TRANSCEND – Training Program to Advance Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Research, Education, and Workforce Diversity

The objective of our training program is to increase the number and diversity of highly qualified PhD and postdoctoral level scientists trained in stem cell biology in the California workforce and to provide trainees with the communication skills they need to be successful. Training is being offered through TRANSCEND (Training Program to Advance Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Research, Education and Workforce Diversity), an interdisciplinary program with an emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and equality. This year we recruited two cohorts of trainees into TRANSCEND. This includes 8 predoctoral and 3 postdoctoral level trainees. Our mentors come from the Bourns College of Engineering, the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, and the School of Medicine. The mentors’ labs provide research training dealing with stem cells and regenerative medicine in the areas of: (1) Bioengineering, (2) Neuroscience and Neurodegenerative Disease, and (3) Prevention and Treatment of Birth Defects and Reproductive Failure. Training is interdisciplinary with cross training in the life sciences, biomedical sciences, and engineering. The current cohort of trainees is working on projects dealing with mechano-electrical control of neural stem cell fate, engineering smart self-oxygenating hydrogels, developing tissue engineering grafts for nerve regeneration, engineering a perfusable stem cell derived skeletal muscle, identification of critical factors needed for lung regeneration, using stem cells to model disease and identify factors that may cause birth defects, understanding factors controlling bone development and maintenance of pluripotency, and guiding differentiation of corneal tissue. TRANSCEND students have attended and presented their research this year at international meetings including the International Society for Stem Cell Research and the Society of Toxicology. All the predoctoral trainees completed our graduate level course in Stem Cell Biology and Medicine (CMDB 207) and five of the predoctoral trainees are currently taking our certificate course in Science to Policy. All predoctoral trainees will enroll in our Stem Cell Ethics class this spring quarter which will be taught jointly with staff from UCR and UCI. Postdoctoral trainees have been auditing these classes. The program participated in two stem cell seminars this year. One was taught in winter quarter 2022 (CMDB 255) and featured seminars given by graduate students from Inland Empire campuses, including three of our TRANSCEND trainees. In the spring of 2022, we offered a stem cell seminar course with invited speakers from other campuses. Because this was offered virtually this year, we were able to host speakers from other parts of the country and from other countries. All TRANSCEND trainees attended both seminar series. TRANSCEND combined with our CIRM funded Sparks program (called Stride) for high school students to sponsor a Symposium in July 2022 in which our Stride students presented posters and four of our TRANSCEND trainees gave platform talks. We also featured a keynote address delivered by a patient advocate for Huntington’s disease. Our students also engaged in various outreach activities. This included hosting tables at the Night of Arts and Innovation in downtown Riverside. Numerous citizens came by our tables to see human embryonic stem cells through a microscope and to learn about the stem cell work done at UCR. Two patient advocates hosted the table with the TRANSCEND team and distributed information on diseases that could be treated or cured with stem cell therapy. This fall, all the trainees presented either posters or platform talks at the Inland Empire Stem Cell Consortium Symposium, which was hosted by California State University at San Bernardino. UCR is located in California’s Inland Empire, which is one of the most highly diversified and medically underserved areas in our state. Our first cohort of trainees is comprised of 18% underrepresented, 27% disadvantaged background, and 8% special needs students (53% total) with women representing 55% of this cohort. We are collaborating with other campuses in southern California to enrich the education of our TRANSCEND trainees. This includes a jointly taught Bioethics class with UCI, which will be offered in Spring of 2023 and sponsoring a joint retreat with the City of Hope this coming January. These activities will broaden the trainees’ exposure to new research areas and help establish valuable networks with their peers. More information about TRANSCEND can be found on our website: https://transcend.ucr.edu/.

