If the University of Colorado’s medical school wants to become a major presence in stem-cell research, it will have to play some catch-up.
The university announced Wednesday that it will use a $6 million gift from the Gates Family Fund to create the Charles C. Gates Program in Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology.
While the largest research gift ever received by the school, it is smaller than the funds snared by other institutions:
In February, Eli Broad, founder of KB Home, gave $25 million to the University of Southern California to create a building dedicated to stem-cell research.
Michael Bloomberg, New York’s billionaire mayor, has promised $100 million to Johns Hopkins University for stem-cell research.
The University of California, San Francisco received $16 million this year from electronics executive Ray Dolby and gets private funds from the Geron Corp. UCSF has 60 labs exploring how stem cells might be used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, cancer and Lou Gehrig’s disease. The university, with other California research groups, will be able to tap into the $150 million in state stem-cell funds made available this month.
Harvard University has raised $50 million in private funding for stem-cell research, according to Forbes magazine.
Since President Bush imposed a ban in 2001 on federal funding for the creation of new embryonic stem-cell lines, Harvard reportedly has created 30 new lines.
The Gates gift will allow CU “to develop a robust program in regeneration and stem-cell research,” said Dr. David Norris, chairman of the department of neurology.
The university has coaxed Dennis R. Roop, a noted researcher of adult stem cells and skin cancer, away from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston to lead the program.
Significant stem-cell research was underway at CU long before the Gates gift, by more than two dozen scientists, and in areas including cancer, Parkinson’s disease and diabetes.
The creation of a new center will bring those researchers together in greater collaboration and make CU “not just a presence but a force” in stem-cell research, said one of those researchers, Christopher Hogan.
CU officials said they could not estimate the total amount CU stem-cell investigators received in grant money this year.
Roop said he will bring with him about $3.8 million in National Institutes of Health grant money, which could grow to more than $4 million if he persuades several colleagues to come with him to Colorado.
This year, the NIH will fund $609 million in stem-cell research – including $38 million for human embryonic stem-cell research.
The remainder of the NIH money will be used either for work on human adult stem cells or animal stem cells.
Some of CU’s strongest competition may come not from San Francisco or Boston, but Singapore, China, Japan and Great Britain.
Singapore has lured several top researchers from the United States and late last year invested $45 million to create the Singapore Stem Cell Consortium.
At CU, the emphasis, for now, will be on human adult stem cells and animal stem cells, along with ongoing work with the embryonic stem-cell lines that were available before the 2001 ban on creating new lines with federal funds.
Stem-cell scientists at the University of Colorado medical school and their research:
Curt Freed, John Sladek and Mike Zawada are using stem cells that are found in the fluid-filled ventricles of the brain to repair brain injury. Neuronal stem cells are derived from animal or human fetuses.
Christopher Hogan and a team of researchers are exploring the use of umbilical-cord stem cells to help rebuild the blood of cancer patients and in treatment of neurological disorders and heart disease.
Carlin Long and Kelly Ambler are using mouse stem cells to regenerate heart cells in mice that have suffered heart attacks or cardiac damage.
G. Scott Worthen is using embryonic stem cells to generate white blood cells.
Norbert Voelkel and Susan Majka are investigating vascular adult stem cells that may play a role in pulmonary hypertension.
Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes researchers are investigating the potential of embryonic stem cells for cell replacement therapy for Type 1 diabetes.
James DeGregori is investigating competition between normal and malignant stem cells.
Nine researchers in the developmental biology program are investigating areas such as early spinal-cord development patterns and formation of sensory organs.
