Institute has raised $400K in donations

Institute has raised $400K in donations

BY ALYSSA GUZMAN | SEPTEMBER 19, 2014 5:00 AM

This year, the John Paul II Medical Research Institute received the most donations it has ever seen.

We received funds through the Ice Bucket Challenge, institute President Jay Kamath said. There wasnt a whole lot that we did on the marketing base to gather funds. It was the efforts of the people who conducted the videos.

Thus far, the institute, which has taken a stance against using embryonic stem cells in research, has received more than $400,000 in donations.

Those who have views that align with the institute have decided to send donations its way.

When the Ice Bucket Challenge came up, there were a lot of people who were opposed to giving to the ALS Foundation because they use embryonic cells [for research], Kamath said.

Instead, the John Paul institution uses induced pluripotent stem cells and other adult stem cells.

Such cells have many of the same features as the embryotic stem cells, but instead of extracting them from an embryo, cells are taken from patients and are genetically reprogrammed into a very primitive embryotic life stem cell.

Alan Moy, the founder of the institute, said his Catholicism influenced his choice to not use embryotic stem cells.

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Institute has raised $400K in donations