This application is for renewal of a Predoctoral Training Program in Developmental Biology, Stem Cells, and Regeneration (DSR), which is administered at the University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine, in conjunction with affiliated faculty at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles. This training program leverages recent and dramatic growth in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at USC, which is reflected in the creation of a new Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and a university-wide USC Stem Cell initiative that is investing large sums of money to recruit world leaders and promising junior faculty. Particular strengths of training-related research, which benefit from interactions with closely situated institutes and one of the largest public hospitals in the country, include skeletal biology, neural and sensory systems, kidney, digestive and metabolic organs, and cancer stem cells. The rationale of this training program is that cohesive, structured training in basic developmental and stem cell biology, coupled with training-grant-specific courses and activities that provide in-depth exposure to clinical problems, will best train the future generation of scientists in the field of regenerative medicine. A major strength of this training program is that it provides added value, in the form of clinical exposure, on top of a newly created DSR PhD program. In particular, each trainee is paired with a Clinical Co-Mentor, who guides the student in learning about the diseases to which their primary research relates. During the first four years of the training program, the ten funded trainees, plus an additional four trainees funded by the Dean's office, will have published 30 first-author manuscripts, received an NIH F31 fellowship, and won a number of honors and awards. The majority of trainees first enter USC through a Program in Biomedical and Biological Sciences (PIBBS) umbrella admissions program, which has seen a steady rise in the quality of its training-grant-eligible applicant pool. At the end of their first year, students join the lab of one of our 26 training faculty, matriculate in the DSR PhD program, and take an intensive summer core course in developmental and stem cell biology, followed by journal club and research presentation courses in their second year. Following a formal call for applications and external review, select students join the T32 training program in their second and sometimes third years, at which point they take a trainee-specific Clinical Perspective of Regenerative Medicine course and engage in a number of trainee-specific activities including an annual retreat, a student-led symposium, frequent interactions with their clinical co-mentor, and monthly lunch gatherings. The cohesive structure of this training program provides an extra level of clinical fluency that the trainees would not otherwise have obtained through the DSR program alone. By leveraging the unique clinical resources within the neighboring Los Angeles area with the recent growth in basic stem cell research at USC, this training program provides a focused educational experience for those promising young scientists who wish to make a future impact in regenerative medicine.

Public Health Relevance

This proposal focuses on research and training in the fields of developmental and stem cell biology, as well as their potential applications in the up-and-coming field of regenerative medicine. A unique component of the training program is exposure of this next generation of scientists to the clinical correlates of the basic research problems they are investigating. These young researchers will be at the forefront of translating emerging research into the control of developmental cell fate towards new stem-cell-based approaches for healing the human body.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Institutional National Research Service Award (T32)
Project #
5T32HD060549-09
Application #
9898398
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZHD1)
Program Officer
Mukhopadhyay, Mahua
Project Start
2011-05-01
Project End
2022-04-30
Budget Start
2020-05-01
Budget End
2021-04-30
Support Year
9
Fiscal Year
2020
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Southern California
Department
Orthopedics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
072933393
City
Los Angeles
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90089
Moon, Byoung-San; Bai, Jinlun; Cai, Mingyang et al. (2018) Kruppel-like factor 4-dependent Staufen1-mediated mRNA decay regulates cortical neurogenesis. Nat Commun 9:401
Lindström, Nils O; McMahon, Jill A; Guo, Jinjin et al. (2018) Conserved and Divergent Features of Human and Mouse Kidney Organogenesis. J Am Soc Nephrol 29:785-805
Nguyen, Lisa; Wang, Zheng; Chowdhury, Adnan Y et al. (2018) Functional compensation between hematopoietic stem cell clones in vivo. EMBO Rep 19:
Lindström, Nils O; Tran, Tracy; Guo, Jinjin et al. (2018) Conserved and Divergent Molecular and Anatomic Features of Human and Mouse Nephron Patterning. J Am Soc Nephrol 29:825-840
Zhou, Xingliang; Chadarevian, Jean Paul; Ruiz, Bryan et al. (2017) Cytoplasmic and Nuclear TAZ Exert Distinct Functions in Regulating Primed Pluripotency. Stem Cell Reports 9:732-741
Rutledge, Elisabeth A; Benazet, Jean-Denis; McMahon, Andrew P (2017) Cellular heterogeneity in the ureteric progenitor niche and distinct profiles of branching morphogenesis in organ development. Development 144:3177-3188
Neben, Cynthia L; Tuzon, Creighton T; Mao, Xiaojing et al. (2017) FGFR2 mutations in bent bone dysplasia syndrome activate nucleolar stress and perturb cell fate determination. Hum Mol Genet 26:3253-3270
Nguyen, Marie V; Zagory, Jessica A; Dietz, William H et al. (2017) Hepatic Prominin-1 expression is associated with biliary fibrosis. Surgery 161:1266-1272
Chen, Xi; Wang, Ruizhe; Liu, Xu et al. (2017) A Chemical-Genetic Approach Reveals the Distinct Roles of GSK3? and GSK3? in Regulating Embryonic Stem Cell Fate. Dev Cell 43:563-576.e4
Chang, Wen-Hsuan; Choi, Si Ho; Moon, Byoung-San et al. (2017) Smek1/2 is a nuclear chaperone and cofactor for cleaved Wnt receptor Ryk, regulating cortical neurogenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 114:E10717-E10725

Showing the most recent 10 out of 25 publications