Engineering Polymers for Stem-Cell-Fate Regulation and Regenerative Medicine

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ID: MPS/DMR/BMAT(7623) 1104752 PI: S. Wolf/S. Heilshorn ORG: Gordon Conf/Stanford UTitle: Engineering Polymers for Stem-Cell-Fate Regulation and Regenerative MedicineINTELLECTUAL MERIT: This proposal will support travel awards for graduate students, post-docs, and underrepresented and junior faculty to attend and present at a 2.5-day symposium on Engineering Polymers for Stem-Cell-Fate Regulation and Regenerative Medicine at the Spring Materials Research Society National Meeting in San Francisco, CA, April 25-29, 2011. The broad focus of the symposium is to assess how the recent advances in molecular design, synthesis, and micro and nano-scale fabrication of polymeric materials can be integrated with stem cell biology to develop new strategies in stem cell-based therapies and regenerative medicine. In particular, the emphasis will be placed on using novel technologies in polymer science and engineering to control both biochemical and biophysical signals, to regulate these signals in space and time, and to investigate stem cell behavior and fate in such engineered microenvironments and their implications for regenerative medicine. BROADER IMPACTS:The objective of this symposium is to define an inclusive community of researchers with interdisciplinary perspectives working at the intersection of polymer science, engineering, and stem cell biology toward the goal of revolutionizing stem cell-based therapies over the coming decade. Thus, the broader impacts of this project are to initiate exchange of ideas and promote new multi-disciplinary collaborations among materials scientists, life scientists, engineers, and clinicians. The project will also enable junior scientists, including graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and junior faculty, particularly those in underrepresented groups, to present their research findings and to interact with the community of established researchers in this field. The event will also publicize recent advances in the design and synthesis of polymeric biomaterials and their use in both fundamental discovery-driven stem cell biology and applied regenerative medicine therapies.