The 'hESC Resource and Training Core1 (Core A) will be located in a new Core facility in the Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences at the University of Georgia. The Core will have three primary objectives: cell maintenance and distribution, including support for quality control This will be primarily built on new technologies developed for hESC culture and differentiation. hESCs will be grown in fully defined media under feeder free conditions. Three directed differentiation models will be offered: definitive endoderm, mesoderm and neural progenitors, The Core will also serve as a distribution center for hESCs adapted and grown in defined media, a resource that is currently not available to the hESC community. to provide state of the art training for new investigators wishing to establish hESC expertise An intensive 2 week laboratory based training program will be offered to investigators from the Southeast. This will involve aspects of culture in defined media and new technologies, such as large scale hESC culture and high density culture applicable for drug screening. These technologies are available due to advantages offered by the defined system. to function as a technical resource for the Southeastern hESC community The technical expertise of the Core will be accessible to the Southeast hESC community by direct one-onone contact, by access to information posted at the Program's web site, and through the facilitation of technical exchange through several additional mechanisms. Overall, the Core is designed to stimulate activity in hESC research in the Southeast and to enable investigators to enter the field by obtaining access to an intensive training program. The Core will be continually evaluating and introducing new technologies into its own range of activities. These will be offered to established investigators as part of the training program, or through direct dissemination of technical information. Discussions with leaders in the stem cell field from the Southeast indicate that the Core will serve a vital and much needed role in supporting hESC activities in the region.