Our training program is an interdisciplinary Specialization in Regenerative Medicine, offered within the MS degrees in Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences, and Animal Science. Faculty from all three departments are involved in all aspects of the program. The MS specialization is a 2-year program, which includes one academic-year of coursework at our institution plus a course-capstone project, a week-long Pluripotent Cell Techniques Course at the Scripps Research Institute, and a full-time and off-site nine-month internship at a non-profit research institution or for-profit biotech company.
During this reporting period, our eighth cohort of 10 students completed their coursework and will complete their open-ended project by the middle of August, working with faculty from Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences, and Animal Science. This cohort has already matched to their internship locations, and after their Stem Cell Techniques Course at Scripps, will start on Sep 1. Finally, our ninth cohort of students was admitted to the program and will begin coursework in the fall.
The graduates of this program have strengthened the future of stem cell research in California by contributing to all aspects of the field, both directly and in-directly. Graduates of our program are directly strengthening stem cell research and regenerative medicine by performing fundamental investigations in both academic laboratories (as research associates and doctoral students) and for-profit companies, developing and manufacturing regenerative medicine products at biotech companies, and participating in clinical-trial organization. Additionally, our graduates who are employed at for-profit companies in the medical device sector are indirectly benefiting the field by providing their regenerative medicine perspective to traditional device product design and development.
Detailed Description of Training Program
Coursework:
Our core coursework (i.e. courses taken by students from all three majors) is laboratory intensive, and includes Tissue Engineering, Cell Transplantation, Biomedical Imaging, and Molecular Techniques. In these courses, student learn to grow cells and tissues, evaluate native and engineered tissue structure, measure tissue function, perform microsurgery to induce rodent disease models and test cell-based therapies, label cellular structures and proteins, perform all manner of advanced optical microscopy, and learn fundamental molecular techniques, such as PCR, nucleic acid isolation, and cloning. In addition to these laboratory-intensive courses, the core coursework also includes a quarterly Regenerative Medicine Seminar and a seminar-style Principles of Stem Cell Biology course. Through this coursework, students learn both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills that are important for stem cell research/regenerative medicine and gain important preparation for their internship projects.
Course Capstone:
Before embarking on their internship, students finish their training with a capstone project at our institution. The capstone project challenges students to apply the knowledge and skills gained through the coursework to an open-ended project. This allows the students to complete and receive feedback on a small-scale project with a brief report before embarking on a rigorous 9-month project and extensive report. Examples of projects this cohort include determining the effects of muscle progenitor cells on white blood cells function in mice with diet-induced obesity, evaluating migration of mesenchymal stem cells into biomaterials, and studying whole-body regeneration in a marine invertebrate, among others.
Internship:
Though the students will not being their internships until Sep 1, they have already matched to the following internship sites: Capricor Therapeutics, Cytori Therapeutics, Genea Biocells, Organovo, ViaCyte, Stanford University/VAPA, UCSD. Project opportunities will span discovery-based research in academic labs to device engineering at for-profit companies, and encompass most of the major physiological systems- cardiovascular, endocrine, musculo-skeletal, hepatic, renal, skin and immune. Over the 9-month internship, students will work full-time, live away from their home institution, and will not enroll in any formal coursework, so that they can focus all of their efforts on the internship project.
Reporting Period:
Year 2
Our training program is an interdisciplinary Specialization in Regenerative Medicine, offered within the MS degrees in Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences, and Animal Science. Faculty from all three departments are involved in all aspects of the program. The MS specialization is a 2-year program, which includes one academic-year of coursework plus a course-capstone project at our institution, a week-long Pluripotent Cell Techniques Course at ThermoFisher Scientific, and a full-time and off-site nine-month internship at a non-profit research institution or for-profit biotech company.
