Optional Courses: 

UCSF faculty will also offer two types of electives designed specifically for this program. First, we will offer full quarter electives that cover topics such as human embryology, the molecular basis and therapies for diseases such as diabetes, systems biology, and advanced ethics courses. Second, we will offer week-long mini-courses that meet for two hours a day, Monday through Friday. These will include local faculty and invited speakers, and will cover such topics as: cancer stem cells, hematopoiesis, neural stem cells, and skeletal and craniofacial development. Schedules will be staggered throughout the year, and these electives will be open to those at UCSF and affiliated institutions.

Several related and new activities are currently being planned for CIRM Scholars:

• A dedicated retreat each spring for faculty and CIRM scholars to present talks and/or posters on their research and discuss programmatic issues. This retreat will include stem cell researchers from collaborating and affiliated institutions in the Bay Area.
• A dedicated stem cell biology and regenerative medicine journal club that be organized in 2006-2007. On one week, a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow will present research from their laboratory, while on alternate weeks the students will present recent papers from the literature.
• A new weekly or bi-weekly seminar series for the CIRM Program.