A COMPASS to guide the growth of a diverse regenerative medicine workforce that represents California and benefits the world
Grant Award Details
Grant Type:
Grant Number:
EDUC5-13733
Investigator(s):
Award Value:
$2,877,792
Status:
Active
Progress Reports
Reporting Period:
Year 1
Reporting Period:
Year 2
Grant Application Details
Application Title:
A COMPASS to guide the growth of a diverse regenerative medicine workforce that represents California and benefits the world
Public Abstract:
We are in a regenerative medicine revolution- cell and gene therapies are curing previously incurable diseases. Enabling the universal implementation of regenerative medicines requires 1) an interdisciplinary talent pipeline that doesn’t exist, and 2) diverse perspectives that make up our great state, to ensure everyone benefits from regenerative medicines. The goal of our COMPASS program is to contribute to both requirements by developing a novel interdisciplinary undergraduate training program that supports and serves students representing the diversity of California. Our program will provide novel coursework, paid summer internships, and a capstone research project with wholistic mentoring and opportunities for patient engagement throughout.
We will use program and trainee funds to recruit and support community college students and internal undergraduate students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds. Students will join our interdisciplinary program from majors including biomedical engineering, biology, biochemistry, or related fields, and will participate as COMPASS Scholars during their junior and senior years. During the junior year, Scholars will take two lecture/lab courses in cell therapy that will prepare them for their internships. The lecture portions of the courses will focus on engineered immune cells to treat cancer, principles of cell manufacturing, and emerging cell therapies for neural, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases. In the laboratory portions, students will learn to isolate and culture cells, grow cells at large scale, purify cells, and assess cell quality. In addition to these technical courses, all Scholars will complete a general education course on the impact of race, gender, and community on science & technology to develop their understanding of healthcare disparities, while also participating in patient engagement and outreach activities.
After their junior year, Scholars will embark on a paid summer internship or summer-fall ‘co-op’ with one of our industry partners, working at the forefront of translating regenerative medicines into clinical practice. Our biotech industry partners are using immune cells for cancer, engineered stem cells for blood-based genetic diseases, cell therapies for cardiovascular, neural, and metabolic diseases, gene therapies for neural diseases, and more. We also have industry partners building the instruments for cell processing/evaluation.
In their senior year, Scholars will return to campus to complete major coursework and a capstone project in the research lab of their faculty mentor. The capstone project will provide an opportunity to further advance Scholars’ lab skills and their ability to design, execute, and analyze a research study. The combination of novel coursework, cutting edge industry internships, undergraduate research, and holistic mentoring will provide Scholars with the skills and abilities needed for a successful career in regenerative medicine.
We will use program and trainee funds to recruit and support community college students and internal undergraduate students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds. Students will join our interdisciplinary program from majors including biomedical engineering, biology, biochemistry, or related fields, and will participate as COMPASS Scholars during their junior and senior years. During the junior year, Scholars will take two lecture/lab courses in cell therapy that will prepare them for their internships. The lecture portions of the courses will focus on engineered immune cells to treat cancer, principles of cell manufacturing, and emerging cell therapies for neural, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases. In the laboratory portions, students will learn to isolate and culture cells, grow cells at large scale, purify cells, and assess cell quality. In addition to these technical courses, all Scholars will complete a general education course on the impact of race, gender, and community on science & technology to develop their understanding of healthcare disparities, while also participating in patient engagement and outreach activities.
After their junior year, Scholars will embark on a paid summer internship or summer-fall ‘co-op’ with one of our industry partners, working at the forefront of translating regenerative medicines into clinical practice. Our biotech industry partners are using immune cells for cancer, engineered stem cells for blood-based genetic diseases, cell therapies for cardiovascular, neural, and metabolic diseases, gene therapies for neural diseases, and more. We also have industry partners building the instruments for cell processing/evaluation.
In their senior year, Scholars will return to campus to complete major coursework and a capstone project in the research lab of their faculty mentor. The capstone project will provide an opportunity to further advance Scholars’ lab skills and their ability to design, execute, and analyze a research study. The combination of novel coursework, cutting edge industry internships, undergraduate research, and holistic mentoring will provide Scholars with the skills and abilities needed for a successful career in regenerative medicine.
Statement of Benefit to California:
Our COMPASS Scholars Program will provide numerous benefits to the state of California and its citizens.
First, approximately 25 Scholars, who may not have otherwise had the resources or “cultural capital” to attend or thrive at our university, will receive the finances and support necessary to enroll in our program, where they will complete courses, industry internships, and research projects with the support of a comprehensive mentoring program that will launch them into successful careers in regenerative medicine. This will increase opportunities for talented students from our state who come from underrepresented populations, and/or who have historically faced barriers to inclusion.
Second, hundreds of other students will benefit from the recruitment procedures, outreach, mentoring processes, coursework, and/or industry partnerships that we develop for the COMPASS Scholars Program, as we intend to broadly implement our best practices where appropriate. If other institutions choose to implement our best practices, based on the journal articles that we publish on those practices, then the beneficiaries of our approach could extend into the thousands of students each year.
Third, biotech companies will see their products advance more efficiently toward commercial implementation through the efforts of uniquely trained COMPASS Scholars and their classmates, as our graduates leverage our novel training program to make immediate impacts in their professional careers. These companies will also benefit from having more diverse perspectives and backgrounds within their workforce.
Fourth, all Californians will benefit from the availability of regenerative medicines that our COMPASS Scholars will help deliver sooner and more universally than they otherwise would be.
