University of California Irvine: UCI earns designation as CIRM Alpha Clinic with five-year, $8 million grant

With a five-year, $8 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the University of California, Irvine has earned designation as one of CIRM’s Alpha Clinics. The goal of the statewide network is to accelerate the development of promising stem cell and gene therapies and expand patient access to them through clinical trials approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“Fueled by our passion for world-class science, our dedication to finding cures by delivering transformative stem cell and regenerative medicine treatments, and our unwavering commitment to addressing health disparities and patient equity, we will launch an innovative micronetwork with healthcare partners spanning four California counties and serving all age groups, from children to our nation’s veterans,” said Dr. Daniela A. Bota, director of the UCI Alpha Clinic, the UCI School of Medicine’s vice dean for clinical research and principal investigator for the CIRM grant. “Our unique focus on cell and gene therapy clinical trials for neurological diseases and cancer will increase access for our patients and empower us to lead the way in bringing novel regenerative treatments into the Alpha Clinics Network.”

Using a hub-and-spoke model, the UCI Alpha Clinic will lead cell and gene therapy efforts within the university’s academic health system and in close collaboration with its academic partners in a four-county area. Called the REAL micronetwork (taken from letters in the names of participating counties), it will incorporate established health system partners in Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties, extending UCI’s ability to reach some of the most medically underserved patients in the state and further strengthening UCI’s nationally recognized leadership in addressing health disparities.

“The novel UCI REAL micronetwork will create practical knowledge to share throughout the CIRM Alpha Clinics Network, as well as providing direct access to a wide array of clinical programs and engage in meaningful national collaborations. This hub-and-spoke model, built on established partnerships, increases the statewide Alpha Clinics Network’s accessibility to diverse populations, encourages active community participation, provides opportunities to enhance workforce development and to train the next generation of stem cell and gene therapy clinical researchers,” said Sean Turbeville, Ph.D., CIRM’s vice president of medical affairs and policy.

Bota will lead the UCI Alpha Clinic and oversee its REAL micronetwork, which encompasses UCI Medical Center and clinical locations across Orange County; the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center in Long Beach and VA locations in Orange and Los Angeles counties, under the direction of Dr. Anton Eissa; Children’s Hospital of Orange County – CHOC – and its clinical locations, under the direction of Dr. Raymond Wang; and community hospitals in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, under the direction of Dr. Sasidharan Ponthenkandath of the UC Riverside School of Medicine.

“The UCI Alpha Clinic, together with our partners, will serve as a conduit, translating discovery into clinical research. Over the last three years, the UCI Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center has made extensive infrastructure investments, including two new research clinics, a production facility to manufacture FDA-compliant cell and gene therapies and a cell processing laboratory. Together, our micronetwork model and expanded infrastructure, including the new UCI Health – Irvine medical complex under construction in Irvine, will provide value to the CIRM Alpha Clinics Network and the regenerative medicine ecosystem in California and beyond,” said Aileen Anderson, Ph.D., director of the UCI stem cell center and professor of physical medicine & rehabilitation at the UCI School of Medicine.