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Rockefeller to share in $50 million stem cell grant
A $50 million gift from The Starr Foundation,
to be shared by The Rockefeller University, Weill Medical College
of Cornell University and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center,
will be used to develop new resources and expertise in stem cell
research, it was announced last month.
The gift, which will be distributed over a
three-year period, will fund the newly formed Tri-institutional
Stem Cell Initiative, which will emphasize collaborative studies
and build on existing research ties between Rockefeller and its
neighboring institutions, as well as recruit and train new
scientists and develop research facilities. Of the total gift, $10
million has already been awarded.
“The Starr Foundation gift will help us
to gain a better understanding of the basic biology of stem cells
and the mechanisms of disease, crucial steps that must be taken
before these cells can be developed into human therapies,”
said President Paul Nurse. “The new initiative will greatly
enhance Rockefeller’s ongoing collaborative work with MSKCC
and Weill Cornell researchers to pursue these
objectives.”
Currently six of Rockefeller’s 75
laboratories conduct basic research with embryonic, neuronal and skin
stem cells derived from mice or laboratory cultures of human adult
skin stem cells, as well as human embryonic stem cells from both
the National Institutes of Health Registry and non-registry cell
lines, for which federal funds may not be used. With support from
the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International,
Rockefeller University scientists are creating new human embryonic
stem cell lines that will be accessible to other researchers.
Additional private funding has aided their work, including a $5
million endowment gift from Harriet Heilbrunn last year, which was
used to establish the Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn Center for Stem
Cell Research, and over $3 million contributed since 2002 from
members of the Board, The Rockefeller University Council and other
university benefactors.
The initiative will further research already
under way and spur new investigations into the molecular processes
that are ultimately responsible for human cellular diversity, as
well as cell-based therapies that may result from the new
knowledge. A greater understanding of stem cells has considerable
potential for the development of new regenerative treatments that would deploy
the body’s own ability for growth and repair against a range
of conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, spinal
cord injury, stroke, burns, heart disease, cancer and arthritis.
“We envision a thriving community of
scientists on these three contiguous campuses creating a major hub
of stem cell research in the country,” said Maurice
Greenberg, Chairman of the Board of The Starr Foundation, and
Trustee Emeritus at Rockefeller. “We want to ensure that New
York City remains one of the greatest centers of medical and
scientific research in the world.”
Since 1992, the Greenberg family and The Starr
Foundation have provided generous support for basic and clinical
research programs at The Rockefeller University. This support
includes grants creating and sustaining the Starr Center for Human
Genetics; major funding for The Rockefeller University Hospital;
generous support of the university’s Women & Science
program; and grants to establish and support the Center for the
Study of Hepatitis C, a collaborative research and clinical effort
of Rockefeller, Weill Cornell and NewYork–Presbyterian
Hospital, directed by Maurice R. and Corinne P. Greenberg Professor
Charles Rice.
June 17, 2005
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