Member Spotlight: Uta Grieshammer, PhD
Uta Grieshammer, PhD
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, USA
Hometown
Lüneburg, Northern Germany
Current Residence
Oakland, CA
Graduate Degree
PhD
Postdoc Work
I was a postdoc with Gail Martin at UCSF, studying limb and kidney development. Since then, I have been working for various California funding agencies, including the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP). During its initial years, I also managed the California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine (CIAPM), a research funding effort supported directly through the Governor's Office.
Current Position
I am a 'CIRM Fellow' at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. This is a single contributor track position of the Science Officer kind.
ISSCR Participation
Speaker, AI and Digital Biology Symposium in Seattle, USA
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As a Science Officer, I do not do research. I am part of a team that issues requests for applications and manages funded awards. My focus is on the basic sciences, and I also manage an infrastructure program that supports a network of core facilities across California, offering stem cell-based modeling expertise. I am also involved in other aspects of the funding process, such as updating our rules and regulations that ensure high medical and ethical standards, to adapt to unanticipated advances, such as human stem cell-based embryo models
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The California taxpayers entrusted their government with $8.5B to fund stem cell, regenerative medicine and gene therapy research. My work at the state agency, CIRM, is to help ensure that the most promising research is supported, research that will advance transformative treatments for serious diseases while prioritizing equity and access for diverse communities across California and the world.
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Two things. First, while I am a basic scientist at heart, I enjoy being part of a relatively small organization that supports research along the entire therapy development pipeline, from discovery to translation and clinical research. I just find it fascinating to follow this whole complicated process that is therapy development. And second, it is a privilege to be part of a team that supports this process, not only through administering funds, but also by providing infrastructure and support to ensure promising projects have access to all the expertise and resources that are needed to succeed.
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I knew as a teenager I wanted to become a scientist. I enjoyed math and science classes most, I think I found comfort in logic. Biology initially not so much – not until I stumbled later into the logic of biochemistry and molecular biology. And once I became a passionate developmental biologist, stem cell biology was a natural extension.
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Depending on the focus of the funding organization you work for as a Science Officer, you may be expected to manage awards with a broad range topics. Showing an interest in different subject areas is likely expected.
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I want to take this opportunity to thank both my graduate advisor, Nadia Rosenthal, and my postdoc advisor, Gail Martin, to take me into their delightful labs. I have such fond memories of the joy of being part of a group of people who couldn’t stop talking about their experiments, and the larger context in which they fit. Both Nadia and Gail created these inspiring environments. Thank you.
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I love being physically active, so I to bike, hike, run, swim, kayak when I can. And there is cooking for family and friends.
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'My initial passion for science was focused on theoretical physics. The idea of using one’s mind and math to discover new principles of nature, it doesn’t get better than that.
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ISSCR creates very useful content, such as guidelines, standards, webinars, and I value having access to that.