The objective of our training program is to increase the number and diversity of highly qualified PhD and postdoctoral level scientists trained in stem cell biology in the California workforce and to provide trainees with the communication skills they need to be successful. Training is being offered through TRANSCEND (Training Program to Advance Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Research, Education and Workforce Diversity), an interdisciplinary program with an emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and equality. This year we recruited 2 postdoctoral level trainees and 8 predoctoral trainees. Our mentors come from the Bourns College of Engineering, the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, and the School of Medicine. The mentors’ labs provide research training dealing with stem cells and regenerative medicine in the areas of: (1) Bioengineering, (2) Neuroscience and Neurodegenerative Disease, and (3) Prevention and Treatment of Birth Defects and Reproductive Failure. Training is interdisciplinary with cross training in the life sciences, biomedical sciences, and engineering. The current cohort of trainees is working on projects dealing with mechano-electrical control of neural stem cell fate, engineering smart self-oxygenating hydrogels, developing tissue engineering grafts for nerve regeneration, engineering a perfusable stem cell derived skeletal muscle, identification of critical factors needed for lung regeneration, using stem cells to model disease and identify factors that may cause birth defects, understanding factors controlling bone development and maintenance of pluripotency, using organoids to study epilepsy, evaluating intestinal stem cell regulation, and guiding differentiation of corneal tissue. TRANSCEND trainees have attended and presented their research this year at international meetings including the International Society for Stem Cell Research and the Society of Toxicology. In Year 2, three postdoctoral trainees audited our graduate level course in Stem Cell Biology and Medicine (CMDB 207) and five of the predoctoral trainees completed our certificate course in Science to Policy. All predoctoral trainees are currently enrolled in our Stem Cell Ethics class and three postdoctoral trainees are auditing. The program participated in two stem cell seminars this year. One was taught in winter quarter 2023 (CMDB 255) and featured seminars given by graduate students from Inland Empire campuses, including talks given by TRANSCEND trainees. In the spring of 2023, we offered a stem cell seminar course with invited speakers from around the world. All TRANSCEND trainees attended both seminar series. TRANSCEND combined with our CIRM funded Sparks program (called STRIDE) for high school students and Compass program (called RAMP) for undergraduate students to sponsor a Symposium in July 2023 in which our STRIDE and RAMP students presented posters and five of our TRANSCEND trainees gave platform talks. We also featured a keynote address delivered by Jacqueline Hantgan who is CIRM’s Senior Advisor for Community Outreach & Advocacy. Her presentation was titled: "Patient Advocacy & California’s Stem Cell Agency: Impact on Reducing Human Suffering". Our students also engaged in various outreach activities. These included mentoring local high school students in labs and volunteering at special community events. All the trainees also presented either posters or platform talks at the Inland Empire Stem Cell Consortium Symposium on November 3, 2023, which was hosted by California University of Science and Medicine. UCR is located in California’s Inland Empire, which is one of the most highly diversified and medically underserved areas in our state. This year’s recruited trainees are 33% underrepresented with women being 67% of this cohort. We are collaborating with other campuses in southern California to enrich the education of our TRANSCEND trainees. This included a joint retreat with the City of Hope this past January and full participation of City of Hope in our recent Inland Empire Stem Cell Consortium Symposium. These activities are broadening the trainees’ exposure to new research areas and help them establish valuable networks with their peers. More information about TRANSCEND can be found on our website: https://transcend.ucr.edu/.

The objective of our training program is to increase the number and diversity of highly qualified PhD and postdoctoral level scientists trained in stem cell biology in the California workforce and to provide trainees with the communication skills they need to be successful. Training is being offered through TRANSCEND (Training Program to Advance Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Research, Education and Workforce Diversity), an interdisciplinary program with an emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and equality. This year we began recruitment of four postdoctoral trainees, and we had 1 predoctoral and 2 postdoctoral trainees complete the program. Our mentors come from the Bourns College of Engineering, the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, and the School of Medicine. The mentors’ labs provide research training dealing with stem cells and regenerative medicine in the areas of: (1) Bioengineering, (2) Neuroscience and Neurodegenerative Disease, and (3) Prevention and Treatment of Birth Defects and Reproductive Failure. Training is interdisciplinary with cross training in the life sciences, biomedical sciences, and engineering. The current cohort of trainees is working on projects dealing with mechano-electrical control of neural stem cell fate, engineering smart self-oxygenating hydrogels, developing tissue engineering grafts for nerve regeneration, engineering a perfusable stem cell derived skeletal muscle, identification of critical factors needed for lung regeneration, using stem cells to model disease and identify factors that may cause birth defects, understanding factors controlling bone development and maintenance of pluripotency, using organoids to study epilepsy, evaluating intestinal stem cell regulation, and guiding differentiation of corneal tissue. TRANSCEND trainees have attended and presented their research this year at international meetings including the International Society for Stem Cell Research and the Society of Toxicology. In Year 3, two postdoctoral trainees audited and four predoctoral trainees completed our graduate level course in Stem Cell Biology and Medicine (CMDB 207), five of the predoctoral trainees completed our certificate course in Science to Policy, and seven predoctoral trainees completed our course in Stem Cell Ethics (CMDB 208), while four postdoctoral trainees audited this course. The program participated in two stem cell seminars this year. One was taught in winter quarter 2024 (CMDB 255) and featured seminars given by graduate students from Inland Empire campuses, including talks given by TRANSCEND trainees. In the spring of 2024, we offered a stem cell seminar course with invited speakers from around the world. All TRANSCEND trainees attended both seminar series. This year, UCR hosted the CIRM sponsored SPARKS conference, which was attended by all Sparks trainees in California. This two-day conference was also attended by some of our Compass program (called RAMP) and TRANSCEND trainees. Our TRANSCEND trainees also participated in the CIRM sponsored networking conference held this year at USC. Trainees had a chance to present their research, meet trainees from other campuses, and meet CIRM administrators. Our Trainees also engaged in various outreach activities. These included mentoring local high school students in labs, judging science fairs, and volunteering at special community events. All the trainees also presented either posters or platform talks at the Inland Empire Stem Cell Consortium Symposium on November 22, 2024, which was hosted this year by UCR. Trainees had the opportunity to meet the keynote speaker Dr. Clive Svendsen from Cedars Sinai. Two of our trainees also participated in the Greater Los Angeles Regenerative Medicine Summit, which was held at the Lake Arrowhead Conference Center. We also provided two field trips to GMP facilities to expand the trainees’ exposure to clinical aspects of regenerative medicine. This year we began recruitment of four postdoctoral trainees. This recruitment will be completed early in 2025. The activities that the TRANSCEND Program offered this year are broadening the trainees’ exposure to new research areas and helping them establish valuable networks with their peers. More information about TRANSCEND can be found on our website: https://transcend.ucr.edu/.