Research Interests

Dr. Nolta is the Director of the Stem Cell Program at UC Davis School of Medicine and directs the Institute for Regenerative Cures. The UC Davis stem cell program has over 145 faculty members collaborating to work toward stem cell-related cures for a spectrum of diseases and injuries.

The current research in Dr. Nolta’s laboratory 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. Her group focuses on “bench to the bedside” research, and she has been involved in numerous clinical trials of gene and cell therapy.

She is scientific director of the new Good Manufacturing Practice clean room facility at UC Davis, where stem cells of different types are being isolated or expanded for clinical trials.

The basic research in the Nolta laboratory focuses on understanding the dynamics of stem cell migration and attraction to sites of injury. Following intravenous infusion, adult stem cells home to sites of tissue damage. Areas studied are cellular response to hypoxia and chemokines, cell motility, cell-to-cell interactions, and paracrine factors secreted by MSC at the site of injury.

Education

Ph.D., University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 1994
B.S., California State University, Sacramento, Sacramento, California, 1984