About Steven Stice
Stice Bio
Steven Stice is a University of Georgia D.W. Brooks Distinguished Professor, elected fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and director of the Regenerative Bioscience Center, who holds a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar endowed chair. He is one of the first awarded Georgia Regents' Entrepreneurs, and has co-founded five biotech companies, four were at UGA, including Aruna Biomedical; the first company to commercialize a stem cell product used to facilitate approval of Pfizer’s in use cognitive-enhancing pharmaceuticals. Current research focuses on neural stem cell-derived Exosome treatments to promote brain repair after stroke or TBI. He received a BS from the University of Illinois, an MS from Iowa State University, and a PhD from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1989. His work has been featured on CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN and covered by the NY Times.
It's not only about Me
Beyond all the awards and accolades for Steven Stice, the big point of differentiation between Stice’s accomplishments and that of others in his field isn't personal gain; it is all about purpose and the needs of others.
It’s the kind of necessary combination of humility and effort to make creative collaborations work that Stice had in mind when he said,
"I see ways in which people and projects can work together to make something better. I am not afraid to get out of my comfort zone, try something different, take a different approach, perhaps fail miserably, and move on."
Franklin West and Steven Stice in Washington DC
Power of Change
Often called upon by the late senator Johnny Isakson and the GA state government, Stice has spoken on the significance and benefits of stem cell research in multiple forums. He worked with Isakson to develop the HOPE Act — Hope Offered through Principled and Ethical Stem Cell Research Act. Today, he is working to draw federal resources to fight stroke disease. As an invited member, Stice sits on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Inspiring the Future
Transforming Lives
Stice, a 30-year veteran researcher and serial entrepreneur in regenerative medicine and bio-manufacturing technologies, has dedicated his later career to developing a proprietary exosome technology for the treatment of brain injury, namely stroke and TBI, and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and ALS. As of 2023, his work has produced 194 scholarly journal articles that have garnered more than 14,000 citations, (h-index of 57). In total, Stice has launched five biotech companies, including four startups in Georgia that have generated more than 150 jobs, and serves as an elected fellow to the National Academy of Inventors. Stice has been issued 65 domestic and international patents on four continents, his most recent on neural stem cell-derived Exosome treatments to promote brain repair after stroke or TBI. One could say Stice’s exosomes’ —powerful mediators of hope— work with the same unstoppable influence as he does.
Commit to Collaboration
Through collaborations with others, including scientists at the UGA's Regenerative Bioscience Center (RBC), Georgia Tech, Emory and CMaT, we are developing therapies and drug discovery tools, which could change the lives of those suffering from neurological diseases and damage. As the co-founding and current Director of UGA’s Regenerative Bioscience Center (RBC), Stice is passionately committed to the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, but most of all, opening the door for others. Because of these efforts, Stice has been recognized over the years for mentoring and teaching, including being named for outstanding service to UGA’s Young scholars program in 2001, awarded the Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Early Career Faculty Award in 2007, and the honor of the 2013 D.W. Brooks Award Recipient for Distinguished Professor of Excellence in Teaching. Stice received the Georgia Bio Industry Growth Award in 2017, and was recognized for his longstanding commitment to growing the life science industry in Georgia as well as the advancement of regenerative medicine research and commercialization in the state. 2022 marks the first offering of an academic major for undergraduates to study the field of Regenerative Bioscience, co-created by faculty of the RBC. UGA's Animal & Dairy Science Department is enormously proud to be the first in the country to offer an undergraduate degree in Regenerative Bioscience. In 2021, new jobs created in Georgia by bioscience companies grew by 150%.
Known for Being First
Stice is famous on campus for consistently delivering the “world’s firsts” —such as cloning rabbits, calves, and pigs and securing the first U.S. patent on animal and therapeutic cloning from adult animal stem cells. He facilitated the development of the first NIH/Bush approved human pluripotent stem cell lines and led the team responsible for commercializing the first derivative cell line from human pluripotent stem cells. Right now, his start-up Aruna Bio is working to be the first-to-market a new exosome treatment for stroke that has shown to reduce brain damage and accelerate the brain's natural healing tendencies, in two divergent animal species and two stroke types.