Nitika Parmar
By Kim Lamb Gregory
A stem cell training program co-launched by CSUCI Professor of Biology Nitika Pamar, Ph.D., has just received a boost from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) for more than $3.6 million over five years.
“This award will allow us to offer paid one-year internships as well as scholarships and travel awards to our graduate students in the Master of Science in Biotechnology degree program whose study emphasis is in stem cell technology and lab management,” Parmar said. “These internships will be with cutting-edge research institutions all over California.”
Interns will study stem cells at University of California research centers; Stanford University, the Scripps and Salk research institutes; City of Hope Beckman Center; Cedars Sinai Medical Institute, Loma Linda university, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles and University of Southern California.
CSUCI’s stem cell program is just one of the progressive programs and innovative research projects Parmar helped introduce to the university since she arrived in 2006.
The career path that led her to CSUCI began when she was growing up in India, hoping to one day become an Indian classical dancer.
“But as I grew older and went to college, I wanted to become a doctor and go to medical school,” Parmar said. “But I could not stand the sight of needles and blood, so while I was getting my master’s degree, I got extremely interested in biotechnology and molecular biology.”
Her passion for teaching combined with her inquisitive nature led her to an undergraduate degree in Biophysics followed by two master’s degrees in Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering from Pune University and the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi.
She then relocated to California where she earned a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology.
“I was very interested in going to California because in my mind was the image of driving your car along the beach in the sunshine with the wind in your hair,” she said. “California is a cool place to study.”
Parmar joined the Biology faculty at CSUCI after working as a scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles, for three years. At CSUCI, she learned she loved teaching.
“Teaching is such an amazing art,” she said. “When you’re teaching, you’re learning yourself. Students are so inquisitive — they ask you to re-explore your own beliefs.”
Mathematics Professor Cynthia Wyels, Ph.D., was also impressed on how well Parmar worked with other faculty members on grants and projects.
“Nitika brings her formidable intelligence and her calm demeanor to collaborate on initiatives such as writing grants to support our students,” Wyels said. “Rarely do I see people exemplify competence and kindness to the degree she does.”
Parmar also loved involving graduate and undergraduate students in her research, which included potential cures for cancer to tissue regeneration using stem cells.
“The potential of stem cells is really amazing,” she said. “Let’s say somebody has a spinal cord injury and is paralyzed. You develop the right stem cell therapy and eventually they may be able to walk again.”
Parmar first developed the stem cell program at CSUCI with a grant she wrote 11 years ago for $4.5 million. Through another grant from CIRM in 2016, Parmar developed a program in which graduate students can get paid internships to do stem cell research at cutting-edge institutions.
This new grant from CIRM will allow the program to continue, and will include travel and scholarships.
“Eighty-five percent of the funds from this grant are going directly to the students, which speaks of the student-centered nature of this training program,” Parmar added.
When the pandemic struck, six graduate students, armed with the scientific method and directed by Parmar, began researching exactly how the coronavirus attacks human cells. The research continued through the Spring semester with undergraduate students in the Biology program.
“They are deciphering which proteins this virus encodes and how the virus can be attacked therapeutically,” Parmar said. “They are actively investigating the variants of the virus and what changes in the viral sequence which makes it more deadly.”
Except during the pandemic, Parmar has taken a group of undergraduates on a tour of India every year since 2015. The students visit 16 biotechnology companies and academic institutes, learn about Indian food and culture, and, among other activities, visit a sustainable village near Mumbai called the Govardhan Eco Village.
“That is my favorite place on this planet,” Parmar said. “It’s managed by monks with advanced academic degrees. These engineers and scientists have devoted their lives to saving nature and the environment. They use their skills and knowledge to make a soil biotechnology plant, a wastewater plant, conduct organic farming, generate fuel from plastics, among several other incredible initiatives. They empower women in rural areas and educate children free of cost.”
Class of 2021 Biology and Global Studies double major Patricio Ruano went on the trip to India and came back excited about his majors, and his plans to attend medical school.
“I’ve never been more excited to pursue biology research than when being taught by Dr. Parmar,” Ruano said. “As a first-generation student, pursuing medical school seemed like an unattainable dream. But much of the faculty—especially Dr. Parmar—has supported me in every step of this journey.”
For Parmar, trading her dream of becoming an Indian classical dancer for helping students pursue their dreams was the best choice she ever made.