Bridges research and therapy program creates extraordinary outcomes, abundant opportunities for CSUSB students
In 2000, as a new high school graduate from a low socioeconomic background, Nicole Sparks, MS, biology, ’12, yearned to escape San Bernardino County. Neither of her parents completed college, and at the time, she didn’t place a high priority on her education. She attended several universities “trying to find the right fit,” and after several years, found it through Cal State San Bernardino’s Bridges to Stem Cell Research and Therapy (Bridges) program. Today, 22 years later, she holds a Ph.D. in environmental toxicology and is heading up her own lab in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the University of California, Irvine, researching the causes of birth defects and teaching both graduate and undergraduate students.
At age nine months, Rosyli Reveron-Thornton, BS, biology, ’12; MS, biology,’14, left her birthplace in northern Mexico with her mother to join her father in Victorville. As a teenager, she dreamed of a career in medicine after losing a close friend to brain cancer. She began her post-secondary education at a community college after experiencing a string of obstacles stemming from her undocumented status. She then transferred to CSUSB and found the Bridges program. Today, she is a graduate of Stanford University’s School of Medicine and is completing her second year of a seven-year surgical residency.
CSUSB undergraduate Anthony Castro had heard of the Bridges program, but “thought it was only for the cream of the crop, so I didn’t even consider it.” One day during a lab, his chemistry professor told him she had recommended him to the program’s director. “When I heard about the Bridges opportunity, I thought ‘I don’t care how long it takes me to graduate. What matters to me is the experiences, the networking, the skills I develop to become a scientist.’” Castro switched his major from kinesiology to biology, is completing his internship at the Zhao Laboratory at the University of California, Irvine and is on track to graduate in December.
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Sparks and Reveron-Thornton are two of more than 120 CSUSB graduates who have completed the Bridges program since 2009, and Castro is soon to follow. While their stories vary, there are some similarities: their parents either didn’t attend or didn’t complete college or graduate school, and they are people of color.
They also share distinct personality traits that have contributed to their success, according to professor of biology and Bridges program director Nicole Bournias-Vardiabasis. “We look for students who have a desire to learn, who are risk-takers, who are resilient and have a love of knowledge.”
And all three credit Bournias-Vardiabasis, whom they refer to as Dr. Bournias, with changing their lives.
Funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the state’s stem cell agency, the Bridges program prepares undergraduate and master’s degree students for careers in stem cell research and therapy development to find treatments for patients with unmet medical needs. Stem cell research is being conducted to treat diseases from Alzheimer’s, arthritis, autism, cancer and diabetes to sickle cell disease, spinal cord injury, stroke and vascular disease, among others. Twelve CSU campuses have Bridges programs funded through CIRM.
When Bournias-Vardiabasis began her career at CSUSB in 1988, she had been a scientist at the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, known for both its clinical excellence and its cutting-edge translational research.
“I left my position because I knew that in academia I would enable young biology students to realize their dreams, just like I had,” she recalled. “As an immigrant and a first in my extended family to receive a Ph.D., I knew rather well the challenges that my new charges faced, and I have never looked back in all of these 34 years.”
Bournias-Vardiabasis initially applied for CIRM funding in 2009, which launched the Bridges program at CSUSB, and has received more than $8.5 million in grants since then. The program accepts 10 students every year and each student receives a $3,000 monthly stipend, a full-tuition scholarship, and completes a 12-month, full-time internship at a major stem cell research lab, Bournias-Vardiabasis said. Master’s degree students research their master’s theses in their appointed labs, she noted.
To date, CSUSB has partnered with Loma Linda University; University of California, Riverside; University of California, Irvine; the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the University of Southern California, Western University of Health Sciences and Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Research Institute.
Extraordinary Outcomes
Bournias-Vardiabasis points out that while it’s a very competitive program in terms of the rigorous coursework, Bridges is not intended for the highest academic achievers. “The program accepts students with a 3.0 GPA, which in the sciences is not considered to be extraordinary.”
However, she said, “You give the students this experience, this opportunity and you see extraordinary outcomes. Most students with a GPA of 3.5 would struggle to get into medical school. Through the Bridges program, they do get into medical school or into graduate school.
“The number one thing Ph.D. programs look for is laboratory research time. If students haven’t been in a lab, they won’t accept them, even if they have a 4.0 GPA, because they don’t know if they’re a match for laboratory science,” explained Bournias-Vardiabasis. “The schools need to know if the candidates have the type of mind, the inquisitive approach, the skill set that is required to be successful as a Ph.D.”
Abundant Career Opportunities
Through the Bridges program, career opportunities are both abundant and varied. “The program creates a workforce development pipeline to train students who can then become physicians, do stem-cell therapy, become Ph.D.s, go into academia, work for biotherapeutic and pharmaceutical companies, become entrepreneurs and want to start new labs — that whole concept of delivering cell therapeutics from bench to bedside,” Bournias-Vardiabasis said.
Her commitment to student success has been remarkable, with more than 90% of the students she has mentored in the CIRM program going on to obtain doctoral degrees and/or work in meaningful careers in STEM. More than half are students of color.
“In all my years as a professor and mentor, I consider this role as my best,” Bournias-Vardiabasis said. “The millions of dollars in grant money that I have received have ensured a pathway to success for many. It is that satisfaction that I will carry with me long after I retire.”
