Annual Report 2007 - Looking Ahead at
Looking Ahead: Stem Cell Research
Armed with an exceptional multidisciplinary team of scientists, and bolstered by a decade-long state effort to advance embryonic and human stem cell research, UConn is now at the forefront of a field that offers hope for millions of people with debilitating illnesses.
Connecticut is the first state to implement an ongoing, structured stem cell research grant program; more than $20 million was awarded in November 2006 by the Connecticut Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee.
UConn researchers received 15 of the 21 grants, for a total of more than $12 million. The grants support nearly two-dozen investigators in Storrs and at the UConn Health Center who are already engaged in stem cell and regenerative biology research.
“These awards recognize the expertise of University of Connecticut faculty in a field of great promise to medical research and great potential to contribute to our state’s economic growth,” said President Philip E. Austin.
Research on stem cells promises to develop innovative cell transplantation therapies for diabetes, cancers, heart and blood disorders, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s disease.
A 113,000-square-foot building has been purchased in Farmington to house UConn’s Human Embryonic Stem Cell Core Facility, along with cutting edge cell biology and genetics research. The center will unite UConn scientists in a cross-disciplinary, collaborative setting and accelerate discoveries that ultimately could lead to therapies. The facility is expected to open in 2010.
UConn’s leadership in biomedical research—the foundation for stem cell work—has been established through its major commitment in the field of regenerative medicine with the Center for Regenerative Biology at Storrs, which is led by Xiangzhong “Jerry” Yang, Ph.D., professor of animal science and one of the world’s leading experts on animal cloning. The University’s stem cell research efforts were also bolstered by the recruitment of Ren-He Xu, Ph.D., a world-renowned expert in human embryonic stem cell biology, as director of the stem cell core facility.
To anticipate and respond to ethical questions that may arise in this sensitive research, UConn has created an Embryonic Stem Cell Oversight Committee (ESCRO) composed of scientific, ethical and legal experts and members of the community at large; it is chaired by Anne Hiskes, associate professor of philosophy in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
ESCRO must review and approve all proposed stem cell research projects with a simply stated test: Are the anticipated benefits to human health greater than any potential risks to human dignity and the value of human life?
