U-M Center receives funds for embryonic stem cell research
October 23, 2006
The University of Michigan has raised over a quarter of a million dollars in private funds to support a project on human embryonic stem cell research currently not eligible for federal funding. The project will be part of the U-M Center for Stem Cell Biology, which was launched last year with $12M in start-up funding from U-M and which is based in U-M’s Life Science Institute.
"On the day President Bush vetoed the legislation in late July, I asked a group of the Institute’s stakeholders to help us stay leaders in the field by funding this critical area of research until the federal restrictions are eased. The response was positive and immediate," said Alan Saltiel, director of the Life Sciences Institute.
In less than three months, the Institute raised $283,000 with a goal to raise an additional $1M to fund the project for four years. The donors include current and former U-M regents and many local and national leaders who believe this research is vital to find cures to the most devastating diseases.
"Our funders are representative of the majority of the public who are in favor of embryonic stem cell research; it offers the best hope to speed the pace of discovery for treatments and cures for diseases like diabetes, Parkinson’s and cancer," Saltiel said.
There was broad bi-partisan support for the Castle-Degette legislation that Bush vetoed in July and which would have allowed federal support for research on newly-derived human embryonic stem cell lines. Currently, federal funds may only be used to fund stem cell research using the few stem cell lines that were in existence when President Bush entered an executive order in 2001.
Michigan state law prohibits researchers from creating new stem cell lines by destroying human embryos within the state and from genetically tailoring stem cell lines for use in specific patients through a process called "nuclear transfer."
"I committed my support within hours of Dr. Saltiel's request," said Ernest G. Ludy, founder and former CEO of Medstat (now Thomson Medstat), headquartered in Ann Arbor. "This research is too important to be halted by overly restrictive state and federal policies."
"The University has a track record of success in stem cell research and my wife Kathy and I believe it is absolutely vital that Michigan continues to lead during this period. We were pleased to be able to support research that may some day lead to cures for the terrible diseases that have touched all of our lives," said Phil Power, former U-M Regent and founder and former owner of Hometown Communications, a publisher of local and regional newspapers.
The Director of the U-M Center for Stem Biology, Sean Morrison, is developing the research plans for the project, which is now getting underway.
"With these private funds, we will be able to work on newer human embryonic stem cell lines that have been created since 2001. These newer lines are better because they are uncontaminated by animal products and will allow us to model inherited human diseases," said Morrison.
"We are already at a disadvantage in Michigan because of our state law restrictions. That makes this support even more critical for our Center. In the areas where Michigan can conduct stem cell research, we have been recognized as among the best institutions internationally," Morrison said. "It is important to remember that these restrictions under Michigan law do not protect a single embryo from destruction; they only delay medical research."
Morrison is also an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Associate Professor, Division of Molecular Medicine & Genetics in Internal Medicine, U-M Medical School. Morrison was named a "Michiganian of the Year" for 2006 by the Detroit News for his work in stem cell research and received an Early Career Award from President Bush for his work on stem cells. This summer, he authored a paper featured in the New York Times on the link between stem cells, aging and cancer.
Public opinion studies have shown overwhelming support for stem cell research both nationally and in Michigan. In other states, individuals and private foundations have committed millions to fund stem cell research.
"To make the U-M Center for Stem Cell Biology competitive with our peer institutions, we will need far more than we have raised," said Saltiel. "But this is an important and exciting beginning. Coupled with the University’s commitment to the Center and our proven ability to make breakthroughs that are not achieved at other institutions, we are poised for continued success."
The U-M Center for Stem Cell Biology was created a year ago with joint funding by the U-M’s Medical School, Cancer Center, Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute and the LSI. It has already recruited two new faculty members from California and Oregon.
Donors to UM Center for Stem Cell Biology include:
Anonymous donors
Halima Cherif
Mr. and Mrs. William K. Hall
The Ludy Family Foundation
Michele May and David Walt
Olivia P. Maynard and S. Olaf Karlstrom
Rebecca McGowan and Michael B. Staebler
Paul and Susan Meister
The Mosaic Foundation of Rita and Peter Heydon
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
Philip and Kathy Power
Theodora Ross and Sean Morrison
Alan and Swanna Saltiel
Edward and Jane Schulak
Links:
Center for Stem Cell Biology
Morrison Lab
Life Science Institute
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