By Cynthia Hubert

July 24, 2024

In her undergraduate Biology courses at Sacramento State, Fatima Miranda Chavez became fascinated with stem cells and their potential to treat and cure devastating illnesses including cancer, Parkinson’s disease and bone disorders.

Now a Sac State graduate student, Miranda Chavez is putting stem cells to work. And the first few weeks of her internship in Professor Thomas Ambrosi’s UC Davis Health lab have convinced her she has found her career path.

“These cells are my babies,” said Miranda Chavez, who along with another Sac State graduate student, Amber Maifeld, is studying the potential for stem cells to treat osteoporosis and other bone maladies. “I’m so excited to be working with them.”

Miranda Chavez and Maifeld are part of the latest cohort of outstanding Sac State students to participate in the MS in Biotechnology Stem Cell Program, a collaborative effort with UC Davis. The program is funded through a $2.9 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which supports research and education at institutions and companies across the state.

Sac State students have been participating in the program since 2011, and the University is among 14 CSUs that receive funding from the institute.

The grants support studies designed to tap the power of stem cells in medical therapies. Stem cells, which exist in most tissues, hold great potential because in addition to the ability to replicate themselves, they can also be transformed into different types of cells in a process known as differentiation.

Miranda Chavez and Maifeld are working under Ambrosi, an assistant professor in the UC Davis department of Orthopedic Surgery and a specialist in stem cell biology. Ambrosi and fellow researchers are working toward using stem cells to prevent and reverse bone aging and malignancies.

“All of these students are interested in research that can have a lasting impact on patients. Stem cell research can lead to cures.”

-- Kimberly Mulligan, Sac State associate professor of Biology

The Sac State students are harvesting cells from both human and mouse tissue, creating pure samples, growing the cells and testing them for their ability to strengthen bones.

“We’re looking at aging-related changes to bones, and how stem cells might be stimulated to enhance bone growth,” said Ambrosi. About half of all women suffer bone fractures related to aging, he noted, and such research could lead to therapies to reverse that process.

Including Maifeld and Miranda Chavez, eight Sac State students are currently participating in the program, studying the molecular underpinnings of conditions including Parkinson’s disease, spina bifida, sickle cell anemia and Huntington’s disease.

“All of these students are interested in research that can have a lasting impact on patients,” said Kimberly Mulligan, a Sac State associate professor of Biology who oversees the University’s Stem Cell Program. “Stem cell research can lead to cures.”

Participating students are not only outstanding scholars, but have also demonstrated passion and perseverance, Mulligan said.

“Research is demanding, and it can really break you down,” she said. “Resilience and motivation are very important.”

After taking two semesters of graduate courses in molecular biology and related subjects at Sac State, students spend eight months in the UC Davis Stem Cell Program, working full time in a state-of-the-art lab and receiving monthly stipends and tuition help.

The program provides invaluable experience that can expedite their careers in the stem cell field, Mulligan said, as well as the satisfaction of knowing their research can contribute to real-world treatments.

In addition, she said, the collaboration between Sac State and UC Davis offers students “the best of both worlds.” They receive top-notch, attentive classroom training in cellular biology at Sac State, then put their studies into practice at a world-class research facility.

Participating students “bring new energy and ideas into our labs,” said Jan Nolta, director of the UC Davis Stem Cell Program. “I look forward to their arrival every summer.”

“We are truly fortunate to have such inspiring young people choose to spend their summer with us.”

Maifeld and Miranda Chavez came into Ambrosi’s lab with minimal research experience.

“I got a small taste of the potential of stem cells as an undergraduate, and it intrigued me,” Maifeld said. “It’s all very fascinating.”

Maifeld hopes to parlay her knowledge into a doctoral program, and possibly a job in the growing field of stem cell research and regenerative medicine. Miranda Chavez also sees herself continuing on a research path.

“Until I got here, I didn’t know I would have such a fascination with bone biology,” Maifeld said. “But bone loss is something that happens to everyone over time, and stem cells hold so much therapeutic potential. That’s really exciting.”