Concepts and Model Organisms in Regenerative Biology

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DESCRIPTION (Provided by Applicant): Funds are requested for partial support of U.S.-based scientists and students in the Americas to participate in the Short Course Concepts and Model Organisms in Regenerative Biology, to be held at Pontificia Universidad Cat¿lica de Chile in Santiago, Chile, November 2-11, 2010. This will be the third major collaborative training event between the Society for Developmental Biology (SDB) and the Latin American Society for Developmental Biology (LASDB) in Latin America, with the participation of distinguished scientists and top students from the United States (15) and Latin American countries (15). The first two short courses were held in spring of 2005 in Brazil and fall of 2008 in Argentina. This third course will be satellite to the LASDB's 5TH International Meeting, which will allow the students to attend and present their own work to a larger international audience. Regenerative biology is not usually covered in developmental biology courses, despite the obvious correlation between these two processes. This course will emphasize the common steps and advances that have allowed us to further understand how organisms develop and maintain their integrity in adulthood, and the potential applications in medicine in the near future. Students will be exposed to the fundamental concepts, questions, model organisms, and research tools used in both areas, and will be encouraged to draw their own associations between these processes. The instructors were selected primarily for the excellence of their research in respective specialties, their dynamic teaching approach, and their willingness to continue collaborative efforts after the course. They will give a balanced view of the potentials and limitations of the traditional and emerging technologies, as well as model organisms used in such studies. The practical sessions held in laboratories with state-of-the-art equipment will provide plenty opportunity for the students to acquire hands-on experience working with different organisms that have well-known as well as those with uncommon regenerative properties: mouse, frog, zebrafish, salamander, fly, roundworm, planarian, sea cucumber, and plant. Students will be selected from applications submitted by postdoctoral fellows and advanced graduate students in the U.S., and from graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and young faculty in Latin America, based on their previous experience and interest in the field. Latin American faculty in other disciplines who are considering a change in the focus of their research to regenerative/developmental biology will also be eligible. Most of the students in the short course are expected to enter the pipeline for supply of future investigators and educators in biology and related areas. This short course will broaden the exposure of these students to the fields of regenerative and developmental biology, in the form of a training event of the highest quality, as well as to offer opportunities to work with established laboratories in the various countries. PROJECT NARRATIVE: This short course "Concepts and Model Organisms in Regenerative Biology" is organized jointly by the Society for Developmental Biology (in U.S.) and the Latin American Society for Developmental Biology (LASDB). It aims in training postdoctoral fellows and advanced graduate students in the Western Hemisphere in understanding the fundamental questions and innovative approaches in developmental and regenerative biology, and in its applications to health. The selected students are in the pipeline for supplying future investigators and faculty in this and related areas, and will enhance collaborative research efforts among the laboratories in the Americas.