Research

Institute researchers are collaborating across disciplines to shed light on the origins of cancer, diabetes and other genetically inherited diseases as well as gain new insights into future stem cell-based therapies.

Culturing mouse stem cells
A researcher in the Weissman lab prepares cultures of mouse embryonic stem cells to study how they differentiate to form various cell lineages.

The Institute's work is centered on four goals:

  1. Understanding adult stem cells and their clinical applications: Researchers are expanding their understanding of known adult stem cells, which include blood-forming, brain, skin and skeletal muscle stem cells, while working to isolate stem cells for the lung, liver, kidney, heart and other tissues. This work supports ongoing preclinical and clinical trials of organ and tissue regeneration from normal tissue stem cells. More

  2. Testing the use of human embryonic stem cells in tissue regeneration: Researcher are studying the development of human embryonic stem (ES) cells to discover how early tissue formation proceeds. By identifying and isolating diverse tissue stem cells during the developmental process, researchers plan to test the possibilities of using human embryonic stem cells in tissue regeneration. More

  3. Developing new stem cell lines for study of genetic disorders: The institute is committed to creating human disease nuclear transfer (NT) pluripotent (or embryonic) stem cell lines that will serve as models for studying and finding new strategies to treat a wide range of disorders with major genetic components-such as cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Lou Gehrig's diseases. More

  4. Advancing cancer treatment: Today the institute is the global epicenter of today's hunt for cancer stem cells. Researchers are working to identify and isolate the rare cancer and leukemia stem cells from the majority of human cancers and leukemia's and discover the cancer genes in these cancer stem cells. Using this knowledge, researchers aim to conduct preclinical research to develop new therapeutic approaches to killing cancer stem cells with the goal of moving these findings into clinical trials. More

Fellowship Opportunities

1.  NIH, Interdisciplinary Training Grant in Regenerative Medicine
     Deadline:  Friday, May 2, 2008

  • No. of open positions:  1 - Predoctoral Scholar (M.D., M.D./Ph.D., or Ph.D.)
                                     
  • Eligibility:
    • Applicants must be Non-U.S. citizens
    • Applicants may be from the Departments in the Schools of Medicine, Engineering, and Humanities & Sciences
    • Recipient must be able to committ to one full year of funding under this Grant
  • Required documents:
    • Application
    • Official undergraduate and graduate transcripts
    • Curriculum vitae
    • Description of research background and plans in regenerative medicine
    • Letter of recommendation from Graduate Thesis Advisor
    • 2 additional letters of recommendation

For questions regarding the NIH Training Grant, please contact Olgalydia Urbano-Winegar at:   E-mail:  ourbano@stanford.edu
Ph:  (650) 723-8632

2.  CIRM Scholar Training Grant
     Application cycle:  CLOSED
       For more information, please visit: http://stemcell.stanford.edu/cirm/