During this reporting period, our eighth cohort of 10 students completed their course-capstone projects (working with faculty from Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences, and Animal Science at our institution), completed their internships (at Capricor Therapeutics, Genea Biocells, Organovo, ViaCyte, Stanford University, and the University of California San Diego), and will finish their training program after presenting their work at the CIRM Trainee Meeting in mid-July. Also during this reporting period, our ninth cohort (9 students) completed their coursework and will complete their course-capstone project by the end of August, working with faculty from Biomedical Engineering and Biological Sciences. This cohort has already matched to their internship locations (at Organovo, ThermoFisher Scientific, ViaCyte, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and the University of California, San Diego) and after their Stem Cell Techniques Course at ThermoFisher, will start on Sep 1. Finally, our tenth cohort of students was admitted to the program and will begin coursework in the fall.
The graduates of this program have strengthened the future of cell-based therapies in California by contributing to all aspects of the field, both directly and in-directly. Graduates of our program are directly strengthening stem cell research and regenerative medicine by performing fundamental investigations in both academic laboratories (as research associates and doctoral students) and for-profit companies, developing and manufacturing regenerative medicine products at biotech companies, and participating in clinical-trial organization. Additionally, our graduates who are employed at for-profit companies in the medical device sector are indirectly benefiting the field by providing their regenerative medicine perspective to traditional device product design and development.
Detailed Description of Training Program
Coursework:
Our core coursework (i.e. courses taken by students from all three majors) is laboratory intensive, and includes Tissue Engineering, Biomedical Imaging, Cell Transplantation, and Molecular Techniques. In these courses, student learn to grow cells and tissues, evaluate native and engineered tissue structure, label cellular structures and proteins, perform all manner of advanced optical microscopy, perform microsurgery to induce rodent disease models and test cell-based therapies, and learn fundamental molecular techniques, such as PCR, nucleic acid isolation, and cloning. In addition to these laboratory-intensive courses, the core coursework also includes a quarterly Regenerative Medicine Seminar, a seminar-style Principles of Stem Cell Biology course, and an activity course in Communicating Biology. Through this coursework, students learn both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills that are important for stem cell research/regenerative medicine and gain important preparation for their internship projects.
Course Capstone:
Before embarking on their internship, students finish their training with a capstone project. The capstone project challenges students to apply the knowledge and skills gained through the coursework to an open-ended project. This allows the students to complete and receive feedback on a project with a report and presentation before embarking on a rigorous 9-month project that culminated in an extensive report and presentation. Examples of projects this cohort include determining the effects of obesity on natural bypass vasodilation and white blood cells abundance in mice, evaluating the phenotype of cells comprising tissue engineered blood vessels, and studying regeneration in a marine invertebrate, among others.
Internship:
After completing their coursework, our student begin their internship with one of our partners, listed above. Our internship partners provide a wide variety of project opportunities for our students, from fundamental biological studies in academic labs to device engineering at for-profit companies, and encompass most of the major physiological systems- blood and cardiovascular, neural, endocrine, and immune. Over the 9-month internship, students work full-time, live away from their home institution, and do not enroll in any formal coursework, so that they focused all of their efforts on the internship project.
Reporting Period:
Year 3
Our training program is an interdisciplinary Specialization in Regenerative Medicine, offered within the MS degrees in Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences, and Animal Science. Faculty from all three departments are involved in all aspects of the program. The MS specialization is a 2-year program, which includes one academic-year of coursework plus a course-capstone project at our institution, a two-week Pluripotent Cell Techniques Course at ThermoFisher Scientific, and a full-time/off-site nine-month internship at a non-profit research institution or for-profit biotech company.
