jan nolta with her lab in the background
Jan Nolta has led efforts in stem cell research and application at UC Davis. (UC Davis photo)

Dr. Jan Nolta Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award

Dr. Jan Nolta, Director of the UC Davis Gene Therapy Center, was recently awarded with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Innovation as part of the 2022 Chancellor's Innovation Awards.

“Innovation is at the heart of our mission at UC Davis,” said Chancellor Gary S. May. “We are driven to take action by creating new inventions beyond the boundaries of our campus. These award winners are groundbreakers who improve society as their innovations move out of the lab and into the world.”

Read about Dr. Nolta's award below or as part of the full article on the UC Davis Office of Research website.

 

Lifetime Achievement Awards in Innovation

The Lifetime Achievement Awards in Innovation recognize researchers whose career accomplishments include innovations leading to a long-term positive impact on the lives of others and who are an inspiring influence for other innovators.

Jan Nolta, professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy and Internal Medicine, School of Medicine

Jan Nolta serves as the director of the Stem Cell Program and the UC Davis Gene Therapy Center in the Institute for Regenerative Cures at UC Davis Health in Sacramento. Nolta has gained reputation as a prolific scientist with over three decades of experience in human stem cells, gene therapy, and clinical trial development. She has been a tireless contributor to the field of regenerative medicine-related cures for a spectrum of diseases and injuries. She started her career helping to develop stem cell gene therapy treatments for “bubble baby disease.”

Over the past few years, Nolta has been collaborating with an interdisciplinary team including UC Davis Health professors Mehrdad Abedi, Joseph Tuscano, and Gerhard Bauer to pioneer the California CAR-T program for cancer patients. To advance this innovation, Nolta’s group is cultivating potent cancer killers to currently treat leukemia and lymphoma in relapsed patients, and which may tackle kidney, ovarian and bladder cancers down the line. The team is helping to facilitate change that would drive the cost of CAR-T therapies down while increasing accessibility so that life-saving, cutting edge therapies can be provided to all patients in an equitable manner.

Nolta’s current research is focused on developing therapies that will use mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to deliver factors for treating Huntington’s disease and other disorders and injuries. She is the scientific director of the Good Manufacturing Practice clean room facility at UC Davis, where stem cells of different types are being isolated or expanded for clinical trials.

Nolta has received multiple awards from the beginning of her career. Early awards include New Investigator Award in 1999; Research Career and Development Award, 1996; and an NIH award in 1997. More awards followed later including Huntington’s Disease Society of America Distinguished Leadership Award, 2008, California State University, Sacramento Distinguished Service Award, 2009, Excellence in Mentoring, and many more. She has published over 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts in the stem cell field and has been Editor-in-Chief for the Journal “Stem Cells” since 2013.

Nolta’s desire to serve the community and to make an impact in the lives of people has been one of the major driving forces for many of her career accomplishments. Her group focuses on “bench to the bedside” research, and she has been involved in numerous clinical trials of gene and cell therapy. As a first- generation faculty member, Nolta has been an advocate of a diverse science and healthcare workforce of the future and is currently leading or assisting with numerous training programs. Her passion is in training other first-generation students, and those from diverse backgrounds and lived experiences.

Media Resources

Media contact

AJ Cheline, UC Davis Office of Research, 530-752-1101, acheline@ucdavis.edu