Alice F. Tarantal, Ph.D.
Reproductive Sciences and Regenerative Medicine Unit Leader
Multimodal Imaging Core Lead
Professor and Vice Chair Translational Research, Department of Pediatrics and Department of Cell Biology and Human Anatomy, UC Davis School of Medicine
Director and PI, Nonhuman Primate Testing Center for Evaluation of Somatic Cell Genome Editing Tools
Associate Director, UC Davis Stem Cell Program
Director, Translational Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Shared Research Facility
Translational Endeavors and Pilot Programs, UC Davis Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC)
Dr. Tarantal has a long-standing commitment to providing research opportunities to investigators and trainees and fostering partnerships and collaborations. As Primate Center Unit and Core Leader, she facilitates research and training; and provides new opportunities for investigators at all career stages; promotes the use of the nonhuman primate model for translational preclinical research; ensures investigators nationwide are provided the expertise, models, and resources needed to ensure their success; and serves as a resource for new NIH grants and navigating the regulatory path to investigational new drug (IND) applications.
She is the Director and PI of the NIH Nonhuman Primate Testing Center for Evaluation of Somatic Cell Genome Editing Tools and a member of the Somatic Cell Genome Editing (SCGE) Consortium. She is also the Director and PI of the NIH Center for Somatic Cell Genome Editing which provides collaborative research opportunities for NIH investigators nationwide. Her research program includes innovative applications of translational in vivo imaging and a focus on fetal/infant models of congenital and acquired diseases; lifespan health; stem cell transplantation, gene therapy, and somatic cell genome editing; regenerative medicine; and ontogeny questions related to early onset of disease and the developing immune system. She has extensive expertise in fetal development and organ ontogeny, and has developed innovative models for studying the interaction of immune ontogeny and TORCH agents (e.g., CMV, Zika virus). She has studied human and nonhuman primate stem/progenitor cells from a lifespan perspective and for transplant purposes, and applied a range of innovative transplant protocols adapting in vivo imaging to monitor cell trafficking and fate. Dr. Tarantal is highly integrated with campus-wide programs and promotes the importance of nonhuman primates for translational preclinical research at the national level.
Developmental Disorders: A Lifetime Burden of Disease
Visit Dr. Tarantal's UC Davis webpage