During this reporting period, our ninth cohort (9 students) completed their course-capstone projects (working with faculty from Biomedical Engineering and Biological Sciences at our institution), completed their internships (at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the Scripps Research Institute, the University of California San Diego, ThermoFisher Scientific, and ViaCyte), and will finish their training program after presenting their work at the CIRM Trainee Meeting in mid-July. Also during this reporting period, our tenth cohort (10 students) completed their coursework and will complete their course-capstone project by the end of August, working with faculty from Biomedical Engineering and Biological Sciences. This cohort has already matched to their internship locations (at Genentech, Rubedo Life Science, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the University of California, San Diego, and ViaCyte) and after their Stem Cell Techniques Course at ThermoFisher, will start on Sep 1. Finally, our eleventh cohort (11 students) was admitted to the program and will begin coursework in the fall.
The graduates of this program have strengthened the future of cell-based therapies in California by contributing to all aspects of the field, both directly and in-directly. Graduates of our program are directly strengthening stem cell research and regenerative medicine by performing fundamental investigations in both academic laboratories (as research associates and doctoral students) and for-profit companies, developing and manufacturing regenerative medicine products at biotech companies, and participating in clinical-trial organization. Additionally, our graduates who are employed at for-profit companies in the medical device sector are indirectly benefiting the field by providing their regenerative medicine perspective to traditional device product design and development.
Detailed Description of Training Program
Coursework:
Our core coursework (i.e. courses taken by students from all three majors) is laboratory intensive, and includes Tissue Engineering, Biomedical Imaging, Cell Transplantation, and Molecular Techniques. In these courses, student learn to grow cells and tissues, evaluate native and engineered tissue structure, label cellular structures and proteins, perform all manner of advanced optical microscopy, perform microsurgery to induce rodent disease models and test cell-based therapies, and learn fundamental molecular techniques, such as PCR, nucleic acid isolation, and cloning. In addition to these laboratory-intensive courses, the core coursework also includes a quarterly Regenerative Medicine Seminar, a seminar-style Principles of Stem Cell Biology course, and an activity course in Communicating Biology. Through this coursework, students learn both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills that are important for stem cell research/regenerative medicine and gain important preparation for their internship projects.
Course Capstone:
Before embarking on their internship, students finish their training with a capstone project. The capstone project challenges students to apply the knowledge and skills gained through the coursework to an open-ended project. This allows the students to complete and receive feedback on a project with a report and presentation before embarking on a rigorous 9-month project that culminates in an extensive report and presentation. Examples of projects from the tenth cohort include directed differentiation of pluripotent stem cells, development of organoid models for drug screening, evaluating the phenotype of cells comprising tissue engineered blood vessels, and studying regeneration in a marine invertebrate, among others.
Internship:
After completing their coursework, our student begin their internship with one of our partners, listed above. Our internship partners provide a wide variety of project opportunities for our students, from fundamental biological studies in academic labs to device engineering at for-profit companies, and encompass several of the major physiological systems- blood and cardiovascular, neural, and endocrine. Over the 9-month internship, students work full-time, live away from their home institution, and do not enroll in any formal coursework, so they can focus all of their efforts on the internship project.
Reporting Period:
Year 4
Our training program is an interdisciplinary Specialization in Regenerative Medicine, offered within the MS degrees in Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences, and Animal Science. The MS specialization is a 2-year program, which includes one academic-year of coursework plus a course-capstone project at our institution, a two-week Pluripotent Cell Techniques Course, and a full-time/off-site nine-month internship at a non-profit research institution or for-profit biotech company. Students also complete patient-engagement activities throughout the program.
During this reporting period, our tenth cohort (10 students) completed their course-capstone projects, completed their internships, and will finish their training program after presenting their work at the CIRM Trainee Meeting in early-July. Also during this reporting period, our eleventh cohort (11 students) completed their coursework and will complete their course-capstone project by the end of August, working with faculty from Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences, and Animal Science. This cohort has already matched to their internship (at CSL Behring, Rubedo Life Science, T-Cure Bioscience, ThermoFisher Scientific, the University of California San Diego, and ViaCyte) and will start after their Stem Cell Techniques Course. Finally, our twelfth cohort (11 students) was admitted to the program and will begin coursework in the fall.
