With the issue continually steeped in controversy, UCLA has
announced plans to open another chapter in the stem cell research
debate with a new $20 million institute.
Headed by Dr. Owen Witte, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute
investigator, the newly created Institute for Stem Cell Biology and
Medicine will bring together researchers from various scientific
and ethical fields, UCLA officials announced March 15.
Among the top priorities for the new institute will be
conducting embryonic and adult stem cell research, with the aim of
eventually being able to treat HIV, cancer and neurological
disorders.
Stem cells, which arise early in the development of a human,
have the unique ability to give rise to other types of cells. Their
capacity for differentiating into new types of cells may lead to
treatment possibilities for such diseases as Alzheimer’s,
heart disease and diabetes.
“With the launch of this institute, we realize our goal of
bringing together scientific, ethical, legal and policy experts
from across the UCLA campus to focus on the great promise of stem
cell research,” said Gerald Levey, dean of the David Geffen
School of Medicine, in a press release.
UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale said the new institute
“will enable us to continue fostering such interdisciplinary
collaborations and to build upon the existing body of knowledge for
the benefit of people worldwide.”
Unique to the new institute will be its focus on collaboration,
bringing together geneticists, process engineers and
microbiologists, among others.
“In a problem of this dimension trying to understand how
cells develop into specific tissue types and utilize that info,
(collaboration) is absolutely imperative,” Witte said.
It is hoped that funding for the new institute will eventually
derive from Proposition 71, a state initiative passed in November
which promised $3 billion to stem cell research, Witte said. But
for now members of the institute have received money from their own
fund-raising.
“We hope that we will be successful in getting our fair
share,” Witte said, referring to the eventual grants that
will be available when Proposition 71 funding crystallizes.
With regard to short-term objectives, Witte has been conducting
workshops with various faculty groups and coming to consensus about
the institute’s future. Currently, they are focusing their
attention on hiring new faculty and establishing laboratory
facilities, Witte added.