Culver City High School students discussed stem cell science with Michael Hicks at Stem Cell Day
Culver City High School students discussed stem cell science with Michael Hicks at Stem Cell Day

Celebrating Stem Cell Awareness Day

By Mirabai Vogt-James | Oct 14, 2015 Center News Education & Training

In celebration of Stem Cell Awareness Day, students in Peggy Simons' AP Biology class at Culver City High School discussed stem cell science with Michael Hicks, a postdoctoral fellow in April Pyle’s lab at the UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center.

Other Stem Cell Awareness Day presenters from the center were Preethi Vijayaraj from Dr. Brigitte Gomperts’ lab, who presented at Thousand Oaks High School and Nolan Ung, a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Dinesh Rao’s lab, who presented at Crescenta Valley High School.

Additionally, Center faculty engaged in a social media campaign spearheaded by the International Society for Stem Cell Research and the journal Cell Stem Cell. Using the hashtag #AStemCellScientistBecause, faculty shared what motivates them to be in the stem cell field via the Center’s Twitter account, @UCLAStemCell:

  • Our founding director, Dr. Owen Witte is #AStemCellScientistBecause he wants to revolutionize the practice of medicine.
  • Debora Farber is #AStemCellScientistBecause she wants to reverse the effects of retinal diseases to help people see.
  • Utpal Banerjee is #AStemCellScientistBecause it fascinates him to ask how one single cell becomes a complex human being.
  • Lili Yang is #AStemCellScientistBecause she wants to engineer the immune system to target diseases like cancer.
  • Samantha Butler is #AStemCellScientistBecause she wants paralyzed patients to be able to hold their children’s hand.
  • Jerome Zack is #AStemCellScientistBecause he wants to cure HIV and other disorders of the blood.
  • Dr. Frank Petrigliano is #AStemCellScientistBecause he wants to help people live without the pain of arthritis.