Guest Speaker - Dr. Jan A. Nolta - May 23, 2017
Jan A. Nolta, Ph.D., is the Director of the Stem Cell Program at UC Davis School of Medicine, and directs the Institute for Regenerative Cures. She also serves as the Scientific Director of the large UC Davis Good Manufacturing Practice Facility, and as Scientific Director of the California State Umbilical Cord Blood Collection Program. She has been ranked as one of the “Global Top 50 Most Influential People in the Field of Stem Cells.”
The UC Davis stem cell program has over 150 basic, translational, and clinical scientists collaborating to work toward regenerative medicine-related cures for a spectrum of diseases and injuries. Dr. Nolta is helping UC Davis teams develop numerous clinical trials of gene and cell therapy, with sixteen adult stem cell therapies already in the clinic, and over twenty in the pipeline.
A scientist with more than 25 years’ experience with human stem cells and clinical trial development, Dr. Nolta has published over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts in the stem cell field, with over 9,000 citations, and has authored 30+ book chapters. She has served on over 200 review panels for the National Institutes of Health and other grant-funding agencies, is Editor for the Journal “Stem Cells” and was editor of the Book "Genetic Engineering of Mesenchymal Stem Cells". Dr. Nolta received a prestigious five –year Transformative Grant Award from the NIH office of the Director and has been funded as Co-PI on three large disease team grants that have the goal of developing and delivering novel Phase 1 clinical trials. In these teams she works closely with physician/scientists who will deliver the treatments to patients who need them.
Dr. Nolta is a native of Northern California, trained in Los Angeles and Washington University, and has been back at UC Davis now for nearly a decade. A major driving force throughout her career has been to provide service to teams working toward novel cures, and to foster a strong sense of community and teamwork. Team training is her passion and she leads several training initiatives at UC Davis and beyond. The fields of stem cells, immunotherapy, gene therapy and regenerative medicine are poised to change the face of healthcare. The new “living medicine” preparation and delivery will be performed by large teams of experts with different expertise and backgrounds. Dr. Nolta’s Stem Cell Program is committed to fostering teamwork, training the science and healthcare work force of the future, and to continuing to improve and deliver these novel cutting edge therapies that can offer cures for patients who currently have few other options.