Message from the Director

The Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine (SCiRM) Training Program was launched in Fall of 2016 with $1.85M in funding from the New York State Stem Cell Science Board (NYSTEM). The UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the UB Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Graduate Division joined forces to develop an interdisciplinary program aiming at fostering stem cell science and engineering to accelerate clinical translation of stem cell research and to train the future leaders in stem cell science and engineering.

Our faculty are involved in research with various types of stem cells including embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, as well as adult stem cells including mesenchymal, cardiac, skeletal, hematopoietic, neural and neural crest stem cells among others. Our research ranges from basic aspects of stem cell maintenance and differentiation to translational work that aims at using stem cells for treatment of cardiovascular, neurologic or metabolic disorders. SCiRM fellows are co-advised by faculty from Medicine and Engineering, thereby promoting multidisciplinary collaborations and interdisciplinary approaches to research and education.

Excellent facilities are available for cutting-edge research including the Western New York Stem Cell Culture and Analysis Center (also funded by NYSTEM), the Next-Generation Sequencing and Expression, Proteomics/Mass Spectrometry, Confocal Microscopy & Flow Cytometry, Cleanroom, Materials Characterization Laboratory and Digital Manufacturing Laboratory among others.

The SCiRM training program is greatly facilitated and enriched by numerous biomedical research and education institutions in the newly built Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus. These include the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the new John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital, the Clinical and Translational Research Center, the Center of Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and the new Roswell Park Clinical Research Center.

This rich, interdisciplinary environment fosters the integration of scientific discoveries and engineering breakthroughs with the ultimate goal to develop stem cell therapies that can be translated into clinical practice. The combination of a highly trained science and engineering workforce, and the potential for clinical translation and commercialization of research findings, are expected to have significant economic impact in Western New York, as well as throughout New York State.

We look forward to the coming years in the program.

Thank you for your interest.

Director