PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) secures National Science Foundation (NSF) grant renewal for summer undergraduate research program

Renewal funding assist with new and ongoing engagement in research-focused methodology

Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) secures National Science Foundation (NSF) grant renewal for summer undergraduate research program
2023-11-03
(Press-News.org) WINSTON-SALEM, NC – November 3, 2023 - The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) is thrilled to announce the successful renewal of its Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The grant, titled "Enabling Technologies and New REU Approaches to Engineer Complex Tissues" will continue to offer diverse cohorts of undergraduate students unique research, education, and professional development opportunities in the multidisciplinary field of regenerative medicine (RM) over the next three years (2023-202).

Building upon the success of its previous REU program (Award #1659663, 2018-2022), WFIRM’s renewed grant has a specific focus on growing the increasing the engagement of underrepresented minority groups, women, and non-traditional students, including students attending 2- and 4-year universities. The goal is to recruit a minimum of 80% of students from these underrepresented groups each year, providing them with a chance to explore and contribute to high-priority research areas in regenerative medicine. From 2004-2021, WFIRM provided research opportunities to over 500 undergraduate students, all of whom are mentored directly by REU Faculty Mentors in an open lab environment. 

“We believe that WFIRM, along with our academic and industry partners, is ideally situated  to introduce, new creative approaches and partnerships, building a bigger future talent pipeline to address the need for increased diversity in STEM through providing a culture where talented people from different backgrounds are welcomed, enhanced recruitment, professional development, networking opportunities, and exposure to enabling technologies and biomanufacturing and biofabrication research priorities within the field,” stated Joan Schanck, Chief Education Officer for WFIRM, and co-Principal Investigator of the grant.

Over the course of the previous REU program, WFIRM exceeded its initial participation target of 50% for underrepresented groups, with 80% of participants coming from minority backgrounds, women, non-traditional students, and persons with disabilities. These students made significant contributions to ongoing research programs, generated new ideas, and authored conference abstracts and journal articles.

Anthony Atala, MD, Director of WFIRM and Principal Investigator for the grant expressed the Institute’s commitment to diversity and equity in regenerative medicine: “The renewed REU program will build upon the lessons learned and incorporate improvements to enhance faculty mentoring, expand recruitment efforts, and reinforce passion for STEM education and careers, creating a diverse and inclusive pipeline of talent in the field of regenerative medicine.”

For more information about the WFIRM REU Site and its impact on advancing diversity in STEM, please visit http://wfirm.org.

About the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine: The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine is recognized as an international leader in translating scientific discovery into clinical therapies, with many world firsts, including the development and implantation of the first engineered organ in a patient. Over 450 people at the institute, the largest in the world, work on more than 40 different tissues and organs. A number of the basic principles of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine were first developed at the institute. WFIRM researchers have successfully engineered replacement tissues and organs in all four categories – flat structures, tubular tissues, hollow organs and solid organs – and 16 different applications of cell/tissue therapy technologies, such as skin, urethras, cartilage, bladders, muscle, kidney, and vaginal organs, have been successfully used in human patients. The institute, which is part of Wake Forest School of Medicine, is located in the Innovation Quarter in downtown Winston-Salem, NC, and is driven by the urgent needs of patients. The institute is making a global difference in regenerative medicine through collaborations with over 500 entities and institutions worldwide, through its government, academic and industry partnerships, its start-up entities, and through major initiatives in breakthrough technologies, such as tissue engineering, cell therapies, diagnostics, drug discovery, biomanufacturing, nanotechnology, gene editing and 3D printing. 

Media Contact: Emily Gregg, egregg@wakehealth.edu

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) secures National Science Foundation (NSF) grant renewal for summer undergraduate research program Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) secures National Science Foundation (NSF) grant renewal for summer undergraduate research program 2

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

U of M Medical School research team finds novel drug improves outcomes for patients with rare kidney disorder

2023-11-03
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (11/03/2023) — Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a rare kidney disorder that affects children and adults, and can lead to kidney failure. New findings from a team led by the University of Minnesota Medical School show patients with FSGS who were treated with the medication sparsentan experienced improved kidney function—making it a potential new treatment option for the disorder. The research, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests sparsentan may provide kidney protection by significantly reducing excess protein in urine — known as proteinuria, a proven indicator of kidney damage.  “FSGS ...

Opioid disorder treatment: first three weeks forecast success

2023-11-03
NEW YORK, NY--A newly developed prediction model may be able to calculate the risk of opioid relapse among individuals in the early stages of medication treatment—as early as three weeks into therapy.  “Medication treatment for opioid use disorder, contrary to popular belief, is very effective and likely to succeed if patients achieve early treatment success,” says Sean X. Luo, MD, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, who ...

Study links childhood trauma to COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations

2023-11-03
People who endured childhood adversity, like abuse or neglect, were more likely to be hospitalized or die from COVID-19 in adulthood, a new University of Pittsburgh study found. Specifically, higher self-reported childhood adversity was linked to 12-25% higher odds of COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality. While age, sex, ethnicity, health, and sociodemographic factors have been related to such outcomes throughout the pandemic, this was the first study finding a link between these COVID-19  outcomes ...

America’s low-carbon transition could improve employment opportunities for all

2023-11-03
The USA is likely to see consistent job growth from the transition to net zero, but the gains will be unevenly distributed, shows a new analysis. The analysis, conducted by Imperial College London researchers and published today in Nature Climate Change, shows that some states will need new policies to ensure a ‘just’ transition. The USA, alongside many countries, is planning for a low-carbon future, where energy production releases little to no carbon dioxide and what is released is removed from the atmosphere, creating net-zero carbon emissions. This has been backed by new policies, including the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which includes large investment ...

