Sanford Stem Cell Institute

06/18/2026

🚀 We're excited to welcome the return of SpaceX CRS-34's scientific payloads, including our own! Read more about our institute's vital aerospace medicine work — with potential benefits for Earth-bound humans — at the link below. 🛰️ https://bit.ly/4w13p48

H/t UC San Diego School of Medicine, International Space Station National Laboratory

The UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute (SSCI) on Wednesday announced the return of its 19th research payload from the International Space Station (ISS) — experiments that will illuminate the role of the cancer stem cell niche and the gene ADAR1 in the disease’s survival and spread. Institu...

06/16/2026

Lung cancer among those who've never smoked is the fifth most common cause of cancer death globally, writes Rachel Nuwer in Nature. Researchers — including our Ludmil Alexandrov, PhD — are using genetic data and computational biology to discover risk factors outside of air pollution. Read more about their critical search at https://bit.ly/3S22Po7.

UC San Diego School of Medicine, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering

06/10/2026

Tune in for the latest reGEN Podcast 🎙️ episode with Jennifer Graves, MD, PhD, whose work includes a focus on Multiple Sclerosis and emerging therapeutic applications for neurological 🧠 conditions with stem cells and regenerative medicine. Watch here https://bit.ly/4elhget or listen 🎧 where you find your podcasts.

This episode of the reGEN Podcast features our conversation with Je...

06/04/2026

Congratulations to SSCI’s Frank Furnari, PhD, and a collaborative team of researchers for being awarded the All-Star Adult Translational Grant from The V Foundation for Cancer Research to advance critical research aimed at one of the deadliest cancers - glioblastoma (GBM).

Their goal is to prevent 🧠 brain tumor recurrence after radiation and move glioblastoma toward becoming a manageable disease, giving patients more time and better outcomes. Despite surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, most GBM patients face a median survival of just 15 months. A major challenge is recurrence driven in part by “persister cells” that evade radiation by entering a dormant, treatment-resistant state, only to reawaken and fuel tumor regrowth.

Learn more here: https://bit.ly/43PULJw

H/t UC San Diego School of Medicine

05/28/2026

How can we catch cancer sooner — and treat it smarter? We’re thrilled to have the work of our Ludmil B. Alexandrov, PhD, a prominent computational biologist, featured in this piece from UC San Diego Health.

Learn more about Alexandrov’s highly innovative work to streamline the detection of early-onset colorectal and oral cancer here: https://bit.ly/4wVSABt. UC San Diego School of Medicine, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering

05/27/2026

Join us on June 26 for the inaugural summit of the Sanford Integrated Space Stem Cell Orbital Research (ISSCOR) Center at the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute, where we will convene multidisciplinary presentations and discussions dedicated to shaping the future of human space exploration and translational efforts in space. RSVP to attend in-person or virtually here: https://bit.ly/4wnNrSu.

05/26/2026

https://bit.ly/3PKTvnx Tune in for our latest reGEN podcast interview with Sheldon Morris, MD, MPH, director of the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center, as we discuss his past and current research, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Alpha Clinic, clinical trials and other related topics. Watch 📺 or listen 🎧 where you find your podcasts.

This episode features Sheldon Morris, MD, MPH, and an overview of the Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center where Morris serves as director. The Clinical Center ...

05/21/2026

🔬 We're grateful for Mayo Clinic’s Joe Sirven, MD, mentioning our cutting-edge space-based research on KJZZ Phoenix. 🌌

Read his insightful Artemis-inspired commentary here: https://bit.ly/4unQ8Sz.

05/20/2026

🛰️ Researchers — including those at SSCI — are working to determine if the unique conditions of low Earth orbit are favorable for drug discovery, development and/or production. 💊 Could these same conditions be favorable for transplantation, too? Our Alysson R. Muotri, PhD, explores this (maybe not so) far-out topic on a recent episode of the Business Trip podcast. 🎙️

🎧 Listen here: https://bit.ly/4dl5uBr.

H/t UC San Diego School of Medicine