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KiBum Lee Wins NIH Director’s 2009 New Innovator Award |
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 KiBum Lee, an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, was named as a recipient of one of the 2009 NIH Director's New Innovator Awards. Prof. Lee's proposal is titled, "Combinatorial Approaches for Studying Multiple Cues Regulating Human Pluripotent Stem Cell (hPSC) Fate." The award is in the amount of total $2.3 M [$1.5M direct cost for PI over five years; $0.8M indirect cost for Rutgers] for the period from 09/30/2009 to 09/29/2014.
The primary research interest of Kibum Lee’s group is to develop and integrate nanotechnologies and chemical functional genomics to modulate signaling pathways in cells (e.g. stem cells and cancer cells) towards specific cell lineages or behaviors. In particular, Professor Lee's group is interested in studying how microenvironmental cues (e.g. soluble signals, cell-cell interactions, and insoluble/physical signals) functionally affect stem cell fate.
For the NIH awarded project, Prof. Lee's research will focus on manipulating human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) using small-interfering RNA (siRNA) transfection tools and microfluidics methods, with a goal of ultimately developing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases.
Visit Kibum Lee's webpage in the Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology to learn more about the research interests of his group.
Abstract of the award winning project:
"Combinatorial Approaches for Studying Multiple Cues Regulating Human Pluripotent Stem Cell (hPSC) Fate"
Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are promising resources as cell-based therapies for the debilitating injuries caused by many neurodegenerative diseases. However, controlling hPSC differentiation into lineage-specific neural cells is one of the most important problems needed to be addressed before their potential for neuroregenerative medicine can be fully realized. A detailed insight into the functions of extracellular microenvironments and intrinsic cellular regulators which dynamically regulate the hPSC neurogenesis into neural/neuronal cells is a prerequisite for addressing the aforementioned challenges. However, functions of hPSC microenvironments are much more complicated to investigate because of our lack of knowledge about the multiple signals inducing differentiation and limited methods available for investigation. Therefore, the primary focus of our study is to develop innovative methods to identify optimal cues for hPSC differentiation into subtype-specific neurons and genetic manipulation of hPSCs using nonviral, siRNA-based transfection tools. Our innovative approaches will allow for the establishment of novel cell-based assay tools and siRNA-based genetic manipulation tools for selective and efficient neurodifferentiation of hPSCs. Moreover, efforts will be made to integrate these studies into one multianalytic microfluidics platform for synchronized control of microenvironmental cues and intrinsic cellular regulators. The PI’s research experiences in nanoscale biomaterials, functional genomics, and stem cell biology and current interdisciplinary research programs aiming at investigating cellular interactions within microenvironments would be critical to develop the aforementioned innovative tools.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 07 October 2009 )
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