Sunday, May 11, 2014

Chasing the Sun and Stem Cells From San Diego

The San Diego U-T this morning carried a profile of stem cell researcher Jeanne Loring of Scripps, describing her as a “stem cell evangelist” and a believer in scientific collaboration as opposed to the solitary work her geologist father pursued.

Bradley Fikes, who covers biotech for the San Diego newspaper, wrote the piece about Loring, who is director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Scripps.

The article was unusual for the mainstream media, which generally focus its profiles on persons who are more in the public limelight – not scientists.

Fikes noted Loring's early career in biotech businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area in addition to the San Diego, both of which are biotech hot spots. He wrote,
“Unlike the 'pure' academic who regards partnerships with businesses as compromising science, Loring said ties with industry can be rewarding. Businesses can take basic research discoveries and turn them into drugs and other therapies, she said, and that 'translational' arrangement is hard to replicate in a walled-off academic setting.”

The article also touched on Loring's life away from the lab including a pursuit -- eclipses of the sun --that has taken her to Zambia, Libya and Bolivia.
“'The eclipse vacations are the perfect thing for us,' Loring said. 'You can always work, but the eclipse is going to happen at a certain time and a certain place, and you have to be there when it happens.'”  

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