Funding Needs & Priorities

At the UCI Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center, we are committed to unlocking the potential of stem cells to treat and cure disease and disorders that affect millions of individuals worldwide. Funding needs in research greatly outweigh funds available, which is why your philanthropic partnership is vital to our success. Your contributions directly support groundbreaking research that will impact future generations. Join us as we push the boundaries of what is possible in the exciting new science of regenerative medicine. Our priorities include:

Stem Cell Fund for Excellence: Seed Grant Program (Fund #3160)

Incredible advances continue to happen in unpredictable times thanks in large part to loyal friends like you. Your commitment ensures that UCI Health and the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center (SCRC) continue to push forward, strive to make new discoveries, find cures and bring regenerative medicine and stem cell therapies to patients. We have enormous opportunity to make life better for people, but without adequate funding for promising research, we risk leaving lives behind.

Our Seed Grant Program addresses this issue by providing modest grants to researchers at the early stages of their work. This support enables scientists with big ideas to initiate bold research that paves the way for long-term successes.

Whether they focus on basic or translational research, recipients of our seed grants have the opportunity to explore new frontiers of knowledge in a supportive, collaborative environment that fosters innovation and discovery. Please join us as we redefine healthcare through life-saving research innovations that transform and save lives.

Click here to support our Seed Grant Program

Alpha Stem Cell Clinic (Fund #3893)

The Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine is home to the only CIRM-funded stem cell clinic in Orange County – the UCLA-UCI Alpha Stem Cell Clinic.

Here, the best and brightest physician scientists deliver promising stem cell therapies to patients in clinical trials for debilitating diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa - a blinding eye disease, stroke, traumatic brain injury, ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, and much more.

These stem cell trials are the outgrowth of groundbreaking research performed at academic research centers like UCI. Here, the Stem Cell Research Center is on the cusp of harnessing the amazing potential of stem cell therapies for many other afflictions including, Huntington’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, newly diagnosed glioblastoma, critical limb ischemia, type 1 diabetes, spinal cord injury, ovarian cancer, and more.

Every day, we gain new insights that enrich understanding of how neural cells make repairs. We are eager to move forward faster in hopes of helping you and your loved ones live healthier lives. To do this, we need your support.

Become a partner with the Stem Cell Clinic at UC Irvine and change what it means to be diagnosed with a debilitating disease.

Please give today for a healthier tomorrow