This application seeks funds to support travel awards for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and young investigators to participate in the Second Annual Symposium on Regenerative Rehabilitation. The actualization of this symposium is timely, as the translation of cutting-edge regenerative medicine approaches into clinical practice is occurring at an unprecedented rate. Given that the restoration of normal functioning of injured or diseased tissues is the ultimate goal of these regenerative medicine therapies, the future of regenerative medicine is undoubtedly tightly intertwined with that of rehabilitation. The overall goal of this symposium is to highlight and provide evidence for the synergistic relationship between regenerative medicine and rehabilitation approaches, and to promote cross-fertilization between these two fields. The specific objectives of this event are: 1) to catalyze the development of novel interactions and research directions among researchers, clinicians and students conducting research in regenerative medicine and/or rehabilitation;2) to determine barriers to the development of regenerative rehabilitation approaches and to identify practical methods to overcome these barriers;and 3) to introduce the concept of regenerative rehabilitation to graduate students, medical students and medical residents in the rehabilitation field, with the goal of inspiring the next generation of clinicians and scientists to embrace innovative technologies and to incorporate those technologies in their nascent clinical practices and research programs. To achieve these objectives, the PIs have designed a highly multidisciplinary and translational two-day program that includes thematically linked presentations relating to the role of mechanobiology in tissue regeneration. The PIs have strategically allowed ample time for interaction among attendees through the inclusion of panel discussions and poster sessions. They anticipate that the support derived from this application to establish a symposium travel award mechanism will be an excellent opportunity to attract junior investigators and clinicians to the emerging field of Regenerative Rehabilitation.
The Second Annual Symposium on Regenerative Rehabilitation represents a unique opportunity to bring together researchers, clinicians, students and young investigators working in the fields of rehabilitation and regenerative medicine. This symposium series has the long term goal of promoting cross-disciplinary interactions in order to enhance the clinical translation of emerging biological therapies. On behalf of symposium Course Directors and External Advisory Board members, the PIs request funds to support graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and junior investigators to attend the 2012 Regenerative Rehabilitation Symposium. The PIs are confident that funds invested in this travel award mechanism will enhance the career trajectories of junior scientists and clinicians by exposing them to cutting-edge demonstrations of the synergism between the fields of rehabilitation and regenerative medicine, while allowing for ample time to network with other symposium attendees.
