Emerging Leaders in Regenerative Biology and Development (ReBilD)

Enter the text here that is the new abstract information for your application. PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The long-term goal of the proposed “Emerging Leaders in Regenerative Biology and Development (ReBilD) Program” at MDI Biological Laboratory (MDIBL) is to meet the need for a workforce skilled in regenerative and developmental biology research. Every human suffers fibrotic scarring in their lifetime, and fibrosis accounts for over 45% of human deaths, due to organ failure. Thus, there is a great need for therapies that improve wound healing and tissue regeneration. While the regenerative-biology field has grown exponentially over recent decades, largely due to technical advances such as CRISPR and next-generation sequencing, this growth has not seen corresponding growth in the workforce. We believe that the best approach to develop such a workforce is to train scientists using a cross-species approach, enabling them to understand regeneration by studying organisms that differ in regeneration capacity to identify common and distinct tissue-regeneration processes. A knowledge of regeneration also requires an understanding of the unique developmental biology across these organisms. Our program is designed for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career scientists. We will implement our program via three aims. In Aim 1 we will offer an annual ten-day research training course and networking symposium focused on the inter-relationship between regenerative and developmental-biology research. The course will include hands-on laboratory training using animal models that differ in regeneration capacity; keynote lectures and other activities designed to promote interactions among Program participants; bioinformatics, microscopy, and Responsible Conduct of Research training; and a half-day weekend symposium to provide course participants and ReBilD Program alumni with opportunities to network and present their research. In Aim 2 we will establish a year-round Visiting Scientist Program enabling course alumni and other researchers to spend up to four weeks at MDIBL and work alongside our lab members to receive additional, focused research training using advanced methodologies such as transgenesis on one or more of the model organisms used in the 10-day course. In Aim 3 we will establish a sustainable community of interdisciplinary ReBilD researchers, by establishing strong mentoring for all participants and creating an online networking forum that will provide multiple resources such as course materials to ReBilD Program students, faculty, invited speakers, and other regeneration/developmental biology researchers, and will create an online networking and discussion forum for long-term, post-program interactions, including mentoring, and for further expanding this community. Our program will also include annual mid-year career-development and grant-writing workshops; a seminar series in regeneration and development; and an outcome-assessment plan. Together, the elements of our ReBilD Program will create a workforce well-positioned to make discoveries in their own laboratories and to further expand this research community.