The graduates of this program have strengthened the future of cell-based therapies in California by contributing to all aspects of the field. Graduates of our program are directly strengthening stem cell research and regenerative medicine by performing fundamental investigations in both academic laboratories (as research associates and doctoral students) and for-profit companies, developing and manufacturing regenerative medicine products at biotech companies, and participating in clinical-trial organization. Additionally, our graduates in the medical device sector are indirectly benefiting the field by providing their regenerative medicine perspective to traditional device product design and development.
Detailed Description
Coursework:
Our core coursework (i.e. courses taken by students from all three majors) is laboratory intensive, and includes Tissue Engineering, Cell Transplantation, and Molecular Techniques. In these courses, student learn to grow cells and tissues, evaluate native and engineered tissue structure, direct the performance of micro-surgeric procedures to induce rodent disease models and test cell therapies, and learn fundamental molecular techniques, such as DNA amplification, nucleic acid isolation, and cloning. In addition to these laboratory-intensive courses, the core coursework also includes a quarterly Seminar, a seminar-style Principles of Stem Cell Biology course, and an activity course in Communicating Biology. Through this coursework, students learn both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills that are important for regenerative medicine and gain important preparation for their internship projects.
Course Capstone:
Before embarking on their internship, students finish their training with a capstone project. The capstone project challenges students to apply the knowledge and skills gained through the coursework to an open-ended project. This allows the students to complete and receive feedback on a project with a report and presentation before embarking on a rigorous 9-month project that culminates in an extensive report and presentation. Examples of projects from the eleventh cohort include bioprinting cell constructs for transplantation, evaluating novel scaffolds for 3D models of tumor metastasis, and developing a yeast model to student HIV infection, among others.
Internship:
After completing their coursework, our student begin their internship with one of our partners, listed above. Our internship partners provide a wide variety of project opportunities for our students, from fundamental biological studies in academic labs to device engineering at for-profit companies, and encompass several of the major physiological systems- immune, neural, and endocrine. Over the 9-month internship, students work full-time, live away from their home institution, and do not enroll in any formal coursework, so they can focus all of their efforts on the internship project.
Patient Engagement:
In the first year of the Program, students read a memoir about surviving a heart attack/bypass, watch a movie about living with spinal muscle atrophy, and count carbs like a diabetic for 2 days. They also participate in community events, such as the Muscular Dystrophy Association Muscle Walk. In the second year, students participate in a number of patient advocacy events to gain an appreciation for the patient's perspective of dealing with an unmet clinical need.
Reporting Period:
Year 5
Our training program is an interdisciplinary Specialization in Regenerative Medicine, offered within the MS degrees in Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences, and Animal Science. The MS specialization is a 2-year program, which includes one academic-year of coursework plus a course-capstone project at our institution, a one-week Pluripotent Cell Techniques Course, and a full-time/off-site nine-month internship at a non-profit research institution or for-profit biotech company. Students also complete patient-engagement activities throughout the program.
During this reporting period, our eleventh cohort (10 students) completed their course-capstone projects, completed their internships, and will finish their training program after presenting their work at the CIRM Trainee Meeting in mid-July. Also during this reporting period, our twelfth cohort (10 students) completed their coursework and will complete their course-capstone project by the end of August, working with faculty from Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences, and Animal Science. This cohort has already matched to their internship (at Direct Biologics, Genentech, the University of California San Diego, and ViaCyte) and will start after their Stem Cell Techniques Course. Finally, our thirteenth cohort (6 students) was admitted to the program and will begin coursework in the fall.
The graduates of this program have strengthened the future of cell-based therapies in California by contributing to all aspects of the field. Graduates of our program are directly strengthening stem cell research and regenerative medicine by performing fundamental investigations in both academic laboratories (as research associates and doctoral students) and for-profit companies, developing and manufacturing regenerative medicine products at biotech companies, and participating in clinical-trial organization. Additionally, our graduates in the medical device sector are indirectly benefiting the field by providing their regenerative medicine perspective to traditional device product design and development.
