Health
Agency Grants $16M for Stem Cell Research
By Meghan Lewit on October 28, 2009 2:02 PM
Physician-researchers at USC received a nearly $16 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to fund the development of a stem cell-based treatment for age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss and blindness among the elderly.
Mark Humayun, professor of ophthalmology, cell and neurobiology, and biomedical engineering at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and David R. Hinton, the Gavin S. Herbert Professor of Retinal Research and professor of pathology and ophthalmology at the Keck School of Medicine, will lead the four-year study.
The California Institute and two international partners awarded more than $250 million to 14 multidisciplinary teams of researchers in California, the United Kingdom and Canada to develop stem cell-based therapies for 11 diseases. The Disease Team Research Awards mark the first institute funding explicitly expected to result in a filing with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin a clinical trial.
The grants received formal approval on Oct. 29 from the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee, the 29-member governing board of the institute, and were announced at a press conference in Los Angeles.
USC faculty also will collaborate on grants awarded to other California institutions:
• Paula Cannon, associate professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Keck School of Medicine, is a co-investigator on a team that received $14 million to develop a novel therapy that may offer lifetime immunity to HIV infection
• Thomas Coates, professor of pediatrics and pathology at the Keck School of Medicine, is a co-investigator on a team that received $9 million to explore treating sickle cell disease using a gene therapy approach to modify patients’ blood-forming stem cell
• Michael Press, holder of the Harold E. Lee Chair in Cancer Research at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and professor of pathology at the Keck School of Medicine, is the co-investigator on a nearly $20 million grant aimed at developing drugs that destroy cancer stem cells in solid tumors.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive disease that causes distortion in central vision and eventually leads to blindness. It is estimated that by 2020, more than 450,000 Californians will suffer from vision loss or blindness due to degeneration. Effective treatment for the disease may be achieved by replacing damaged retinal pigment epithelium — the layer of cells at the back of the eye — and retinal cells with healthy ones derived from human embryonic stem cells, Humayun said.
“The funding will be tremendously helpful and will accelerate our research toward achieving a near-term stem cell-based therapy for AMD,” he said.
Humayun was elected to the Institute of Medicine for his groundbreaking work to restore sight to the blind. Election to the institute is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.
Alan Trounson, president of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, said the pace of the disease team projects stands in contrast to the decade or more that’s usually required to reach clinical trials.
“Scientists have talked for years about the need to find ways to speed the pace of discovery,” Trounson said. “By encouraging applicants to form teams composed of the best researchers from around the world, we think CIRM will set a new standard for how translational research should be funded.”
For more information on USC’s stem cell programs, visit http://stemcell.usc.edu
TAGS: innovation, medicine, research
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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