Leadership and Staff at UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center CIRM Alpha Clinic

Clinic Leadership

The Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center CIRM Alpha Clinic leadership and staff help launch and support regenerative medicine clinical trials at UC San Diego. They ensure the studies are performed in a safe and effective manner. UC San Diego Faculty and companies in industry can learn more about Alpha Clinic services here.

Catriona Jamieson, MD, PhD

Director, Sanford Stem Cell Institute
Director, UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center CIRM Alpha Clinic
Chief, Division of Regenerative Medicine
Sanford Stem Cell Institute Chancellor's Endowed Chair in Regenerative Medicine
cjamieson@ucsd.edu

Sheldon Morris, MD, MPH

Deputy Director and Data Management Lead, UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center CIRM Alpha Clinic
Clinical Professor, Medicine
619-543-4761
shmorris@ucsd.edu

View the Meet the Expert video here

Sandip Patel, MD, FASCO
Professor, Medical Oncology, UC San Diego
Deputy Director, Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center
Co-Leader, Experimental Therapeutics
Co-Leader, Solid Tumor Therapeutics Program
Medical Director, Clinical Research Informatics

858-822-2372
spatel@ucsd.edu

Benjamin Heyman, MD

Associate Clinical Professor, Medicine
858-246-3038
bheyman@health.ucsd.edu

View the Meet the Expert video here

Nicole Griffin

Clinic Manager, Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center CIRM Alpha Clinic

858-249-3000
nmgriffin@health.ucsd.edu

Jamison Langguth, MPH, MSED

Director of Clinical Research, Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center CIRM Alpha Clinic

858-951-8349
j1langguth@health.ucsd.edu

Trial Experts & Advisors

At the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center CIRM Alpha Clinic, a team of highly talented professionals with diverse fields of expertise safely accelerate the delivery of stem cell therapies to patients with unmet needs. The oversight and direction of these experts, and the physicians that care for our patients and their families, ensure that our clinical trials adhere to the highest standards. We invite you to meet the people who help our studies.

Ludmil Alexandrov, PhD
Genomics Manager
Deputy Director, Sanford Stem Cell Fitness and Space Medicine Center
Associate Professor, Cellular Molecular Medicine
l2alexandrov@ucsd.edu

Kathleen Fisch, PhD
Trial Expert, Data Science - Transcriptomics, Epigenomics, and Translational Genomics
Assistant Professor, OBGYN & Reproductive Sciences
kfisch@ucsd.edu

Ehtisham Mahmud, MD, FACC, FSCAI

Trial Expert, Cardiology
Division Chief, Cardiovascular Medicine
emahmud@ucsd.edu

Karen Christman, PhD

Trial Expert, Cardiology
Professor, Shu Chien-Gene Lay Department of Bioengineering
Pierre Galletti Endowed Chair for Bioengineering Innovation
Associate Dean for Faculty, Jacobs School of Engineering

Co-Director, Sanford Advanced Therapy Center
Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, UC San Diego

kchristm@ucsd.edu

Anthony DeMaria, MD, MAAC
Trial Expert, Cardiology
Professor, School of Medicine
ademaria@ucsd.edu

Tatiana Kisseleva, MD, PhD
Trial Expert, Metabolic
Professor, Surgery
Director, Sanford Stem Cell Fitness and Space Medicine Center
tkisseleva@ucsd.edu

Loomba Rohit, MD, MHSc
Trial Expert, Metabolic
Professor, Medicine
roloomba@ucsd.edu

Stephanie Cherqui, PhD
Trial Expert, Metabolic
Professor, Pediatrics
scherqui@ucsd.edu

Leslie Crews, PhD
Trial Expert, Myeloma
Assistant Professor, Medicine
lcrews@ucsd.edu

Rebecca Shatsky, MD
Trial Expert, Breast Cancer
Associate Clinical Professor, Medicine
rshatsky@ucsd.edu

Gregory Botta, MD, PhD
Trial Expert, Gastrointestinal Cancers
Assistant Clinical Professor, Medicine
gbotta@ucsd.edu

Rana McKay, MD
Trial Expert, Urogenital Cancers
Associate Clinical Professor, Medicine
rmckay@ucsd.edu

Joseph Ciacci, MD
Trial Expert, Neurological Disease
Professor of Clinical, Neurological Surgery
jciacci@ucsd.edu

Mark Tuszynski, MD, PhD

Trial Expert, Neurological Disease
Distinguished Professor of Neurosciences
Director, UC San Diego Translational Neuroscience Institute

mtuszynski@ucsd.edu

Martin Marsala, MD
Trial Expert, Neurological Disease
Professor, Anesthesiology
Director, Sanford Surgical Training Center
mmarsala@ucsd.edu

Joel Castellanos, MD
Trial Expert, Neurological Disease, Physical Medicine & Rehab Specialist
Associate Clinical Professor, Anesthesiology
jcastellanos@ucsd.edu

Dan Kaufman, MD, PhD

Professor of Medicine, Division of Regenerative Medicine
Director, Advanced Cell Therapy Lab, UC San Diego
Director, Sanford Advanced Therapy Center
858-822-1777
dskaufman@ucsd.edu

Eric Ahrens, PhD

Trial Expert, Imaging
Professor, Radiology
eahrens@ucsd.edu

Jennifer Graves, MD, PhD
Professor of Clinical, Neurosciences
jgraves@ucsd.edu

Jack Bui, MD, PhD
Professor, Pathology
jbui@ucsd.edu

Research and Administration

Vickie Sheckler
Lead Research Strategic Advisor, UC San Diego Health CIRM Alpha Clinic Strategic Advisory Research Team
858-534-1364
vsheckler@ucsd.edu

Maria Huaracha
Research Strategic Advisor, Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center, Alpha Clinic Strategic Advisory Research Team
mhuaracha@health.ucsd.edu

Peggy Wentworth, PhD
Research Strategic Advisor, Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center, Alpha Clinic Strategic Advisory Research Team
pwentworth@ucsd.edu

Kenneth Henry II, PhD
Pre-Clinical Project Manager, Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center, Alpha Clinic Strategic Advisory Research Team
kwhenry@ucsd.edu

Julissa Gonzalez, MS
Clinical Research Data Manager, UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center CIRM Alpha Clinic
858-822-4401
jug004@ucsd.edu