UConn stem cell researchers receive state funding for work

Nine UConn faculty members, representing disciplines including neuroscience, immunology, genetics, and molecular medicine, have been awarded $3.3 million in state funding for human embryonic stem cell research.

Seven of the grants were awarded to scientists based at the Health Center, and two to researchers at the Center for Regenerative Biology in Storrs.

The awards were among a total of 22 grants totaling nearly $10 million in the second round of funding announced April 1 by the Connecticut Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee (SCRAC), a 13-member committee in charge of developing the state’s stem cell research grants-in-aid program.

“We are very pleased with the results,” said Dr. Marc Lalande, chair of the Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology, associate dean for research planning and coordination at the Health Center, and director of the University’s Stem Cell Institute.

“We hope the research to be funded using these taxpayer monies will bring honor to the state of Connecticut.”

The funding program, approved by the legislature and Gov. M. Jodi Rell in 2005, set aside $100 million for Connecticut-based embryonic and adult stem cell research through 2015.

In 2006, the committee awarded $20 million in the first round of competitive funds for stem cell training and research programs at UConn and other Connecticut universities.

For this second round, the committee received 87 preliminary requests seeking nearly $45 million for research projects.

Proposals were submitted by Yale University, the University of Hartford, and several small biotech firms based in the state, as well as UConn.

The applications were peer reviewed by a separate group of scientists, which ranked each proposal for the state stem cell panel with respect to the ethical and scientific merit.

The state panel awarded four types of grants:

• seed grants of $100,000 per year for two years to support early phases of research that is not ready for larger scale funding;
• established investigator grants of up to $250,000 per year for scientists with a track record of independent research and grant support;
• group project grants of up to $2 million over four years to support coordinated research among several investigators aimed at specific goals that are beyond the scope of a single laboratory;
• and core facility awards, intended to establish or maintain centers with the equipment and personnel necessary to operate a core lab that will be made accessible to the state stem cell research community.