Stem Cells: Thematic Research Areas

Posted: June 4, 2015 at 10:43 pm

Information on this page is excerpted from the UConn Health Stem Cell website.

Responding to the federal restrictions on the creation of new stem cell lines for research, the Connecticut General Assembly passed legislation that was signed into law by then Gov. M. Jodi Rell, authorizing the use of public funds to finance human stem cell research. The law commits $100 million over a period from 2007 to 2017 to support this highly promising area of bioscience research.

While five states have passed similar legislation, Connecticut, has set a new standard by becoming the first state to actually implement a structured, ongoing research grant program of this type. The law established a competitive process for awarding research grants. An impartial Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee, chaired by the Connecticut Commissioner of Public Health, was appointed to distribute the funds based on the scientific, legal and ethical integrity of the research being done.

Fifteen of the 21 research proposals funded were awarded to UConn faculty. Collectively, they amounted to nearly $12 million, or about 60 percent of the total disbursal. The funding supports investigators engaged in a wide range of research projects designed to unlock the secrets of stem cells and turn them into effective treatments for a host of diseases and disorders as quickly as possible.

Below is a listing of UConn Health faculty who received State of Connecticut Stem Cell Awards along with a brief description of their research projects.

Hector Leonardo Aguila

FACS isolation of progenitors and generation novel cell surfaces antibodies.

In order for researchers to use stem cells for regenerative therapies, the design of methods for the correct identification of stem cells is crucial. One of the best approaches not only to characterize different cell types, but also to isolate them - is the generation of antibodies against cell surface molecules. The Project 2 group has developed unique tracking systems for musculoskeletal development to visualize progenitor cells with the ability to develop into cartilage, bone, fat and muscle. These systems employ genetic techniques that add genetic information to embryonic stem cells to make them express fluorescent protein at defined stages of their development.

Gordon G. Carmichael and Asis Das

DsRNA and epigenetic regulation in embryonic stem cells.

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Stem Cells: Thematic Research Areas

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