A stem cell winner
by kim irwin
ucla today
UCLA’s new Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Medicine has received the largest grant in the first round of state funding awarded to 16 research institutions Sept. 9 by the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine. The state agency was founded to jump-start stem cell research in California after voters in November 2004 overwhelmingly passed Proposition 71.
The three-year, $3.75-million grant will be used to train 16 predoctoral, postdoctoral and clinical research scholars from a multidisciplinary perspective. “The aim of our program is to train basic scientists, engineers and physicians to become leaders in stem cell research,” said Owen Witte, director of the institute. He is a professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.
Trainees will have the option of working with faculty leaders in cell and molecular biology, gene medicine, cell-based therapies and organ transplantation, among other fields. Training will include the social, legal, ethical and policy aspects of stem cell research.
“This will benefit the people of California by providing high-quality training in the scientific, clinical, social and ethical aspects of stem cell research to the scientists and clinicians who will be developing the future therapies in this rapidly emerging field,” said Judith C. Gasson, co-director of UCLA’s institute and director of the Jonsson Cancer Center.
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