GAITHERSBURG, Md. — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has awarded two organizations cooperative agreements of up to $1.5 million to create curricula and programs for training the current and future regenerative medicine workforce in standards implementation. The award recipients were selected following an open, competitive process announced earlier this year.

Regenerative medicine, which includes cell therapy, gene therapy and therapeutic tissue engineering, aims to harness the body's innate ability to heal for regenerating and replacing damaged or diseased cells, tissues and organs. The field provides unprecedented potential to treat previously intractable diseases, such as cancer and genetic disorders.

In 2023, Congress tasked NIST with supporting the development of the regenerative medicine workforce as part of the agency’s Regenerative Medicine program.

The awardees will create training programs on the standards, protocols and measurements underpinning the field. 

 “We are thrilled to announce our new partnerships to develop an innovative standards education program, paving the way for flexible and immersive learning experiences that support advanced biomanufacturing,” said Sheng Lin-Gibson, chief of NIST’s Biosystems and Biomaterials Division. “These educational programs will facilitate the adoption of standards and best practices to increase quality and consistency of advanced therapies and ultimately bring down costs.”

The two cooperative agreements are for $250,000 each per year with the option to renew for up to three years.

The organizations receiving the awards are Brammer Bio, a part of Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Patheon Pharma Services, and the Standards Coordinating Body (SCB) for Gene, Cell and Regenerative Medicines and Cell-Based Drug Discovery, a nonprofit organization based in Gaithersburg, Maryland. 

These organizations will produce a wide range of training opportunities including traditional classroom and hands-on teaching, self-paced e-learning and use of digital tools, multimedia resources and immersive augmented reality. 

Training will be provided to current and future members of the regenerative medicine workforce through continuing education and college- and graduate-level programs.