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Biography
Steven Stice, PhD, was recruited to the University of Georgia by the Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) and holds an endowed chair as a GRA Eminent Scholar. As a tenured D.W. Brooks Distinguished Professor and the founding Director of the Regenerative Bioscience Center, Stice chairs the UGA academic lead in the Engineering Research Center for Cell Manufacturing Technologies (CMaT)—a $50M, NSF funded, multi-institutional research consortium, based in Atlanta. Stice co-directs the Regenerative Engineering and Medicine (REM) partnership, a joint research collaboration between UGA, Emory University and Georgia Tech. As an invited member, he sits on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Stice, a thirty-five-year veteran researcher in bio manufacturing technologies and regenerative medicine, has been featured on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and covered by the NY Times.
Dr. Stice is a co-founding partner and Chief Scientific Officer at Aruna Bio, a privately held clinical stage biotechnology company. The company obtained worldwide exclusive rights from the University of Georgia for an extensive patent portfolio covering the use of neural exosome-based therapeutics originally developed in the Stice lab. The patented novel exosomes (AB126) can cross the blood brain barrier to enhance the body’s self-repair system and treat a range of neurodegenerative disorders with unmet medical needs. Recently, Aruna Bio cleared the Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the FDA to initiate the first U.S. clinical trial using exosomes to treat acute ischemic stroke, which is expected to initiate in the first half of 2024.
Stice’s academic research is funded by various groups ranging from the NIH, DARPA and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, among others, and has led to 16 U.S. patents in stem cells, animal biotechnology and regenerative medicine. The Stice research legacy is crowded with firsts; the first to clone a rabbit and the first to clone transgenic calves (George and Charlie), for which he was granted the first U.S. patent (before Dolly) in cloning animals. Fast forward to today, Stice was granted the first recorded patent by Japan for neural exosomes.
As of 2024, his work has produced 225+ scholarly journal articles that have garnered more than 14,000 citations, (h-index of 58). In total, Stice has launched five biotech companies, including four startups in Georgia that have generated more than 150 jobs. Stice has been issued 67 domestic and international patents on four continents. He was named as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the highest professional distinction exclusively bestowed upon academic inventors. Among his accolades are being recognized as one of the "100 Most Influential Georgians," receiving the Harold W. Gegenheimer Award, earning distinctions as University Inventor of the Year and Academic Entrepreneur of the Year. Additionally, Stice holds the prestigious Regents’ Entrepreneur distinction, an acknowledgment reserved for faculty members who have showcased exceptional success in translating research into a commercial setting. Furthermore, he proudly holds the National Football Foundation Distinguished American Award, and the Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award, for his unique entrepreneurial role in fostering community innovation, starting new businesses, empowering both students and faculty, and creating jobs.
B.S., University of Illinois
M.S., Iowa State University
Ph.D., University of Massachusetts
Research Interests
The Stice lab is pioneering therapies for neurological diseases and stroke recovery, with a focus on using Exosomes from neural stem cells and mesenchymal stromal cells for brain repair after stroke or traumatic brain injury. The lab aims to improve screening through cell-based assays, enhancing reproducibility and predictability for more effective drug therapies.
