Victor Garcia

Class of 2014

Education: Blended BS and MS in Biomedical Engineering at Cal Poly

 

Biography

Victor was studying stem cell research because their use in regenerative medicine has the potential to someday surpass the use of implants, drugs, prosthetics, or transplants currently used today. He wanted to focus in the generation and differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells, or in the direct reprogramming of somatic cells into a desired cell type, and to apply these methods to the treatment of cardiovascular, muscular, or blood-forming diseases. He wanted to someday apply the experience gained from the CIRM program to the field of tissue engineering, with the goal of researching, designing, or testing constructs aimed to replace or regenerate certain tissues in the body. He hoped to be involved in more of the clinical aspects of regernerative medicine, and to help bring stem cells into maintsream medicine.

His internship institution was Stanford University, and the work was done at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto. His PI was Dr. Thomas Rando, from the department of neurology. His group was trying to come up with a tissue-engineered treatment for volumetric muscle loss, using muscle stem cells  (MuSCs) in a decellularized muscle scaffold. Part of his work involved examining cell interactions in the MuSC Niche in vitro, characterizing scaffold properties, and investigating the effects of perfusion on reconstituted scaffolds.

After graduating, Victor obtained a position as a research associate at the Stanford/VA Alzheimer's Research Center.