Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center
The Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center houses the UC San Diego Alpha Clinic and Strategic Advisory Research Team (START). The Alpha Clinic provides inpatient and outpatient cell, gene therapy, stem cell, and other regenerative medicine clinical trials supported by the Division of Regenerative Medicine at the UC San Diego School of Medicine. The START program supports researchers through preclinical phases of first-in-human studies.
Alpha Clinic
Mission
The mission of the UC San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Clinical Center CIRM (California Institute for Regenerative Medicine) Alpha Clinic is to accelerate the translation of innovative regenerative medicine therapies through cellular, gene therapy, and stem cell targeted approaches.
About the Clinic
The UC San Diego Alpha Clinic exists for one reason: to accelerate the pace of innovation in regenerative medicine research.
We do this because the patients who could benefit — those with life-altering and life-threatening diseases like spinal cord injury, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and many other conditions — don’t have decades to wait for new therapies.
They need help, and they need it now.
What is an Alpha Clinic?
The UC San Diego Alpha Clinic is one of nine “Alpha Clinics” run by CIRM, the state’s stem cell agency. CIRM was created by the people of California in 2004, when 59% of state voters approved Proposition 71: the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative. Voters renewed funding in 2020 with the passage of Proposition 14.
CIRM aims to accelerate the development and delivery of gene and stem cell treatments to a diverse group of patients with unmet medical needs in an equitable manner — and to act with a sense of urgency.
With $5.5 billion in funding and more than 150 active stem cell programs in its portfolio, CIRM is one of the world’s largest institutions dedicated to helping people by bringing the future of cellular medicine closer to reality.
Who does the Alpha Clinic assist?
The clinic helps patients with complex medical disorders via clinical trials of regenerative medicine therapies, as well as California-based investigators and companies looking to run such trials. Patients interested in learning more about our clinical trials can do so here.
Where is the Alpha Clinic located?
Koman Family Outpatient Pavilion at UC San Diego Health 9400 Campus Point Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037
Valet parking is available from 7 a.m. – 5 p.m. on weekdays. Those wishing to park themselves can get directions to the Campus Point structure or Athena structure.
Public transportation and free shuttles
Contact
(844) 317-7836
alphastemcellclinic@ucsd.edu
Leadership
Director Sheldon Morris, M.D., MPH completed medical school at University of British Columbia and a master of public health at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he majored in quantitative methods. Dr. Morris trained in preventive medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF)/Berkeley and completed a fellowship at UCSF/the California Department of Public Health. His expertise is in design and management of clinical trials.