# Current Trends in Stem Cell Therapies

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE · 2020 · $374,508

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Stem cell biology has become one of the most exciting scientific areas of investigation. Stem cells are a key to
understanding: i) the physiology of tissue rejuvenation, ii) organ regeneration after injury and iii) the regulation
of the lifespan. A looming educational challenge is the preparation of young investigators to engage in
research on these very important cells in the body. The focus of this training program “Current Trends in Stem
Cell Therapies (CTSCT)” Training Program is to understand the role of stem cells in hematology and tissue
injury. The training program is derived from the experience of mentoring faculty and the strength of clinical
utilization of adult stem cells isolated from postnatal tissues in stem cell processing laboratories employed in
the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Department of Cardiology, and the Department of Pediatrics at the
University of Louisville (UofL). This grant will involve the post-doctoral fellows by engaging them in conceptual
laboratory work aimed at the optimization of the: i) isolation of versatile populations of stem cells from adult
issues, ii) their ex vivo expansion alone, or in combination with synthetic scaffolds iii) studies on the role of
paracrine-related effects of stem cells in regeneration, with special emphasis on extracellular microvesicles
(ExMV) and iv) strategies of stem cell delivery to damaged organs including mechanism orchestrating their
homing and engraftment. The goals of our training program (CTSCT) will be achieved with a multidisciplinary
approach that includes the dedicated faculty from various departments, centers, institutes, and schools. The
highly experienced and multidisciplinary faculty at the UofL will provide critical resources and expertise in
performing cutting-edge basic and clinical research in this field. This proposal is an innovative postdoctoral
training program that will serve as a platform for developing interdisciplinary and integrated approaches that
will shed more light on the stem cell compartment under steady-state and pathological conditions. The
proposed training program will support five postdoctoral trainees. Two of them will be recruited in year one and
then three more in year two to maintain a total of 5 trainees. These may be existing postdoctoral fellows who
have matriculated at UofL, or candidates selected by an open recruitment from highly reputed research
institutions. This training program will also serve as an important vehicle to integrate the stem cell research
performed at UofL. This will be achieved by organizing integrated stem cell-related special courses, seminars,
lectures, journal clubs, and open discussions to exchange new ideas among postdoctoral fellows participating
in this program and with other students and faculty members at UofL. In addition, the teams of mentors
(including both basic and clinical scientists) will promote the importance of multidisciplinary training and the
translation of basic ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9948722
- **Project number:** 5T32HL134644-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE
- **Principal Investigator:** Sham S. Kakar
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $374,508
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-05-01 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9948722

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9948722, Current Trends in Stem Cell Therapies (5T32HL134644-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9948722. Licensed CC0.

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