Our mission
The mission of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology Program (SCRBP) at Penn State College of Medicine and Hershey Medical Center is to bring together scientists, students, and medical professionals interested in stem cell and regenerative biology. Our goal is to facilitate educational and research projects in the field of stem cell biology for creating better therapies against cancer, developmental, and degenerative diseases.
Why stem cells?
Pluripotent
Embryonic-like induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are capable of differentiating into progenitor cells of three germ layers: ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm. Human and mouse iPSCs are widely used for modeling development and disease, drug screening, and toxicity studies.
umbilical cord-derived
The umbilical cord-derived Hematopoietic Stem Cells (UCB HSCs) are considered fetal stem cells. They can be isolated from an umbilical cord of newborn individuals and stored in a tissue bank for many years. UCB HSCs are used for HSCs transplantation in patients with bone marrow failure and other diseases.
Adult
Adult stem and progenitor cells are a source of newly produced functional cells in an adult body. Adult stem cells regenerate tissues and organs throughout the lifespan of multicellular organisms. Understanding the physiology of adult stem cells is important for developing anti-degenerative and anti-aging therapies that improve the quality of life.
Cancer
Similar to normal stem cells that maintain and regenerate healthy tissues, cancer stem cells are self-renewing transformed cells that sustain malignant tumors. Cancer stem cells possess resistance to therapies and are a reason why cancer persists. Understanding stemness in malignant cells will help to overcome the refractory and relapsed cancers.
Connecting Hershey and University Park Campuses
College of Medicine
Affiliated with Hershey Medical Center and Hershey Children’s Hospital, Penn State College of Medicine is a part of Penn State Health located in Hershey, PA.
University Park
Located in State College, University Park is the biggest campus of the Pennsylvania State University.
SCRBP is committed to providing educational resources
and staying up-to-date with current news in the field
SCRBP seminars
SCRBP is hosting monthly seminars on various topics of stem cell research. The seminars are directed by the faculty members and are sponsored by SCRBP.
BioMedical Sciences and Anatomy Program Courses
Penn State Graduate School Biomedical Sciences (BMS) and Anatomy (ANAT) programs offer courses in biology of normal and malignant stem cells.
SCRBP blog
We review research and media articles to stay up-to-date with current news in the field.
Latest From Our Blog
Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells for Studying Congenital Heart Defects
By Lilly Su, MD Candidate, Class of 2023, Penn State College of Medicine. Previously, we discussed the different types of stem cells. Human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are cells with very similar characteristics to embryonic stem cells, as both types of...
Pediatric Brain Tumors
By Lilly Su, MD Candidate, Class of 2023, Penn State College of Medicine. This article is a continuation of the discussion of pediatric brain and spinal cord cancers. Please click here to read our previous article on astrocytoma.Brain Stem GliomasBrain stem gliomas...
Pediatric Cancers and Treatment
By Lilly Su, MD Candidate, Class of 2023, Penn State College of MedicineBrain tumorsCancer is a diagnosis that nobody wants to hear come out of their physician’s mouth, even more so, out of the mouth of their child’s pediatrician. In an ideal world, we would never...