that they need access to accurate information on stem cell biology."

Launched on April 25, the consortium will broaden research opportunities and identify new collaborations for future research projects and grant proposals. It will open up opportunities for new grant proposals, including training grants, that will be more competitive because of the consortium's large base of stem cell biologists. It will also enhance opportunities for students to meet other stem cell researchers and gain exposure to new methodologies that may exist only on one of the three campuses.

"We plan to cross list courses between the consortium campuses," Talbot said. "For example, UCR offers about seven courses in stem cell biology," Talbot said. "Students from Loma Linda or Cal State San Bernardino could tap into this educational opportunity through cross listing. Likewise, UCR students could take courses at Loma Linda that are not offered on our campus."

The consortium began last week with a poster session and lunch at UCR to allow its members to meet each other and learn about stem cell work on the three campuses. The consortium is sponsoring seminars during the remainder of the spring quarter, held at noon on Wednesdays in the Genomics Auditorium at UCR. Arrangements are being made for these seminars to be teleconferenced to the other two campuses.

"We plan also to have a poster session on an annual basis, which will be rotated among the consortium campuses," Talbot said.