A New World of Possibilities
Sparks said the Bridges program – and Bournias-Vardiabasis – opened up a whole new world of possibilities for her.
After earning her bachelor’s degree in biology in 2007, she thought her career path was clear. “I loved science and I made the correlation that I would go to medical school. Coming from the (socioeconomic) background I did, it felt like the way out was to become a doctor. In my mind, that was the epitome of success,” she said.
But in 2009, while working as a laboratory aide at Loma Linda Medical Center, a doctor pointed out that becoming a physician wasn’t her only option, particularly if her goal was to help people. “He said clinical laboratory scientists conduct life-saving research every day. That’s how I ended up at CSUSB for my master’s degree.”
Sparks said she had heard of the research being done by Bournias-Vardiabasis and sought her out. “I wanted to study developmental biology and I wanted to do birth defects research. (Dr. Bournias) was doing teratology-style research and had been doing it for a long time,” Sparks said.
When Bournias-Vardiabasis secured the first CIRM grant in 2009 that placed students in renowned research labs, Sparks recalls thinking, “This is it. This can really change my career and help me go further beyond what I was thinking I would do. My thought was, ‘OK, I’m going into science, I’ll work at CSUSB and teach like she does and have my own lab.’ It really opened up my eyes.”
As a Bridges scholar, Sparks conducted her master’s degree research in the lab of Professor Nicole zur Neieden at UC Riverside and graduated in 2012. She stayed on in the same lab for her post-graduate work and completed her Ph.D. in 2018.
“I knew I wanted to do research and run my own lab one day. A few months before I completed my Ph.D. I was awarded a grant through the University of California’s President’s Office – the UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded through UC Riverside. It funded me as a post-doc and includes a hiring incentive for any UC school that hires you as a tenure-track assistant professor. It increases faculty diversity and it also helps the university financially,” she said.
She also received a MOSAIC K99/R00 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences award to support promising young scientists on the path to become independent principal research investigators. After receiving those awards, any doubts she had about her future dissipated. “I thought, ‘All right, I’m meant for this world,’” she said, laughing.
A Life-Changing Experience
Much like Sparks, Reveron-Thornton said her introduction to CSUSB and Bridges was “serendipitous.”
“It ended up being one of the best experiences of my life. In my last year at CSUSB I took Dr. Bournias' genetics class. She mentioned that she’d just started the CIRM grant and recommended that I apply. I spoke of my undocumented status with the certainty that it would’ve been the end of that conversation.
“She replied, ‘Apply, we will make it work.’ That simple phrase would go on to be the start of an incredible transformation into the Stanford surgeon I am today. It has pretty much been a life-changing experience since then.”
As an undergraduate in the Bridges program, Reveron-Thornton began conducting brain cancer research in the lab of Dr. Karen Aboody at the Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, and completed her bachelor’s degree in biology in 2012. She continued her master’s degree and the Bridges program at CSUSB, as well as her research at the City of Hope. She went on to become a DACA recipient in 2015 and a permanent resident in 2017.
“Sometimes, coming from the background I came from, and a lot of the people at CSUSB that I speak to come from, their neighborhoods and their families, they don’t offer too much help, unfortunately, because they have never traversed this road,” said Reveron-Thornton. “You have to rely on other people quite a bit – mentors, people that you meet, connections that you make. This is one program that facilitates that so much, so quickly, and a vast amount in just the year or two years that you decide to do it. It’s an incredible program.
“I published scientific literature and contributed to the advancement of immunotherapies because of Dr. Bournias’ support. The education, training and opportunities that have stemmed from my mentorship by Dr. Bournias is the reason I went on to attend Stanford University School of Medicine and joined the general surgery residency program at Stanford Hospital.
Powerful Alumni Testimonials
Many Bridges program alumni who are now working in stem-cell-related fields return to campus to share their career experiences with students in Bournias-Vardiabasis’ tissue culture class, a required course in the program. Their stories have had a profound impact on Bridges student Anthony Castro.
Initially, Castro said, he thought a biology degree could only prepare him for a degree in medicine. The Bridges program has expanded his worldview.
“There are so many people Dr. Bournias has brought in to speak about (stem cell research) and their careers,” he said. “It was eye-opening. I don’t think I would have gained the appreciation or the passion for research if it wasn’t for their stories, these people who have actually sat in the seat that I am in. Seeing where they’re at now was inspiring. It allowed me to believe, despite my doubts, that this isn’t something that’s impossible.”
Up until that point, “I thought these opportunities were saved for these golden model students, which I didn’t consider myself. But seeing these people, I realized it’s not what school you’re at, it has to do with how much time you’re devoting to your craft.
“Dr. Bournias believed in me. Knowing she believed in me gave me the hope to keep pursuing it. I stuck with it, I kept going with it,” he said. “Her expectations were high and I didn’t want to let her down.”
At this point in his academic career, Castro intends to pursue a career in health care. “My ultimate goal is to become a physician’s assistant, and go into street medicine to help out the community, the homeless population, people who are neglected in the health care system.
“This program has helped me find my direction,” he said. “Bridges is not here to get you to become a doctor. It gives you the skills to allow you to go in any direction — skills that can be applied to research, to medicine, to biotech companies, to academia. It’s just limitless what we can do. This program turned my life around.”