Our overarching goal for establishing the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) CIRM Training Program is to advance stem cell and regenerative medicine to treat childhood diseases, which will lead to better outcomes for many disorders that occur later in life. Currently the CHLA CIRM Training Program has recruited and is supporting 9 trainees (6 PhDs and 3 MDs), who may pursue long-term career goals in either academia or industry. Based on our experience with a previous CIRM Training Program and career development of CHLA PhD postdoctoral and MD fellows, we have designed a two-year training plan for selected fellows. Three major aims will be accomplished through the curriculum.
(1) Research Project. CIRM scholars are working on research projects related to regeneration of the heart, retina, intestine, and kidney. A few CIRM scholars have already presented their research results at the retreat of the CIRM Training Program and the Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine Program (DBRM) of the Saban Research Institute. They have also presented at several national and international conferences.
(2) Coursework to enhance knowledge in stem cells and regenerative biology. The fellows are required to take various courses and workshops during their two-year training period. The trainees attend weekly lab meetings held by DBRM. During these meetings, CHLA investigators and CIRM fellow trainees share data, troubleshoot technical problems, discuss experimental design, and review the literature for new advances in stem cell research. In addition, the fellows haven taken a course on the bioethics of stem cell research and regenerative medicine, as well as special workshops by the Director of CHLA Biostatistics core. These workshops introduce to the fellows basic statistics and advanced software packages (including R for informatics and statistical programming), clinical trial fundamentals, and database creation (entry and management). These workshops help guide the trainees to design their experiments and projects with statistical considerations from the ground up. The DBRM/CIRM program retreat was held in Oct. 2022. This was a whole-day event wherein trainees presented their research results and future goals. Our external advisory board member Dr. Linda Samuelson gave the keynote lecture.
(3) Mentoring, career development, and outcome evaluation. Postdoctoral PhD and MD fellows selected as CIRM scholars have formed or are in the process of forming a mentoring committee. All CIRM Scholars will be assessed annually by submitting a written progress report by the end of the first year, with their 2nd year funding contingent on their progress in the first year. Furthermore, the fellows will meet with their mentoring committee to assess their career goals and individual development plans.
With these aims, we will prepare the trainees to achieve their career goals as researchers contributing to stem cells and regenerative medicine in either academia or industry as future scientists and physician scientists.
Reporting Period:
Year 2
With the goals to advance stem cell research and regenerative medicine, the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) CIRM Training Program has recruited and is supporting 9 trainees (6 PhDs and 3 MDs), who may pursue long-term career goals in either academia or industry. During the second year of training and career development, the fellows are working on research projects related to the regeneration and disease modeling of the heart, retina, intestine, kidney, liver, and blood cells. CIRM fellows presented their research results at the retreat of the CIRM Training Program and the Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine (DBRM) Program of the Saban Research Institute held in Sept. 2023. They have also presented at several national and international conferences. The fellows enrolled in coursework to enhance their knowledge of stem cells and regenerative biology. The fellows participated in outreach activities, working with CHLA LA-HIP high school students. They also participated in patient engagement activities. For career development, the fellows have formed mentoring committees. The fellows meet with their mentoring committees to assess their career goals and individual development plans. They are assessed annually by submitting a written progress report by the end of the first year. One of our MD fellows has successfully transitioned to a faculty position. With these aims, we continue to prepare the trainees to achieve their career goals as researchers contributing to stem cell research and regenerative medicine in either academia or industry as future scientists and physician-scientists.
Grant Application Details
Application Title:
CIRM Training Program for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research
Statement of Benefit to California:
This CIRM Training Program will support 6 PhD Post-Doctoral and 3 MD Clinical Fellows every year to conduct research in stem cell and regenerative medicine. In the past 15 years, interdisciplinary research in stem cell and regenerative medicine has made significant impact on California’s workforce. A unique focus of this training program is to advance stem cell and regenerative medicine to treat childhood diseases, which will also lead to better outcomes for many disorders that occur later in life. To continue to prepare the CIRM Scholars as the next generation researchers contributing to stem cells and regenerative medicine as future scientists, a two-year training plan has been developed with the following scientific curriculum. 1) A rigorous research project will be developed with an identified mentor who has expertise in-line with the Scholar’s research interests. 2) Required courses will enhance the CIRM Scholar’s knowledge in stem cells and regenerative medicine and implications in health and disease as well as ethical, legal, and social implications of stem cell research. A series of workshops will enhance the CIRM scholar’s hands-on and practical experience. 3) Mentoring and career development will help the Scholars in obtaining future positions either in academic research, industry, clinical practice, or as physician scientist. A steering committee and external advisory board have been formed to help the Program Directors oversee different aspects of the training program. This CIRM training program is committed to educational activities, community outreach, and engagement of patients and health care professionals. This training program will provide unique benefits to the State of California and its citizens by providing a superbly trained group of stem cell experts. The trainees in this program will also strengthen and accelerate our research efforts in the stem cell and regenerative medicine field in hope to generate new treatments for many diseases for patients in California.
