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

• What is the current focus of your research?

  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

• How would you explain the significance of this work to a lay audience?

  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.

• What do you find most rewarding about your work?

  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.

• What led you to become a scientist and to stem cell research?

  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.

• What guidance would you share in talking with trainees interested in pursuing your area of research?

  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.

• Do you have any mentors or individuals who have inspired you in your stem cell work?

  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.

• How do you spend your free time?

  I love being physically active, so I to bike, hike, run, swim, kayak when I can. And there is cooking for family and friends.

• What is something your peers would be surprised to learn about you?

  '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.

• What do you most value about your membership with the ISSCR?

  ISSCR creates very useful content, such as guidelines, standards, webinars, and I value having access to that.