Stice Bio

Dr. Steve Stice is a University of Georgia, DW Brooks Distinguished Professor and Director of the Regenerative Bioscience Center, who holds a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar endowed chair, and is CSO of ArunA Biomedical Inc. He has over 30 years of research and development experience in biotechnology and is a co-founder of several biotech start-ups, including ArunA Biomedical; the first company to commercialize a product derived from human pluripotent stem cells, and cell development used to facilitate approval of Pfizer’s current cognitive enhancing pharmaceuticals.

Prior to joining UGA, Stice was the co-founder and served as both CSO and CEO of Advanced Cell Technology, the first USA Company to advance to human clinical trials using human pluripotent stem cells. Additionally, he co-founded startups; Prolinia and Cytogenesis which later merged with what is now, ViaCyte.

Outside of his academic professorship and business role, Stice co-directs The Regenerative Engineering and Medicine research center, or REM, a joint collaboration between Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology and UGA, and is also a group leader of EBICS: Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems, a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center founded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As an invited member, he sits on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and is serving on the Governing Committee of the first institute funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC); National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), the eleventh institute in the Manufacturing USA government network.

Stice is a world-renown expert in the field of pluripotent stem cell biology. In 2001, he directed work on derivation of three human pluripotent stem cell lines which were approved for federal funding by the NIH and President Bush. One of several noteworthy achievements for Stice, was producing the first cloned rabbit in 1987 and the first cloned transgenic calves in 1998 (George and Charlie). In 1997 his group produced the first genetically modified embryonic stem cell derived pigs and cattle. Notably, the Stice lab was one of only five NIH sponsored sites for training NIH investigators on the propagation, differentiation and use of hESC over a six year period.

Currently, the Stice lab is developing novel therapies and new technologies for drug screening and neurodegenerative disease, which could change the lives of those suffering with Parkinson’s, Stroke injury, and Alzheimer’s. This research has led to publications in Science and Nature journals, national news coverage (CBS, NBC, ABC and CNN) and the first US patents on cloning animals and cattle stem cells which was featured in the Wall Street Journal. Most recently, Stice was elected to NAI Fellow status, the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors. Georgia Bio also honored Stice that same year with the 2017 Georgia Bio Industry Growth Award.

In the Lab

Human stem cells have great potential for finding restoring damaged tissues throughout the body and speeding the drug discovery process. We are developing a combined approach of both the cells needed to restore the damaged area and using these cells in a Petri dish to discover new compounds to treat diseases such as Alzheimer’s, TBI, and Stroke disease.

Today, through collaborations with others, including scientists working in ArunA Biomedical and the RBC, we are developing a new treatment for stroke that reduces brain damage and accelerates the brain’s natural healing tendencies. Fully able to cloak itself within the bloodstream, this type of regenerative EV therapy appears to be the most promising in overcoming the limitations of many cell therapies — with the ability for exosomes to carry and deliver multiple doses — as well as the ability to store and administer treatment. Small in size, the tiny tubular shape of an exosome allows EV therapy to cross barriers that cells cannot. Please visit the Stice Lab for more information.

Research Interest

• Exosomes, for the treatment of CNS and neurodegenerative disorders
• Genetic Engineering Technology
• Development of cell-based assays to support high-throughput chemical and compound screening
• Combination therapies for Alzheimer’s, ALS and Cardiovascular Disease
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Fracture Healing and Complex Bone Injury
• Pluripotent Stem Cells
• Environmental Toxicology
• Developing Animal Cloning

Links

• Publications by Steven Stice may be found at Google Scholar.
• For more information visit the Stice Lab.

Poster Presentations

• Society of Toxicology (SOT): Mouse Pluripotent Stem Cell Motor Neurons Generate Robust Neural Network Activity on Microelectrode Arrays.
• ​SOT: Using Human-Derived Neural Cells As an In Vitro Model for Developmental Neurotoxicity following Exposure to Pesticides.
• ​SOT: MR Imaging of Human Neural Progenitor Stem Cells: an in vivo Longitudinal Model.
• ​SOT: Bisphenol A Effects on In Vitro Human Neural Development Was Window of Susceptibility Dependent.
• ​SOT: Metabolomics and neurite outgrowth as data rich developmental neurotoxicity assays in a pluripotent stem cell derived human neural model.

Awards

• Alpha Zeta Honorary
• Nominated for Biotechnology’s Outstanding Young Researcher by Massachusetts Biotechnology
• Association member (Fienstein Kein Partners) in 1999.
• Nominated for Grand Presidents Award, Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity (1998).
• Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar (1999)
• Membership in the Executive Round Table Leadership Society (1999)
• Top 40 entrepreneurs under 40 in the state of Georgia (Georgia Trends, 2000)
• Grand Presidents Award, Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity (2000).
• Outstanding Service to Young Scholars Research program (2000)
• Leadership in Agriculture award. College of Agriculture, University of Illinois (2001)
• AAAS stem cell grant reviewer (2001)
• Keynote speaker first Georgia Life Science Summit (2001)
• One of 100 most Influential Georgians (Georgia Trends, 2002)
• Chairmen of the GRA Applied Genomics Cluster (2002)
• Emtech Bio Scientific Advisory Board member(2002)
• Harold W. Gegenheimer Innovation Award (2003)
• CURO Advisory Board, the University of Georgia undergraduate research program (2001-present)
• Editorial board of Domestic Animal Endocrinology (2003- 2005)
• Editorial board of Journal of Animal Reproduction (2002-2006)
• Hoag Award (2004)
• AGR Brothers of the Century Award (2004)
• Editorial board of Stem Cells (2005)
• Inventor of the Year at the University of Georgia (2005)
• Editorial Board of Experimental Biology and Medicine (2006)
• Governor of Georgia appointee to the Cord Blood Stem Cell Commission (2006)
• Georgia Biomedical Partnership Award for Community Service (2007)
• Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Early Career Faculty Award (2007)
• BIO Guidance on Animal Biotechnology Stewardship (2009)
• Scientific Advisory Board for NIH Roadmap project on Mapping the Human Epigenome (2009)
• Most Influential Georgians notable (Georgia Trends, 2010,2011,2012)
• D.W. Brooks Distinguished Professor Award from the University of Georgia, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (2013)
• Academic Entrepreneur of the Year (2015)
• Distinguished American Award UGA chapter National Football Foundation (NFF)(2016)
• Scientific Advisory Board for FDA (2016- current)
• Industry Growth Award, Georgia Bio (2017)
• Elected to NAI Fellow status (2017)