Publications (225+) by Dr. Stice may be found at Google Scholar
Top 25 Most Cited Stice Publications in Neural Research Since 1998 (Arranged by Citation Impact):
Webb, R. L., Kaiser, E. E., Scoville, S. L., Thompson, T. A., Fatima, S., Pandya, C., Sriram, K., Swetenburg, R. L., Vaibhav, K., Arbab, A. S., Baban, B., Dhandapani, K. M., Hess, D. C., Hoda, M. N., & Stice, S. L. (2018). Human Neural Stem Cell Extracellular Vesicles Improve Tissue and Functional Recovery in the Murine Thromboembolic Stroke Model. Translational stroke research, 9(5), 530–539. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12975-017-0599-2
Webb, R. L., Kaiser, E. E., Jurgielewicz, B. J., Spellicy, S., Scoville, S. L., Thompson, T. A., Swetenburg, R. L., Hess, D. C., West, F. D., & Stice, S. L. (2018). Human Neural Stem Cell Extracellular Vesicles Improve Recovery in a Porcine Model of Ischemic Stroke. Stroke, 49(5), 1248–1256. https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.117.020353
Savitz, S. I., Baron, J. C., Fisher, M., & STAIR X Consortium (Stice, S. L.) (2019). Stroke Treatment Academic Industry Roundtable X: Brain Cytoprotection Therapies in the Reperfusion Era. Stroke, 50(4), 1026–1031. https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.118.023927
Singh, A., Suri, S., Lee, T., Chilton, J. M., Cooke, M. T., Chen, W., Fu, J., Stice, S. L., Lu, H., McDevitt, T. C., & García, A. J. (2013). Adhesion strength-based, label-free isolation of human pluripotent stem cells. Nature methods, 10(5), 438–444. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.2437
Mir, M., Kim, T., Majumder, A., Xiang, M., Wang, R., Liu, S. C., Gillette, M. U., Stice, S., & Popescu, G. (2014). Label-free characterization of emerging human neuronal networks. Scientific reports, 4, 4434. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep04434
West, F. D., Uhl, E. W., Liu, Y., Stowe, H., Lu, Y., Yu, P., Gallegos-Cardenas, A., Pratt, S. L., & Stice, S. L. (2011). Brief report: chimeric pigs produced from induced pluripotent stem cells demonstrate germline transmission and no evidence of tumor formation in young pigs. Stem cells (Dayton, Ohio), 29(10), 1640–1643. https://doi.org/10.1002/stem.713
Baker, E. W., Platt, S. R., Lau, V. W., Grace, H. E., Holmes, S. P., Wang, L., Duberstein, K. J., Howerth, E. W., Kinder, H. A., Stice, S. L., Hess, D. C., Mao, H., & West, F. D. (2017). Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neural Stem Cell Therapy Enhances Recovery in an Ischemic Stroke Pig Model. Scientific reports, 7(1), 10075. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-10406-x
Baker, E. W., Platt, S. R., Lau, V. W., Grace, H. E., Holmes, S. P., Wang, L., Duberstein, K. J., Howerth, E. W., Kinder, H. A., Stice, S. L., Hess, D. C., Mao, H., & West, F. D. (2017). Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neural Stem Cell Therapy Enhances Recovery in an Ischemic Stroke Pig Model. Scientific reports, 7(1), 10075. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-10406-x
Zawada, W. M., Cibelli, J. B., Choi, P. K., Clarkson, E. D., Golueke, P. J., Witta, S. E., Bell, K. P., Kane, J., Ponce de Leon, F. A., Jerry, D. J., Robl, J. M., Freed, C. R., & Stice, S. L. (1998). Somatic cell cloned transgenic bovine neurons for transplantation in parkinsonian rats. Nature medicine, 4(5), 569–574. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0598-569
McNeish, J., Roach, M., Hambor, J., Mather, R. J., Weibley, L., Lazzaro, J., Gazard, J., Schwarz, J., Volkmann, R., Machacek, D., Stice, S., Zawadzke, L., O'Donnell, C., & Hurst, R. (2010). High-throughput screening in embryonic stem cell-derived neurons identifies potentiators of alpha-amino-3-hydroxyl-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate-type glutamate receptors. The Journal of biological chemistry, 285(22), 17209–17217. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M109.098814
Mir, M., Kim, T., Majumder, A., Xiang, M., Wang, R., Liu, S. C., Gillette, M. U., Stice, S., & Popescu, G. (2014). Label-free characterization of emerging human neuronal networks. Scientific reports, 4, 4434. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep04434
