Training Scholars in Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research
Grant Award Details
Grant Type:
Grant Number:
EDUC4-12811
Investigator(s):
Award Value:
$5,304,759
Status:
Active
Progress Reports
Reporting Period:
Year 1
Reporting Period:
Year 2
Reporting Period:
Year 3
Grant Application Details
Application Title:
Training Scholars in Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research
Public Abstract:
The goal of the program is to give trainees at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) a well-rounded understanding of regenerative medicine approaches, stem cell biology, and their clinical and ethical implications. The activities enabled by this training program will provide trainees a unique approach and set of tools to subsequently pursue regenerative medicine and stem cell biology in basic research, biotechnology or pharmaceutical enterprises. This training will lower future barriers for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to engage in regenerative medicine research.
This program will be interdisciplinary in nature and will expand the existing postdoctoral and graduate programs at TSRI with training on understanding and controlling the cellular processes involved in human embryonic and adult stem cell self-renewal and differentiation, their application for expanding our mechanistic understanding of disease, the development of novel drugs to target those pathways, and ethical considerations. Trainees will also engage in a variety of outreach activities to help educate and inspire the broader San Diego community (K-12 students and undergraduates) on topics relating to regenerative medicine, with the goal of reducing disparities and disproportionate access to science.
Predoctoral trainees will be fully integrated with the Skaggs Graduate School, an interdisciplinary program that provides rigorous training in chemistry, chemical biology, synthetic biology, neurosciences, immunology, cell biology, and biophysics. The Doctoral Program in Chemical and Biological Sciences has ranked top-10 in chemistry and biology for the last 20 years (U.S. World and News).
CIRM trainees will have access to the full spectrum of research at TSRI. Uniquely, trainees will have the opportunity to collaborate with Calibr, TSRI’s drug discovery division, to take their scientific discoveries from the bench to the bedside. Though this process, they will gain exposure to all the challenges and opportunities of developing stem cell-based therapies and advancing them into the clinic, where they will gain an understanding of patient needs and contribute to the development of innovative new therapies for regenerative medicine in numerous diseases settings.
The CIRM EDUC4 training program will augment our existing training programs with access to courses and support for advancing regenerative medicine and include collaborative research projects between chemistry and biology graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Such collaborations will provide a unique opportunity for trainees to assimilate the tools and approaches of both chemistry and biology in the context of important problems in stem cell biology. These joint projects may include chemists and biologists from neighboring institutions including UCSD, Salk, Sanford Burnham and the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, which, because of their close proximity, allow frequent and direct interactions.
This program will be interdisciplinary in nature and will expand the existing postdoctoral and graduate programs at TSRI with training on understanding and controlling the cellular processes involved in human embryonic and adult stem cell self-renewal and differentiation, their application for expanding our mechanistic understanding of disease, the development of novel drugs to target those pathways, and ethical considerations. Trainees will also engage in a variety of outreach activities to help educate and inspire the broader San Diego community (K-12 students and undergraduates) on topics relating to regenerative medicine, with the goal of reducing disparities and disproportionate access to science.
Predoctoral trainees will be fully integrated with the Skaggs Graduate School, an interdisciplinary program that provides rigorous training in chemistry, chemical biology, synthetic biology, neurosciences, immunology, cell biology, and biophysics. The Doctoral Program in Chemical and Biological Sciences has ranked top-10 in chemistry and biology for the last 20 years (U.S. World and News).
CIRM trainees will have access to the full spectrum of research at TSRI. Uniquely, trainees will have the opportunity to collaborate with Calibr, TSRI’s drug discovery division, to take their scientific discoveries from the bench to the bedside. Though this process, they will gain exposure to all the challenges and opportunities of developing stem cell-based therapies and advancing them into the clinic, where they will gain an understanding of patient needs and contribute to the development of innovative new therapies for regenerative medicine in numerous diseases settings.
The CIRM EDUC4 training program will augment our existing training programs with access to courses and support for advancing regenerative medicine and include collaborative research projects between chemistry and biology graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Such collaborations will provide a unique opportunity for trainees to assimilate the tools and approaches of both chemistry and biology in the context of important problems in stem cell biology. These joint projects may include chemists and biologists from neighboring institutions including UCSD, Salk, Sanford Burnham and the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, which, because of their close proximity, allow frequent and direct interactions.
Statement of Benefit to California:
The proposed research and training program will provide interdisciplinary training for a diverse group of graduate and postdoctoral fellows in regenerative medicine with the goal of advancing stem cell research and increasing the number of scientific leaders and researchers in stem cell research. The program will give trainees a well-rounded understanding of regenerative medicine approaches, stem cell biology, therapeutic development, and their clinical and ethical implications. Trainees will not only gain experience in chemistry and biology, but also have the opportunity to engage with translational research and precision and digital medicine. The activities enabled by this training program will provide trainees a unique approach and set of tools with which to subsequently pursue regenerative medicine and stem cell biology in basic research, biotechnology or pharmaceutical enterprises. Trainees will engage in a variety of outreach activities to educate the local community on topics relating to regenerative medicine, with the goal of reducing disparities and disproportionate access to science. We expect that these trainees will become the future scientific leaders and researchers in the field of regenerative medicine who will address critical unmet medical needs using stem cell and regenerative medicine-based therapies for the benefit of the public. The State of California will benefit not only from the scientific and therapeutic advances that trainees will make, but also the cultivation of talented young people in the field and development of a well-trained workforce.
Publications
- RSC Chem Biol (2023): A covalent inhibitor of the YAP-TEAD transcriptional complex identified by high-throughput screening. (PubMed: 37920398)
- bioRxiv (2023): Pharmacological inhibition of CLK2 activates YAP by promoting alternative splicing of AMOTL2. (PubMed: 37131806)