NIH Awards MDI Bio Lab $2.3M to Train Leaders in Regenerative Biology

Press Release

NIH Awards MDI Bio Lab $2.3M to Train Leaders in Regenerative Biology

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BAR HARBOR, MAINE _ The MDI Biological Laboratory has been awarded a $2.3 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support an innovative training initiative that will build the future workforce of regenerative medicine-a field that is unlocking powerful new ways to heal injury and disease.

Titled "Emerging Leaders in Regenerative Biology and Development" (ReBilD), the program convenes international leaders in regenerative and developmental biology to train graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and early-career scientists who will become the next pioneers in the field. The program focuses on enrollees from institutions that can benefit from MDI Bio Lab's wide array of expert mentors, investigative models and leading-edge research infrastructure.

"This is our sincere effort as an institution to create a new forum for leadership and learning in regenerative biology," says MDI Bio Lab Assistant Professor Prayag Murawala, Ph.D., a leading researcher in limb regeneration who with Lab colleagues developed ReBilD in 2024. "Ultimately, this is about workforce development, equipping the next generation with the knowledge, skills and tools they will need to push the effort to a new level."

A Three-Part Plan to Build Scientific Capacity

The ReBilD program is designed around three core components:

• An intensive 10-day summer course featuring hands-on lab work with highly regenerative models such as planaria flatworms, Hydra, zebrafish, and axolotl (Mexican salamanders). The course also provides seminars, lectures, training in microscopy and bioinformatics, and a networking symposium to connect participants with leading scientists in the field.

• A Visiting Scientist Program, offering immersive four-week residencies in MDI Bio Lab's research groups. Visiting scientists train in advanced techniques such as transgenesis, RNA interference, 3D imaging and single-cell analysis -skills they can take back to their home institutions.

• A sustainable learning and mentorship community, centered on an open-source online classroom platform, to support long-term collaboration and professional development. Participants will have access to online materials, career-development and grant-writing workshops, and a continuing seminar series in regeneration and development.

Murawala says regeneration science is advancing rapidly, driven by tools such as CRISPR gene editing and next-generation sequencing. Yet the workforce has not kept pace. "To realize the full promise of regenerative medicine in Maine and globally," he says, "we need to build a skilled and interconnected scientific community."

For more information and to arrange interviews with program leaders or participants, contact:

Fred Bever
Chief Communications Officer

MDI Biological Laboratory

[email protected] | 207-200-6832