Detailed Description
Coursework:
Our core coursework (i.e. courses taken by students from all three majors) is laboratory intensive, and includes Tissue Engineering (virtual), Biomedical Imaging (virtual), Cell Transplantation (in-person), and Molecular Techniques (virtual). In these courses this year, students learned the techniques used to grow cells/tissues, evaluate native and engineered tissue structure, perform micro-surgerical procedures to induce rodent disease models and test cell therapies, and learn fundamental molecular techniques, such as DNA amplification, nucleic acid isolation, and cloning. In addition to these laboratory-intensive courses, the core coursework also included a quarterly Seminar, a seminar-style Principles of Stem Cell Biology course, and an activity course in Communicating Biology. Through this coursework, students learn both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills that are important for regenerative medicine and gain important preparation for their internship projects.
Course Capstone:
Before embarking on their internship, students finish their training with a capstone project. The capstone project challenges students to apply the knowledge and skills gained through the coursework to an open-ended project. This allows the students to complete and receive feedback on a project with a report and presentation before embarking on a rigorous 9-month project that culminates in an extensive report and presentation. Examples of projects from the twelfth cohort include evaluating the impact of 3D cell culture on adults stem cell proliferation and maturation, optimizing the differentiation of equine induced pluripotent stem cells into neural lineages, and developing vascularized tumor organoids for drug screening.
Internship:
After completing their coursework, our studenst begin their internship with one of our partners, listed above. Our internship partners provide a wide variety of project opportunities for our students, from fundamental biological studies in academic labs to device engineering at for-profit companies, and encompass several of the major physiological systems- immune, hematopoietic, neural, respiratory, and endocrine. Over the 9-month internship, students work full-time, live away from their home institution, and do not enroll in any formal coursework, so they can focus all of their efforts on the internship project.
Patient Engagement:
In the first year of the Program, students read a memoir about surviving a heart attack/bypass, watched a movie about living with spinal muscle atrophy, and counted carbs like a diabetic for 2 days. They also participated in community events, such as the Muscular Dystrophy Association Muscle Walk. In the second year, students participated in a limited number of virtual engagement activities to gain an appreciation for the patient's perspective of dealing with an unmet clinical need.
Reporting Period:
Year 6 NCE
Our training program is an interdisciplinary Specialization in Regenerative Medicine, offered within the MS degrees in Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences, and Animal Science. The MS specialization is a 2-year program, which includes one academic-year of coursework plus a course-capstone project at our institution, a two-week Pluripotent Cell Techniques Course, and a full-time/off-site nine-month internship at a non-profit research institution or for-profit biotech company. Students also complete patient-engagement activities throughout the program.
During this reporting period, our 12th cohort (10 students) completed their course-capstone projects, completed their internships, and finished their training program after presenting their work at the CIRM Trainee Meeting in late-July. This cohort matched to their internship at Direct Biologics, Genentech, ViaCyte, and the University of California San Diego.
The graduates of this program have strengthened the future of cell-based therapies in California by contributing to all aspects of the field. Graduates of our program are directly strengthening stem cell research and regenerative medicine by performing fundamental investigations in both academic laboratories (as research associates and doctoral students) and for-profit companies, developing and manufacturing regenerative medicine products at biotech companies, and participating in clinical-trial organization. Additionally, our graduates in the medical device sector are indirectly benefiting the field by providing their regenerative medicine perspective to traditional device product design and development.
Detailed Description
Coursework:
Not completed in this budget year.
Course Capstone:
Before embarking on their internship, students finish their training with a capstone project. The capstone project challenges students to apply the knowledge and skills gained through the coursework to an open-ended project. This allows the students to complete and receive feedback on a project with a report and presentation before embarking on a rigorous 9-month project that culminates in an extensive report and presentation. Examples of projects from the eleventh cohort include bioprinting cell constructs for transplantation, evaluating novel scaffolds for 3D models of tumor metastasis, and developing a yeast model to student HIV infection, among others.