Expanding pharmacists’ role for patients with hypertension could prevent 15 million heart attacks and save $1.1 trillion over 30 years, VCU-led study finds

2023-11-03
RICHMOND, Va. (Nov. 3, 2023) — If pharmacists had a larger role in prescribing medications to control blood pressure, they could prevent more than 15 million heart attacks, nearly 8 million strokes and more than 4 million cases each of angina and heart failure in the U.S. over 30 years, according to a new Virginia Commonwealth University-led study. The study, “Cost-Effectiveness of Pharmacist Prescribing for Managing Hypertension in the United States,” which published Friday in JAMA Network Open, details how ...

Black and white adults have similar health care expenditure levels in racially and economically integrated communities

2023-11-03
Differences in health care expenditures between Black and white adults vary substantially with the local level of racial and economic integration, and tend to be low or nonexistent in highly integrated communities, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. For their study, the researchers compared health care expenditures for a nationally representative sample of Black and white adults in census tracts across the United States. They found that, at the same level of health, health ...

Effect of a novel multicomponent intervention to improve patient access to kidney transplant and living kidney donation

2023-11-03
About The Study: A novel multicomponent intervention designed to target several barriers that prevent eligible patients from completing key steps toward receiving a kidney transplant did not significantly increase the rate of completed steps in this randomized clinical trial that included 20,375 patients from 26 chronic kidney disease programs. Improving access to transplantation remains a global priority that requires substantial effort.  Authors: Amit X. Garg, M.D., Ph.D., of McMaster ...

Vacuum in optical cavity can change material’s magnetic state without laser excitation

Vacuum in optical cavity can change material’s magnetic state without laser excitation
2023-11-03
Researchers in Germany and the USA have produced the first theoretical demonstration that the magnetic state of an atomically thin material, α-RuCl3, can be controlled solely by placing it into an optical cavity. Crucially, the cavity vacuum fluctuations alone are sufficient to change the material’s magnetic order from a zigzag antiferromagnet into a ferromagnet. The team’s work has been published in npj Computational Materials. A recent theme in material physics research has been the use of intense laser light to modify the properties ...

Charged “molecular beasts” the basis for new compounds

Charged “molecular beasts” the basis for new compounds
2023-11-03
Developing new ways to break and reform chemical bonds is one of the main tasks of basic chemical research. “When a bond in a charged molecule is broken, the result is often a chemically ‘aggressive’ fragment, which we call a reactive fragment. These fragments are difficult to control using established methods of chemical synthesis. You can think of them as untamed beasts that attack anything in their path. In a mass spectrometer, there are many ways to break certain bonds and generate fragments,” says Dr Warneke, describing the processes in mass spectrometers. According ...

BU researcher awarded funds to increase, improve behavioral health care for underserved children, adolescents, young adults

2023-11-03
(Boston)—Carryl P. Navalta, PhD, clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, has received a two-year, $476,194 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for his research, “Project EDUCATE” (Education to Deliver and Utilize Child and Adolescent Treatment Effectively).   Project EDUCATE will identify and train mental health counseling students. The student trainees will be placed in community-based facilities in the greater Boston area that serve medically underserved children, adolescents and young adults with diverse race or ethnicity, culture, language and service needs.   “The ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Premenstrual symptoms linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease

Newly discovered remains of ancient river landscapes control ice flow in East Antarctica

Newly discovered interstellar object 'may be oldest comet ever seen'

Animal-inspired AI robot learns to navigate unfamiliar terrain

Underserved youth less likely to visit emergency department for concussion in Ontario, study finds

‘Molecular shield’ placed in the nose may soon treat common hay fever trigger

Beetles under climate stress lay larger male eggs: Wolbachia infection drives adaptive reproduction strategy in response to rising temperature and CO₂

Groundbreaking quantum study puts wave-particle duality to work

Weekly injection could be life changing for Parkinson’s patients

Toxic metals linked to impaired growth in infants in Guatemala

Being consistently physically active in adulthood linked to 30–40% lower risk of death

Nerve pain drug gabapentin linked to increased dementia, cognitive impairment risks

Children’s social care involvement common to nearly third of UK mums who died during perinatal period

‘Support, not judgement’: Study explores links between children’s social care involvement and maternal deaths

Ethnic minority and poorer children more likely to die in intensive care

Major progress in fertility preservation after treatment for cancer of the lymphatic system

Fewer complications after additional ultrasound in pregnant women who feel less fetal movement

Environmental impact of common pesticides seriously underestimated

The Milky Way could be teeming with more satellite galaxies than previously thought

New study reveals surprising reproductive secrets of a cricket-hunting parasitoid fly

Media Tip Sheet: Symposia at ESA2025

NSF CAREER Award will power UVA engineer’s research to improve drug purification

Tiny parasitoid flies show how early-life competition shapes adult success

New coating for glass promises energy-saving windows

Green spaces boost children’s cognitive skills and strengthen family well-being

Ancient trees dying faster than expected in Eastern Oregon

Study findings help hone precision of proven CVD risk tool

Most patients with advanced melanoma who received pre-surgical immunotherapy remain alive and disease free four years later

Introducing BioEmu: A generative AI Model that enables high-speed and accurate prediction of protein structural ensembles

Replacing mutated microglia with healthy microglia halts progression of genetic neurological disease in mice and humans

[Press-News.org] Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) secures National Science Foundation (NSF) grant renewal for summer undergraduate research program
Renewal funding assist with new and ongoing engagement in research-focused methodology