The Gladstone CIRM Scholars Training Program has succeeded in maintaining an excellent group of trainees and recruiting exceptional trainees for the second year of the program. Gladstone’s mission is, “To drive a new era of discovery in disease-oriented science and to mentor tomorrow’s leaders in an inspiring and diverse environment.” Gladstone is unique because our scientific program is rooted in exemplary basic research while maintaining a focus on curing disease. We embrace the evolving landscape of science, leveraging the latest technologies to solve the most challenging biomedical problems. Indeed, stem cell research has been at the center of Gladstone’s approaches to understanding disease and discovering novel therapeutic approaches for over 15 years. Scientists at Gladstone conduct discovery research in many of the most important medical areas of modern times, including cardiovascular disease, immunology, virology, and neurodegenerative disorders. Research in each of these areas addresses promising targets for regenerative medicine.
During the past year, we maintained 8 trainees (6 postdoctoral and 2 clinical) from the first year of the program and selected 4 trainees (3 postdoctoral and 1 clinical) to participate in the second year of the program, totaling 12 trainees for Year 2. Since CIRM scholars have to leave the program to take jobs, awards, or other opportunities, we had open competitions to fill any empty slots. To recruit new scholars, we send a request for applicants, who then apply to the program. Scoring is done by our admissions committee that includes talented alumni of the Gladstone CIRM scholar program. Gladstone has hosted CIRM Scholars programs since 2015. To date we have hosted 47 different postdoctoral scholars. The alumni of the Gladstone CIRM scholar program are now in leadership positions at the leading academic institutions in the world, as well as cutting edge biotechnology companies.