The UC Davis Health System announced the successful recruitment of two scientists to lead the university's new stem cell research program: Jan Nolta, as overall director, and Gerhard Bauer, as director of the specialized cell and gene therapy laboratory.

Claire Pomeroy, vice chancellor for human health sciences, made the announcement.

Nolta and Bauer, each with more than 20 years of experience in human stem cell research, are now affiliated with the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Bauer is set to start work at UC Davis on Sept. 1. Nolta's appointment is going through the faculty approval process; she is scheduled to take up her new post in November.

Nolta, originally from California's Glenn County, received her undergraduate degree from California State University, Sacramento, and worked for several years in the hematology and cytogenetics laboratories at UC Davis Medical Center before earning a doctorate in molecular microbiology from the University of Southern California.

She started working at Washington University in 2002. She is an associate professor of medicine, and scientific director of the cell processing and gene therapy lab.

Such labs are called Good Manufacturing Practice, or GMP, facilities, designed for processing the biological products used in human treatments. Bauer is director of Washington University's GMP lab.

For the past six years, Nolta has been working with stem and progenitor cell groups to examine how adult stem cells can be directed to areas of tissue damage, which is a key step in developing better methods for using stem cell therapies to treat diabetes, liver and cardiovascular diseases, among others.

"UC Davis is focused on taking its research from the laboratory bench to the patient's bedside, so Jan Nolta is a perfect fit for us," said Pomeroy, who is also dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine. "Her leadership skills and expertise in human stem cells offer a path to groundbreaking discoveries."

UC Davis announced that Nolta and Bauer will be based at the medical center in Sacramento, where the university envisions the renovation of about 100,000 square feet of space in a Stockton Boulevard building to house the stem cell research program.

Bauer will help supervise the design and construction of UC Davis' GMP laboratory and will be director of the lab when it is completed.

Nolta said "California's embrace of stem cell research is impressive, and at UC Davis the range of research efforts and the emphasis on collaboration offer tremendous opportunities for success."

Much of her work has focused on understanding the function of human stem cells in animal models. At Washington University, she began work to develop a frozen mesenchymal (bone marrow-derived) stem cell bank for use in patients suffering acute tissue damage, such as in cases of heart attacks and disease. These cells have the ability to regenerate blood vessels and revitalize scarred or dead tissue areas.

"We have good evidence that using mesenchymal cells in this manner can work well," Nolta said. "Once UC Davis' GMP facility is up and running in Sacramento, we will further develop and test this unique and highly innovative approach as one of the many potential therapies in regenerative medicine."

Charles Casey is a senior public information for the UC Davis Health System.