Columbia Receives Additional State Funding To Support Stem Cell Initiatives
NEW YORK (Sept. 19, 2008) – State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines, M.D., announced today that Columbia University will receive more than $200,000 in one-year planning grants for stem cell research from the Empire State Stem Cell Board. The new funding is a part of $2 million in planning grants for New York institutions to strengthen the state’s capacity for stem cell research.
The grants were approved today at a meeting of the Funding Committee of the Empire State Stem Cell Board at the state health department's New York City office. They are the second set of grants awarded under New York's multi-year stem cell research program. In January, $15 million in grants were awarded to 25 research institutions with Columbia University Medical Center, Columbia University’s Morningside campus and the New York State Psychiatric Institute receiving $2.5 million at that time.
The 2007-2008 state budget created the Empire State Stem Cell Trust Fund, providing up to $600 million over 11 years for stem cell research, an allocation second only to California's.
"This important investment in stem cell research is strengthening the state's position as a leader in biomedical research and biotechnology, while supporting the development of possible new therapies to alleviate and treat debilitating diseases and conditions, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's ALS, paralysis, and diabetes," said Commissioner Daines, who chairs the Empire State Stem Cell Board.
"These new grants will spur collaborations among New York State stem cell scientists and their academic and industry partners, with the goal of creating a robust research infrastructure that will accelerate progress in this promising field," said Lawrence S. Sturman, M.D., Ph.D., director of the state health department's Wadsworth Center laboratory, which administers New York's stem cell program.
The grants awarded today will support the development of stem cell research consortia aimed at linking research institutions and corporations, building and strengthening interdisciplinary research teams, establishing core research facilities, and developing stem cell training and education programs.
Columbia University Medical Center in Washington Heights and researchers at Columbia’s Morningside campus will use this funding to support technologies needed to work with these unique stem cell lines and to support resource sharing and collaborations among laboratories working on related topics and disease areas.
David Hirsh, Ph.D., Executive Vice President for Research at Columbia University, said, “These important planning grants will help the talented stem cell researchers here at Columbia, and those at biomedical research institutions like ours, develop crucial collaborations and plan strategic initiatives that will move us all collectively toward deepening our understanding of stem cells and applying discoveries to the challenges of human health.”
“We look forward to continuing to work with the state and our colleagues at other New York institutions and elsewhere to realize the promise of the state’s investment in stem cell research,” said Hynek Wichterle, Ph.D., assistant professor of pathology, cell biology and neuroscience, at Columbia University Medical Center.
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Columbia University Medical Center provides international leadership in basic, pre-clinical and clinical research, in medical and health sciences education, and in patient care. The medical center trains future leaders and includes the dedicated work of many physicians, scientists, public health professionals, dentists, and nurses at the College of Physicians & Surgeons, the Mailman School of Public Health, the College of Dental Medicine, the School of Nursing, the biomedical departments of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and allied research centers and institutions. Established in 1767, Columbia's College of Physicians & Surgeons was the first institution in the country to grant the M.D. degree and is among the most selective medical schools in the country. Columbia University Medical Center is home to the largest medical research enterprise in New York City and state and one of the largest in the United States. For more information, please visit http://www.cumc.columbia.edu.