Internship:
After completing their coursework, our student begin their internship with one of our partners, listed above. Our internship partners provide a wide variety of project opportunities for our students, from fundamental biological studies in academic labs to device engineering at for-profit companies, and encompass several of the major physiological systems- gastrointestinal, immune, neural, and endocrine. Over the 9-month internship, students work full-time, live away from their home institution, and do not enroll in any formal coursework, so they can focus all of their efforts on the internship project.
Patient Engagement:
Students participate in a number of patient advocacy events near their internship sites to gain an appreciation for the patient's perspective of managing an unmet clinical need.
Grant Application Details
Application Title:
Interdisciplinary Master of Science Program in Regenerative Medicine
Public Abstract:
Our proposed (and existing) training program is an interdisciplinary Specialization in Regenerative Medicine, offered within the master of science (M.S.) degrees of three different departments from three academic units (colleges). The goal of our M.S. program is to graduate 10 day-one ready professionals per year capable of advancing CIRM's mission of accelerating stem cell treatments to patients with unmet clinical needs. The first step in achieving this goal is a year of coursework and project experience at our institution, which prepares students to maximize the educational value of their internship by training them to:
1) perform fundamental laboratory procedures involved in regenerative medicine research & development (including cell culture, cell transplantation, microscopy, and molecular biology)
2) discuss and critically evaluate biomedical primary literature
3) effectively communicate technical topics to both peer and lay audiences
4) explain the process of biotechnology development & commercialization
5) describe how research & development efforts are motivated by and impact physician & patient experiences
6) design and execute independent research projects.
It is important to note that the third learning objective above will involve community outreach with schools, partner community colleges, and the general community, while learning objectives four and five will involve in-person patient engagement, and training in product development and regulatory pathways for biologic therapies. Achieving these learning objectives, along with a 7-day immersive training course in pluripotent stem cell culture techniques, will allow students to more effectively advance product development and translational research during their 9-month internship at commercial or academic institutions, respectively. Further facilitating their internship effectiveness will be the full-time nature of their effort, with no coursework other than the Internship Course, students will be able to focus exclusively on their project. The results of our past students' internship projects have been included in journal publication, conference presentation, patent applications, and regulatory approval documents filed with the FDA. These outcomes clearly demonstrate that through their internship projects and post-graduate activities, our students have, and with the receipt of this award would continue, to contribute to CIRM's mission of accelerating stem cell treatments to patients with unmet clinical needs during their internship and in their post-graduate career.
Statement of Benefit to California:
This program will benefit California in two main ways. First, and with regard to the direct involvement in accelerating stem cell treatments to patients with unmet needs, our pre-internship curriculum will prepare students to use their internship experience to advance both translational research and product development, accelerating the identification of new therapeutic targets/strategies and accelerating the movement of therapeutic products into the market. Also in this regard, our graduates will strengthen the California economy and ultimately improve patient health by boosting the biotechnology workforce with day-one ready professionals, ready to advance the burgeoning biotechnology area of cell-based treatments. Second, our community outreach activities will help build a diverse human-capital 'pipeline' by motivating students in secondary school and community colleges to pursue advanced degrees in the regenerative medicine field. These outreach activities will also develop awareness, support, and enthusiasm among the general public for regenerative medicine solutions.
Graduates of our program have impacted a number of fields, by performing fundamental and translational research in both academic laboratories (as research associates and doctoral students) and for-profit companies, developing and manufacturing regenerative medicine products at for-profit companies, and participating in clinical-trial organization at large medical centers. Additionally, our graduates who are employed at for-profit companies in the medical device sector are indirectly benefiting the field by providing their regenerative medicine perspective to traditional device design and development. We expect similar impacts by the graduates of the proposed program.
