Pathways Opens Biotech Innovation Headquarters in Torrance, California

Pathways Opens Biotech Innovation Headquarters in Torrance, California

By Victoria Fox, Executive Director, Pathways to Stem Cell Science and Samantha McIssac.

We are excited to announce Pathways to Stem Cell Science (Pathways) has opened its first independent headquarters in Torrance, California. Graduating from the Monrovia-based incubator “Lab Launch” into a purpose-built facility represents a major milestone in our mission to advance stem cell research and create future scientists.

The newly renovated 4,000 square-foot facility, located close to the 110 and 405 freeways, boasts a fully equipped biotech research incubator and three state-of-the-art teaching laboratories which convert into an auditorium and meeting space. In addition to enabling the growth of Pathways research and education programs, the facility will act as a hub for connecting students and scientists from across the LA area.

Pathways new 1,400 square-foot teaching facilities, which juxtapose aspiring scientists with real life research provide space for 20 students to learn hands-on with stem cells, working alongside industry professionals. This unique layout reflects our firmly held belief that observing working scientists in a real-life environment is essential for students to forge successful science careers. Expanding from one to three teaching laboratories will significantly enhance our educational impact by enabling multiple programs to be offered concurrently and throughout the year to larger numbers of students. With dedicated teaching labs for cell culture and molecular biology, we can now launch our much-anticipated middle school and practical tutoring programs, providing learning opportunities for students at every educational stage from preschool to college.

The new Torrance headquarters also houses laboratory space for Pathways growing research services, known as CellCORE, which provide technical support to university and industry scientists from across the world. Located adjacent to the teaching facilities, the research laboratories include a 1,600 square-foot shared biotech incubator where clients and partner companies can work under the guidance of Pathways scientists. This space accommodates up to 10 scientists and will be used to advance a broad portfolio of research aimed at understanding disease mechanisms and developing stem cell therapies. It will also support Pathways internal R&D program which focuses on the development of new technologies for deriving and manipulating stem cells.

As professionals pursue their cutting-edge research, students will enjoy the unique opportunity to learn this exciting science first-hand in an environment of entrepreneurial innovation. Pathways is the only private sector organization that offers programs for children of all ages to engage in authentic science, taught by industry scientists in a professional biotech laboratory. Our new facilities reflect this uniqueness by creating a combined teaching and research space that does not exist anywhere else in the world outside of a University. This engaging environment will ensure more students gain the tools and knowledge needed to pursue bioscience careers. In our new location we can expose students to the industry jobs they will pursue after college and expand our network of biotech partners to create additional internship opportunities for students attending our research programs.

In addition to supporting teaching and research, Pathways new headquarters will provide a home base for our mobile lab programs, which bring hands-on education to classrooms across the LA area. Growing our outreach activities to include classes for the public is a major goal that can now be achieved with our fully equipped classrooms and auditorium. Having a dedicated facility is also crucial for expanding Pathways fundraising activities, which ensure our programs are offered equally to students of all backgrounds. We’re excited to start the next phase of operational growth in our new Torrance-based headquarters and will be holding a formal open day in March 2020.  Save the date!

Follow our lab renovation in real time on our social media pages.

BAM architecture studios were the architects for this project. Lab renovations were performed by Midstone construction.

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