Year 4
The training program funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine continues to be the centerpiece of the stem cell research program. Trainees are involved in research in many schools of the campus including biological sciences, medicine and engineering and are dissecting questions associated with the use of stem cells for regenerative medicine. The availability of such a training program has been of enormous benefit in recruiting new faculty since they see the availability of support for new trainees. This has resulted in the recruitment of new faculty from some of the finest institutions in the United States including Ivy League schools. Therefore, this has greatly benefited research on the campus and within California. Through this training grant funding, the trainees have been able to attend many national stem cell and regenerative medicine meetings which has allowed them to both present their data and to get feedback from experts in the field. The trainees have also participated in many public outreach activities in which they have had the opportunity to present their work to a lay audience. With public funding of research we feel it is a responsibility to describe our work to the people who fund it. Moreover, the ability to describe science to a lay audience for fundraising purposes is becoming an important aspect of scientific training. During the reporting period the trainees also had the opportunity to attend two locally organized meetings, one highlighting research on the campus and another international meeting on stem cells that has become the leading meeting of its’ kind in the world. The students, postdocs and clinical fellows have also published many important papers describing their work which have advanced the field of regenerative medicine.