The National Institute of General Medical Sciences recently awarded a $1.7 million grant to the WiCell Research Institute on the UW-Madison campus and designated it as one of three Exploratory Centers for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research in the nation.
WiCell, a non-profit subsidiary of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, received the honor in recognition of its pioneering work, led by James Thomson, UW-Madison professor and WiCell scientific director, in the field of stem-cell research.
\WiCell is being recognized as a leader in the stem cell area,"" said Andy Cohn, public relations manager for WiCell. ""Dr. Thomson was the first person who discovered it and he's put together a team of incredible scientists who are working on this.""
According to Cohn, WiCell's new official status as a national center for stem-cell research will help to raise funds and to attract top scientists to the campus.
In addition, the $1.7 million will fund research during the next three years.
""This grant will enable WiCell and the University of Wisconsin-Madison to continue their leadership roles in human embryonic stem cell research,"" said Carl Gulbrandsen, president of WiCell's board of directors, in a press release.
Specifically, WiCell plans to use the funds to further its research on the basic biology of stem cells: how to grow the cells, how to freeze and preserve them and how to predict their patterns of differentiation.
Stem cell researchers on the UW-Madison campus say the grant will facilitate their research.
""It's a sort of infrastructure grant,"" said Su-Chun Zhang, an assistant professor of anatomy and neurology at UW-Madison. ""I think it will be helpful because the center will provide some kind of service to individuals working on stem cells throughout the campus.""
WARF and UW-Madison established WiCell in October 1999 to achieve a two-part mission. Globally, WiCell aims to distribute stem cells to researchers worldwide and teach them how to work with the cells. Locally, it aims to promote collaboration among scientists on campus who are exploring different aspects of stem-cell research.
""We have people working on heart cells, on neural cells, on blood cells and on pancreatic cells,"" Cohn said. ""[WiCell] allows them to work together and to talk to one another on an ongoing basis.""
The University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center at the University of Washington in Seattle received the other two grants.