Duberstein, K. J., Platt, S. R., Holmes, S. P., Dove, C. R., Howerth, E. W., Kent, M., Stice, S. L., Hill, W. D., Hess, D. C., & West, F. D. (2014). Gait analysis in a pre- and post-ischemic stroke biomedical pig model. Physiology & behavior, 125, 8–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2013.11.004
Passaro, A. P., & Stice, S. L. (2021). Electrophysiological Analysis of Brain Organoids: Current Approaches and Advancements. Frontiers in neuroscience, 14, 622137. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2020.622137
Sun, M. K., Passaro, A. P., Latchoumane, C. F., Spellicy, S. E., Bowler, M., Goeden, M., Martin, W. J., Holmes, P. V., Stice, S. L., & Karumbaiah, L. (2020). Extracellular Vesicles Mediate Neuroprotection and Functional Recovery after Traumatic Brain Injury. Journal of neurotrauma, 37(11), 1358–1369. https://doi.org/10.1089/neu.2019.6443
Jurgielewicz, B. J., Yao, Y., & Stice, S. L. (2020). Kinetics and Specificity of HEK293T Extracellular Vesicle Uptake using Imaging Flow Cytometry. Nanoscale research letters, 15(1), 170. https://doi.org/10.1186/s11671-020-03399-6
Goodfellow, F., Simchick, G. A., Mortensen, L. J., Stice, S. L., & Zhao, Q. (2016). Tracking and Quantification of Magnetically Labeled Stem Cells using Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Advanced functional materials, 26(22), 3899–3915. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201504444
Majumder, A., Banerjee, S., Harrill, J. A., Machacek, D. W., Mohamad, O., Bacanamwo, M., Mundy, W. R., Wei, L., Dhara, S. K., & Stice, S. L. (2012). Neurotrophic effects of leukemia inhibitory factor on neural cells derived from human embryonic stem cells. Stem cells (Dayton, Ohio), 30(11), 2387–2399. https://doi.org/10.1002/stem.1201
Calhoun, J. D., Lambert, N. A., Mitalipova, M. M., Noggle, S. A., Lyons, I., Condie, B. G., & Stice, S. L. (2003). Differentiation of rhesus embryonic stem cells to neural progenitors and neurons. Biochemical and biophysical research communications, 306(1), 191–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0006-291x(03)00937-9
Tucker-Burden, C., Chappa, P., Krishnamoorthy, M., Gerwe, B. A., Scharer, C. D., Heimburg-Molinaro, J., Harris, W., Usta, S. N., Eilertson, C. D., Hadjipanayis, C. G., Stice, S. L., Brat, D. J., & Nash, R. J. (2012). Lectins identify glycan biomarkers on glioblastoma-derived cancer stem cells. Stem cells and development, 21(13), 2374–2386. https://doi.org/10.1089/scd.2011.0369
Passaro, A. P., Lebos, A. L., Yao, Y., & Stice, S. L. (2021). Immune Response in Neurological Pathology: Emerging Role of Central and Peripheral Immune Crosstalk. Frontiers in immunology, 12, 676621. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.676621
Young, A., Assey, K. S., Sturkie, C. D., West, F. D., Machacek, D. W., & Stice, S. L. (2010). Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor enhances in vitro differentiation of mid-/hindbrain neural progenitor cells to dopaminergic-like neurons. Journal of neuroscience research, 88(15), 3222–3232. https://doi.org/10.1002/jnr.22499
Spellicy, S. E., Kaiser, E. E., Bowler, M. M., Jurgielewicz, B. J., Webb, R. L., West, F. D., & Stice, S. L. (2020). Neural Stem Cell Extracellular Vesicles Disrupt Midline Shift Predictive Outcomes in Porcine Ischemic Stroke Model. Translational stroke research, 11(4), 776–788. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12975-019-00753-4
Dodla, M. C., Mumaw, J., & Stice, S. L. (2010). Role of astrocytes, soluble factors, cells adhesion molecules and neurotrophins in functional synapse formation: implications for human embryonic stem cell derived neurons. Current stem cell research & therapy, 5(3), 251–260. https://doi.org/10.2174/157488810791824520
Spellicy, S. E., & Stice, S. L. (2021). Tissue and Stem Cell Sourced Extracellular Vesicle Communications with Microglia. Stem cell reviews and reports, 17(2), 357–368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12015-020-10011-y
Jurgielewicz, B., Stice, S., & Yao, Y. (2021). Therapeutic Potential of Nucleic Acids when Combined with Extracellular Vesicles. Aging and disease, 12(6), 1476–1493. https://doi.org/10.14336/AD.2021.0708