UCI neuroscientist awarded $3 million state stem cell grant

California’s stem cell research funding agency today awarded UC Irvine neuroscientist Dr. Edwin Monuki $3 million to study and generate a cell type that keeps the brain and spinal cord healthy. Monuki, assistant professor of pathology & laboratory medicine and developmental & cell biology, was one of 23 scientists from 12 institutions to receive a New Faculty Award from the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, the governing body of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Monuki will study the formation of choroid plexus epithelial cells, which produce the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord with nourishing chemicals to promote normal nervous system health and function, learning and memory, and neural repair following injury.