Weekly reads: Jan Nolta recognition, new director after Irv, FDA guidance

People are the real driving force in the stem cell and regenerative medicine field including my colleague Jan Nolta here at UC Davis. She is the Director of our Stem Cell Program. There’s also news about Stanford’s stem cell Director Irv Weissman.

Jan Nolta receives award

Jan’s lab is prolific and in many ways is working toward concrete clinical impact to help patients. It was therefore great to see her receiving this recognition from our Chancellor: Jan Nolta receives 2022 Chancellor’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Innovation.

Dr. Jan Nolta UC Davis
Dr. Jan Nolta, Director of the UC Davis Stem Cell Program.

She’s also the Editor-In-Chief of the journal Stem Cells. I don’t know how she gets so much done on so many fronts.

I know she is a great mentor to her trainees too.

Irv Weissman shifting gears

Irv Weissman is making room for a new stem cell program leader over at Stanford. Ravi Majeti, MD, PhD, Named Director of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford. In the original announcement last year about his plan to step down, Irv had a typically funny quote:

“Whenever you hear that an academic leader of an entity is stepping down to (take your choice) a: spend more time with family, or b: devote more attention to his/her research, the real reason is usually that he/she got canned for something unmentionable,”  Weissman joked. “But in this case, I really am stepping down to devote more attention to my stem cell research and its clinical translation, starting with novel approaches to treat women with metastatic breast cancer with curative intent.”

Way back in 2011, I did a post that had advice from Irv. It included his stories and thoughts about mentoring. I’ve never seen some of what he said anywhere else so check it out.

More recommended reads

2 thoughts on “Weekly reads: Jan Nolta recognition, new director after Irv, FDA guidance”

  1. Not only is Jan Nolta the driving force behind UC Davis’ battle against chronic disease, but she also is never too busy to answer a patient advocate’s request for information: an incredibly valuable individual, Dr. Nolta enriches the field of stem cell research.

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