Cellular Approaches to Tissue Engineering/Regeneration

描述(由申请人提供)： 匹兹堡大学(UOP)正在寻求我们在组织工程和再生细胞方法(CATER)方面的多学科博士前培训计划的支持。在过去的十年里，UOP一直处于这一领域研究的前沿，并继续对该学科的未来进行投资。然而，我们在前沿的工作向我们表明，对于必须学习在高度跨学科领域工作的受训者来说，当前的系级博士前培训计划并不是理想的基础。很明显，现在是时候通过课程开发来定义这一领域，培养一批跨学科的科学家和工程师，他们将负责传递围绕该领域的希望和炒作。广义的组织工程是开发和操作人工生物或生物杂交植入物、实验室培养的组织、细胞和分子，以取代或支持身体有缺陷或受伤部分的功能。组织工程和细胞治疗是再生医学的工具，在没有生物材料的情况下可以被认为是组织工程。细胞工程和组织工程是两个密不可分的交叉学科领域，汇集了来自人类生物学、工程学、医学和应用技术的研究人员，专注于人体组织的修复和替换。再生医学中最重大的挑战之一是培养每一个使能学科的下一代专家，使他们认识到解决组织工程问题所需的跨学科挑战和方法。我们认为，解决这一需求的答案是开发一个跨学科的博士前培训计划，让工程师或生命科学家在该领域有一个共同的基础。我们认为，在不牺牲纪律专注和卓越的情况下提供这一基础是至关重要的。我们成立了CATER，以填补部门重点研究培训所造成的空白。总之，我们寻求迎合研究生的独特需求，他们希望成为将再生医学从实验室推向临床的研究人员。Cater在任何意义上都是为了向学生提供他们在一个快速发展的高度跨学科领域的出现所需的东西。CATER培训计划的目标是为在人类疾病和损伤的细胞和组织治疗方面建立一个富有成效的独立职业生涯提供坚实的基础。这一目标是通过高度协调和指导的跨学科培训计划实现的，该计划结合了必修课和选修课、研究活动和专门的培训机会。拟议的培训计划包括生物工程系、麦高恩再生医学研究所和病理学系的教师，以提供在细胞/组织再生和工程方面的科学前沿的独特教育和研究经验。这种培训教师、研究兴趣和课程的结合为学生提供了丰富的教育经验和更多的培训机会，而不是单个大学院系所能获得的培训机会。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The University of Pittsburgh (UOP) is seeking support of our multidisciplinary pre-doctoral training program in Cellular Approaches to Tissue Engineering and Regeneration (CATER). UOP has been at the forefront of research in this field for the last decade and continues to invest in the future of the discipline. Our work at the cutting edge, however, has demonstrated to us that current departmental pre-doctoral training programs are not ideal foundations for trainees who must learn to work in a highly interdisciplinary field. It is clear that the time has come to define the field through curriculum development and to educate a cadre of interdisciplinary scientists and engineers who will become responsible for delivering on the hope and hype that surrounds the field. Broadly defined, tissue engineering is the development and manipulation of artificial biological or bio-hybrid implants, laboratory-grown tissues, cells and molecules to replace or support the function of defective or injured parts of the body. Tissue engineering and cellular therapy, which can be considered tissue engineering in the absence of biomaterials, are tools for regenerative medicine. Cellular and tissue engineering are two interdisciplinary fields that are inseparably coupled, bringing together researchers from human biology, engineering, medicine and applied technology to focus on the repair and replacement of human tissues. One of the most significant challenges in regenerative medicine is developing the next generation of experts in each of the enabling disciplines to be trained cognizant of the cross-disciplinary challenges and approaches needed to solve tissue engineering problems. We believe that the answer to this need is to develop a cross-disciplinary pre-doctoral training program that gives engineers or life scientists a common grounding in the field. We believe it is vital to deliver this foundation without sacrificing disciplinary focus and excellence. We have established CATER to fill the gaps that departmentally focused research training cause. In summary, we seek to CATER to the unique needs of graduate students who wish to become the researchers who drive regenerative medicine from the laboratory to the clinic. CATER is in every sense about providing students with what they need to succeed in the emergence of a rapidly evolving highly interdisciplinary area. The goal of the CATER training program is to provide a solid foundation upon which to build a productive independent career in cellular and tissue based therapy for human disease and injury. This goal is accomplished via a highly coordinated and mentored interdisciplinary training program with a combination of required and elective courses, research activities, and specialized training opportunities. The proposed Training Program incorporates faculty from the Bioengineering department, the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and the Department of Pathology to provide a unique educational and research experience at the leading edge of science with respect to cellular / tissue regeneration and engineering. This combination of training faculty research interests and coursework provides a rich educational experience and more numerous training opportunities for the students than could be obtained within the individual university departments.