UC Merced professor awarded stem cell grant

UC Merced said Professor Michael Cleary received a $483,000 grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to develop a tool that could allow previously impossible experiments to be performed in stem cell research.

Cleary wants to create a method to identify cells' gene expression, which determines the specific cell type within a mixed population of cells. For example, how a neuron differs from a muscle cell. If successful, it could benefit numerous areas of stem cell research, according to the university.

"We are pleased that CIRM recognizes Professor Cleary's work," said Dean Maria Pallavicini of the School of Natural Sciences. "Understanding how stem cells make decisions is a critical question in this field."

Cleary's Tools and Technologies award is the most recent grant received by UC Merced from CIRM. So far, CIRM has offered $8.49 million in grants to UC Merced.

Cleary, a professor in the School of Natural Sciences, is a member of UC Merced's Stem Cell Research Consortium. He earned his doctoral degree from Stanford University and his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Davis.