Little history: SAN FRANCISCO, February 16, 2007 – The governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) approved 72 grants totaling approximately $45 million over two years, to researchers at 20 academic and non-profit research centers throughout the state focused solely on human embryonic stem cell research.
So here is what the future of embryonic stem cells looks like: Stanford scholars were preferred the most by CIRM, in the first run 12 grants worth a combined $8 million were distributed to them. Well, I wouldn’t be surprised too much if the founders of the coming Google Incorporation of Regenerative Medicine in the biotechnology industry were from Stanford University also.
38 projects have been already listed and linked that were recommended for funding. But now from the press release pdf at the CIRM website we are finally informed about the names of the researchers who will carry on the projects. It is also an excellent career guide for young stem cell researchers, undergraduates, graduates, postdocs who are eager to work in California. Surprisingly there are scholars, who are completely new in stem cell research, but would like to put it in a multidisciplinary context. A good example is Gregory T. A. Kovacs electrical engineering professor from Stanford, who will develop cell-monitoring technologies that would provide a better understanding of cardiomyocyte differentiation from human embryonic stem cells (hESC), identify optimal stages of differentiation for cell-transplantation therapy, and perhaps facilitate directed in vitro differentiation strategies.
The list is public:
| pplication# | Principal Investigator | Institution | Title | Amount | ||||
| RS1-00161-1 | Blelloch, Dr. Robert Hector | University of California, San Francisco | MicroRNA Regulation of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Differentiation | $631,831 | ||||
| RS1-00163-1 | Bredesen, Dr. Dale Eric | Buck Institute for Age Research | Programmed Cell Death Pathways Activated in Embryonic Stem Cells | $734,202 | ||||
| RS1-00169-1 | Cashman, Dr. John R. | Human BioMolecular Research Institute | Discovering Potent Molecules with Human ESCs to Treat Heart Disease | $714,654 | ||||
| RS1-00170-1 | Chen, Dr. Bin | University of California, Santa Cruz | In vitro differentiation of hESCs into corticospinal motor neurons | $500,000 | ||||
| RS1-00171-1 | Chen, Dr. Huei-Sheng Vincent | Burnham Institute for Medical Research | Development of Neuro-Coupled Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Cardiac Pacemaker Cells. | $744,639 | ||||
| RS1-00172-1 | Chen, Dr. Irvin S.Y. | University of California, Los Angeles | Genetic modification of the human genome to resist HIV-1 infection and/or disease progression | $642,652 | ||||
| RS1-00173-1 | Chien, Professor Shu | University of California, San Diego | Combinatorial Platform for Optimizing Microenvironments to Control hESC Fate | $638,140 Read the rest of this entry » |
