Graduate Training in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine

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PROJECT SUMMARY This new T32 application seeks support for predoctoral training in the newly established doctoral degree program in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (SCBRM) at Stanford University. The SCBRM graduate program is the first new doctoral degree program at the School of Medicine in more than 20 years. The program faculty span multiple schools and departments at Stanford and our primary goal is to train the best scientists in this new discipline through a combination of basic stem cell biology and the role of stem cells in the development, maintenance, and disease pathogenesis of human tissues and organs. Over the last decade, fundamental discoveries in the biomedical and physical sciences have generated a strong climate of expectation that discoveries should and will lead to new medical applications and novel therapies. There is no greater expectation than that produced within the broad discipline of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, an established area of study that rests squarely on an unprecedented intersection of disciplines. On the one hand, rapid advances in basic biology, genetics, material sciences, nanotechnology, engineering, and physics are providing extraordinary new tools for harnessing stem cells in regenerative medicine. On the other hand, rapid and continued growth of financial investment in translational medicine by national, state, and private entities targets research dollars with an increasing focus on applied science. Research in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine also raises ethical and legal concerns that are unique in all of biological research; thus, this broad intersection of disciplines is producing a new breed of scientist, one with skills that embrace biological and physical sciences, medicine, business, ethics and law. In the following application we outline a novel predoctoral curriculum and training plan that provides a strong foundation in developmental and cellular biology, genetics, and biochemistry. These intellectual strengths are partnered with clinical science, bioengineering, business, ethics and law to produce a new generation of scientist who is both motivated and capable of translating stem cell discoveries into new applications in regenerative medicine.