California/Scottish collaboration to heal bones

The good folks at the Scottish Stem Cell Network have pointed out an interesting relationship between CIRM and Scotland. We don't have a formal funding relationship with Scotland (you can read about our collaborative funding agreements here) but we do have a researcher with a foot in both countries.

Bruno Péault is Professor and Chair of Vascular Regeneration at the University of Edinburgh and holds a joint appointment at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He has an Early Translational II Award to develop ways of harnessing stem cells in blood vessels to repair bone damage. The CIRM award only funds the portion of the research taking place in California.

According to the SSCN profile, Péault is in the process of setting up an exchange program between the two universities, ensuring that stem cell expertise crosses borders. They write:

Fueled by this grant and strongly supported by both Californian and Scottish Universities, this collaboration is aimed to develop in other research directions, notably ongoing studies related to normal and leukemic blood cell formation and development.

The profile was written as part of Scotland Week, which the SSCN celebrated with a series of profiles about stem cell research collaborations including Scottish scientists. In case you missed it, kilt day was Wednesday. No word on when bagpipe day was, but I'm pretty sure Friday might be scotch night at my house.

- A.A.