Fall 2007 Newsletter

Pitt Bioengineering Receives Three T32 Grants Simultaneously

Part 3 of 3: Cellular Approaches to Tissue Engineering and Regeneration

Under the joint directorship of Alan Russell and Bob Bowser, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded the Department of Bioengineering a five-year T32 pre-doctoral training grant. This grant will go toward a unique program called CATER, which will prepare the next generation of scientists with interests in regenerative medicine to obtain skill sets that cross the boundaries between tissue engineering and the life sciences.

The CATER Program

CATER, which stands for Cellular Approaches to Tissue Engineering and Regeneration, was created as the foundation for a new graduate training program that combines tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. A number of new courses and a novel training program merges faculty from both bioengineering and multiple departments within the School of Medicine. Graduate students take courses in tissue engineering, stem cell biology, vascular biology, and cell therapy. They also are required to attend a journal club on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Four graduate students are accepted into the program every year.

High Expectations

As one of the first training programs of its kind to receive NIH funding support, the overall strength of tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and the life sciences at the University of Pittsburgh enabled the funding. It is expected that students from both schools will collaborate on their studies through knowledge, critical feedback, and suggestions which will enable research projects to move forward. The students within the program comment that such interactions have greatly facilitated their research projects and are a strength of the CATER training program.

Together, the Swanson School of Engineering, Department of Bioengineering, and the School of Medicine are making this happen, creating strengths in our scientists of the future.

See the training grant of Sanjeev Shroff, professor and McGinnis Chair and the training grant of Michael Sacks, William Kepler Whiteford Professor.

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