Millions in Grant Money Go to California Colleges for Stem-Cell Research

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:44:00 GMT

Twelve academic institutions in California recently received approximately $271 million in grant money from a state agency to construct laboratories for stem-cell research, according to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education (“In California, Millions Are Distributed for Stem-Cell Research,” May 8, 2008).

The funds, divided into 12 grants, represent the largest single chunk of money distributed from a $3 billion bond authorized by Californians in 2004 to help make the state the world leader in stem cell research.

The University of California system is the largest recipient of the grant money, where 9 of its 10 campuses were grantees. Such well-known institutions as Stanford University, The Scripps Research Institute, and the University of Southern California also received funding.

"We're very excited about what has been made possible today," said Arnold Kriegstein, director of the Institute for Regeneration Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, another grant recipient.

The grants will be used for the construction of approximately 800,000 square feet of research labs, which will be manned by about 2,200 graduate students, faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, and scientists.

Scientists will use the new facilities to study stem cells, the precursors to every type of cell in humans, in an effort to better understand diseases and to develop clinical studies of new therapies and grow replacement tissue for the body, according to the Chronicle.

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Student Loan Blog : Arnold Kriegstein

Millions in Grant Money Go to California Colleges for Stem-Cell Research