Stage of Program: Basic or Applied Basic Research (DISC1 and many 1.0 Projects)
Development of 3D Bioprinting Techniques using Human Embryonic Stem Cells Derived Cardiomyocytes for Cardiac Tissue Engineering
Heart, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases are responsible for ~17 million deaths per year globally and this number is predicted to reach 23.3 million by 2030. Cardiovascular diseases impose a staggering annual cost of $300 billion on the U.S. health care system. Heart transplantation is the ultimate solution to end-stage heart failure. However, a major […]
Optimizing the differentiation and expansion of microglial progenitors from human pluripotent stem cells for the study and treatment of neurological disease.
Microglia are a type of immune cell within the brain that profoundly influence the development and progression of many neurological disorders. Microglia also inherently migrate toward areas of brain injury, making them excellent candidates for use in cell transplantation therapies. Despite the widely accepted importance of microglia in neurological disease, methods to produce microglia from […]
Multimodal platform combining optical and ultrasonic technologies for in vivo nondestructive evaluation of engineered vascular tissue constructs
Current vascular replacement materials are far from ideal, with all available biomaterials exhibiting significant clinical complications. The development of novel biocompatible decellularized vascular grafts holds great promise for functional restoration of vascular tissues suffering from trauma or disease. However, the need for destructive analysis at multiple in-vitro and in-vivo time points creates a costly critical […]
Injectable Macroporous Matrices to Enhance Stem Cell Engraftment and Survival
Despite the great promise stem cells hold for regenerative medicine, the efficacy of stem cell-based therapies is greatly limited by poor cell engraftment and survival. To overcome this major bottleneck, the goal of this proposal is to validate the efficacy of novel microribbon (µRB)-based scaffolds for cell delivery. These scaffolds combine the injectability and cell […]
Identification and isolation of transplantable human hematopoietic stem cells from pluripotent cell lines; two steps from primitive hematopoiesis to transplantable definitive cells, and non-toxic conditioning of hosts for hematopoeitic stem cell transp…
A goal of stem-cell therapy is to transplant into a patient “tissue-specific” stem cells, which can regenerate a particular type of healthy tissue (e.g., heart or blood cells). A major obstacle to this goal is obtaining tissue-specific stem cells that (1) are available in sufficient numbers; and (2) will not be rejected by the recipient. […]
A small molecule tool for reducing the malignant potential in reprogramming human iPSCs and ESCs
This research project aims to solve a key bottleneck in the use of differentiated human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells for the regeneration and replacement of diseased or damaged tissues. This bottleneck is the potential of unintended transplants containing failed-to-differentiate stem cells developing into benign growths called teratomas, or worse, malignant teratocarcinomas. […]
Center of Excellence for Stem Cell Genomics – UCSC
The Center of Excellence in Stem Cell Genomics will bring together investigators from seven major California research institutions to bridge two fields – genomics and pluripotent stem cell research. The projects will combine the strengths of the center team members, each of whom is a leader in one or both fields. The program directors have […]
Center of Excellence for Stem Cell Genomics – Salk
The Center of Excellence in Stem Cell Genomics will bring together investigators from seven major California research institutions to bridge two fields – genomics and pluripotent stem cell research. The projects will combine the strengths of the center team members, each of whom is a leader in one or both fields. The program directors have […]
Center of Excellence for Stem Cell Genomics – Stanford
The Center of Excellence in Stem Cell Genomics will bring together investigators from seven major California research institutions to bridge two fields – genomics and pluripotent stem cell research. The projects will combine the strengths of the center team members, each of whom is a leader in one or both fields. The program directors have […]
In vitro modeling of human motor neuron disease
Motor neuron (MN) diseases such as spinal muscular atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis lead to progressive degeneration of MNs, presenting first with muscle weakness, followed by locomotor defects and frequently death due to respiratory failure. While progress has been made in identifying genes associated with MN degeneration, the molecular and cellular processes underlying disease onset […]