Richard M. Gronostajski, PhD, will co-direct Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine, a training program enabling students to conduct research with multiple faculty mentors.
UB, Roswell Park Receive $1.85M for Stem Cell Training Program
Published June 29, 2015 This content is archived.
story based on news release by cory nealon
University at Buffalo and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have been awarded a $1.85 million grant to create an interdisciplinary stem cell research training program.
“Successful translation of stem cell breakthroughs into cell therapies requires interdisciplinary approaches that draw from a wide range of fields,” says the grant’s principal investigator Stelios Andreadis, PhD, professor of biomedical engineering and professor and chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.
“We plan to meet this challenge by developing an innovative graduate training program to educate the future leaders in this field.”
Students Will Receive Guidance From Multiple Mentors
The program, Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine (SCiRM), enables each student to conduct research in the lab of a SCiRM faculty member. A second SCiRM faculty member supports each student with additional mentoring and promotes collaborative projects.
Students’ research findings are expected to lead to scientific, technological and commercial advances in health care that could benefit Western New York’s economy.
The grant will support eight graduate students per year for five years. It was awarded by New York State Stem Cell Science, the state’s publicly funded agency tasked with making advancements in stem cell biology.
Program to Foster New Collaborations
The SCiRM co-directors expect the program to attract excellent graduate students and foster new collaborations between UB and Roswell.
The program will bring together 18 faculty members in UB’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, along with Roswell Park’s Graduate Division.
SCiRM is expected to both utilize and complement the Western New York Stem Cell Culture and Analysis Center (WNYSTEM), which offers efficient ways for researchers to generate, culture, analyze and test these cells both in vitro and in therapeutic non-human models.
Directors Have Research Expertise in Variety of Fields
Richard M. Gronostajski, PhD, professor of biochemistry, will co-direct SCiRM with Sriram Neelamegham, PhD, professor of biomedical engineering.
Gronostajski directs WNYSTEM and the UB Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics program, and he is also a professor in Roswell’s Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Gronostajski has research focuses in areas including bioinformatics, gene expression, molecular and cellular biology, neurobiology and transgenic organisms.
Along with his appointment in the medical school, Neelamegham is a professor in UB’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. He has research expertise in areas including cell biomechanics and adhesion molecules as well as pathways in inflammation and thrombosis.