The transformation of stem cell biology discoveries into technologies for a range of applications has enormous promise to impact a broad spectrum of society; however, achieving this aim will only occur if individuals are trained with the necessary interdisciplinary expertise to facilitate growth of the field. This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award to the Georgia Institute of Technology provides such training for Ph.D. graduate students by creating a comprehensive educational program that brings together technological innovation, commercialization, and public policy aspects of stem cell research. The specific research projects conducted as part of this training focus on developing standardized and quantitative methods necessary for stem cell isolation, characterization, propagation, and differentiation. Scalable biomanufacturing practices will be developed to efficiently produce sufficient numbers of stem cells and derivatives in readily accessible formats in order to meet the need for novel therapeutic and diagnostic applications of stem cells.
In addition to the research and educational activities to train Ph.D. students to be leaders in the field of stem cell biomanufacturing, one of the broader impacts of this program will be to provide students with a global scientific perspective based upon the established relationships with our international partners. Graduates will contribute to the burgeoning stem cell industry, catalyzing new biomedical and biotechnological opportunities for stem cells to impact society. A key broader impact and long-term objective of the program will be to foster the participation of members of underrepresented groups in stem cell engineering.
IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries.
