Grant Award Details
- This program at the Salk Institute supports training of postdoctoral fellows by providing research opportunities, coursework, seminars, conference attendance, and outreach activities. The specific focus of this program is human stem cell biology.
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Grant Application Details
- Training in the Biology of Human Embryonic Stem Cells and Emerging Technologies II
Stem cells are the primitive cells that give rise to the different tissue types in the body. In a way, stem cells are the universal cells from which all cells are derived. Their unlimited proliferation and differentiation potential raises the prospect that stem cells could be used as therapeutic tools offering hope for millions who suffer from debilitating diseases and conditions for which there are limited or no treatments including: neurological disease, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, and osteoporosis. Furthermore, stem cells may serve as diagnostic tools, cancer perhaps being one of the most promising areas. But before these potential applications become a reality, scientists need to be educated and trained so to have a better understanding of the mechanisms by which human embryonic stem cells renew themselves indefinitely as well as the cellular and molecular mechanisms that control their differentiation to the different type of cells and tissues of the human body. This Training program is designed to develop and enhance research opportunities for postdoctoral fellows training for careers in the field of human stem cell biology. Our goals are to develop a curriculum of study and research experiences necessary to provide high quality research training and to ensure a continuing supply of well-trained scientists prepared to conduct cutting-edge health-related research in human embryonic stem cell biology. Training in research has been a key activity of the applicant institute since its inception, reflected in the fact that many of the more than 2,000 scientists trained at the Institute have gone on to positions of leadership in other prominent research centers worldwide, including five Nobel prizes. This proposal aims to continue this record of achievement by capitalizing on the multi-disciplinary range of conceptual and methodological expertise present at the applicant institute in the stem cell biomedical field.
Neurological and cardiovascular disorders, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, cancer and osteoporosis strike no less than 10 million Californians each year, causing an incalculable personal toll and an annual economic cost of billions of dollars in medical expenses and lost productivity. Stem cells are the primitive cells that give rise to the different tissue types in the body. In a way, stem cells are the universal cells from which all cells are derived. Their unlimited proliferation and differentiation potential raises the prospect that stem cells could be used as therapeutic tools offering hope for millions of Californians who suffer from debilitating diseases and conditions for which there are limited or no treatments. But before these potential applications become a reality, scientists need to be educated and trained so to have a better understanding of the mechanisms by which human embryonic stem cells renew themselves indefinitely as well as the cellular and molecular mechanisms that control their differentiation to the different type of cells and tissues of the human body. In this proposal we aim to provide a high quality research training and to ensure a continuing supply of well-trained scientists prepared to conduct cutting-edge health-related research in human embryonic stem cell biology. A key benefit derived from this Training grant proposal is the training of new scientists to serve as educators and researchers for the future, many in the burgeoning area of stem cell biology for which the State of California has emerged as a world's leader. Furthermore, and as a result of their research activities, specific tools and methods for reducing medical costs and increasing the quality of life and level of productivity of afflicted Californians might be generated. Finally, the discoveries derived from innovative and multidisciplinary research on hES cells by the trained scientists are likely to lead to important new areas of intellectual property that are essential for creating high quality jobs in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in California.
Publications
- Circulation (2015) Identification of novel long noncoding RNAs underlying vertebrate cardiovascular development. (PubMed: 25739401)
- Stem Cells (2014) Conversion of Human Fibroblasts into Monocyte-Like Progenitor Cells. (PubMed: 25175072)
- Curr Opin Genet Dev (2014) Reprogramming by lineage specifiers: blurring the lines between pluripotency and differentiation. (PubMed: 25461451)
- Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (2014) Generation of multiciliated cells in functional airway epithelia from human induced pluripotent stem cells. (PubMed: 24706852)
- Cell Stem Cell (2014) Targeted gene correction minimally impacts whole-genome mutational load in human-disease-specific induced pluripotent stem cell clones. (PubMed: 24996168)
- Korean J Physiol Pharmacol (2013) Regulation of ca(2+) signaling in pulmonary hypertension. (PubMed: 23439762)
- Cell Res (2013) Parkin mitochondrial translocation is achieved through a novel catalytic activity coupled mechanism. (PubMed: 23670163)
- Nature (2013) A regenerative approach to the treatment of multiple sclerosis. (PubMed: 24107995)
- Nat Cell Biol (2013) Directed differentiation of human pluripotent cells to ureteric bud kidney progenitor-like cells. (PubMed: 24240476)
- Trends Cell Biol (2013) Concealing cellular defects in pluripotent stem cells. (PubMed: 23916626)
- Physiol Rep (2013) Thrombin-mediated activation of Akt signaling contributes to pulmonary vascular remodeling in pulmonary hypertension. (PubMed: 24744867)
- Mol Psychiatry (2012) Modeling psychiatric disorders at the cellular and network levels. (PubMed: 22472874)
- Pulm Circ (2012) Identification of functional progenitor cells in the pulmonary vasculature. (PubMed: 22558524)
- Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (2012) Widespread dynamic DNA methylation in response to biotic stress. (PubMed: 22733782)
- Prog Biophys Mol Biol (2012) Animal models of pulmonary hypertension: Rho kinase inhibition. (PubMed: 22713173)
- Nature (2012) Embryonic stem cell potency fluctuates with endogenous retrovirus activity. (PubMed: 22722858)
- Nat Methods (2012) Conversion of human fibroblasts to angioblast-like progenitor cells. (PubMed: 23202434)
- Stem Cells (2011) Beyond Phenotype: The Promise of hiPSC-Based Studies of Schizophrenia. (PubMed: 22009633)
- Am J Physiol Cell Physiol (2011) PDGF enhances store-operated Ca2+ entry by upregulating STIM1/Orai1 via activation of Akt/mTOR in human pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells. (PubMed: 22031597)
- Nature (2011) Recapitulation of premature ageing with iPSCs from Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome. (PubMed: 21346760)
- Cell Stem Cell (2011) Targeted Gene Correction of Laminopathy-Associated LMNA Mutations in Patient-Specific iPSCs. (PubMed: 21596650)
- Mol Cells (2011) Pluripotency of male germline stem cells. (PubMed: 21448589)
- Nature (2011) Modelling schizophrenia using human induced pluripotent stem cells. (PubMed: 21490598)
- Genes Dev (2011) Endogenous retroviruses and neighboring genes are coordinately repressed by LSD1/KDM1A. (PubMed: 21357675)
- Stem Cells (2011) Efficient Generation of Hematopoietic Precursors and Progenitors From Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines. (PubMed: 21544903)