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PUBLICATIONS
Inside
Illinois Vol.
26, No. 5, Sept. 7, 2006
Governor funds stem cell research
grants
By
Sabryna Cornish, UIC News Bureau
Urbana researchers receive grants for stem cell research
Lawrence Schook, a
professor of pathobiology and of nutritional sciences in
the department of animal science and in the Institute for
Genomic Biology; $1 million for research that explores
new technologies for clinical-grade human stem cell therapies
for the repair or replacement of diseased, damaged or nonfunctional
organs and tissues using one’s own or donor stem cells.
Fei Wang, a professor of
cellular and developmental biology in the School of Molecular
and Cellular Biology; $400,000 for research to provide new tools for studying
the molecular mechanisms underlying human embryonic stem cell fate determination
for tissue repair and regeneration.
Matthew Stewart, a professor
of veterinary clinical medicine and affiliate of the IGB;
$250,000 to study the expansion of the use of certain stem cells for experiments
for clinical regeneration of musculoskeletal tissues. |
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Researchers at the UI will receive state grants totaling $1.65 million
for stem cell research, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced Aug.
17 at a news conference on the Chicago campus.
Of the seven grants from the state of Illinois for stem cell research
projects, three researchers at the UI’s Urbana campus, one researcher
at the UI College of Medicine at Peoria, two scientists at the UI’s
Chicago campus, and one from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
will receive funding.
The grants are part of a $5 million funding package that Blagojevich
allocated for stem cell research in fiscal year 2007, and are in addition
to $10 million in grant funding that Blagojevich, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn
and Comptroller Dan Hynes announced in April.
Blagojevich used his executive power to allocate the funds after President
Bush vetoed legislation in July that would have expanded scientists’ access
to new, healthy uncontaminated stem cell lines.
“The promise of stem cell research is unlimited, and countless lives
hang in the balance,” Blagojevich said in a news release announcing the
grants. “It’s clear that we can’t count on the president
to support stem cell research, and lawmakers in Springfield have yet to act
on a proposal that would provide $100 million over five years for research.
So we are doing what we can with the resources we have to fund stem cell research.
I’m confident that the seven recipients of this funding will make strides
towards curing diseases ranging from diabetes to Alzheimer’s.”
UI president B. Joseph White thanked the governor for “having
the courage to do something right, something difficult,” and
added, “I think the national government is tragically wrong for
not supporting stem cell research.”
The funds will come from an administrative line in the Department of
Healthcare and Family Services’ budget. A panel of stem cell
research experts and bioethicists selected the grant recipients from
proposals that were submitted to the Illinois Department of Public
Health’s Illinois Regenerative Medicine Institute but were not
funded previously. Illinois became the first state in the Midwest – and
the fourth in the U.S. – to commit public funds to stem cell
research when Blagojevich and Hynes created the IRMI by executive order
in 2005.
Stem cell research has the potential to treat and possibly prevent
a variety of diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s
and cancer, Blagojevich said.
Mary Schneider of Batavia, Ill., who attended the news conference with
her 3-year-old son Ryan, spoke about the benefits of stem cell research.
Ryan, who was diagnosed with a mild form of cerebral palsy and was
the first person in the nation to be infused with stem cells from his
own umbilical cord blood to treat the disease, ran and played during
the news conference.
The benefits of the stem-cell therapy were almost immediate, Schneider
said.
“In Illinois, we’re committed to supplying critical knowledge,” said
Eric Whitaker, a clinical assistant professor in health policy at UIC and director
of the Illinois Department of Public Health. “Stem cell research offers
a real opportunity to expand knowledge.”
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