June 20, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
EDITORS NOTE: For more information, see the news releases from the governors office http://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/approved/20070619.html and the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology at www.state.nj.us/scitech/about/news/approved/20070619a.html.
STATE AWARDS $6.4 MILLION TO RUTGERS AND RESEARCH PARTNERS
FOR STEM CELL RESEARCH
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New Brunswick, N.J. Scientists at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and their collaborators have been awarded $6.4 million by the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology to investigate human embryonic stem cell therapies for central nervous system (CNS) disorders.
Nearly $3 million of this will support a program involving the Rutgers Stem Cell Research Center, the W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience at Rutgers, and Reprogenetics LLC, an international genetics laboratory company with facilities in New Jersey, California, Spain and Japan. Their work will advance the understanding of stem cells and their potential in the treatment of CNS traumas and diseases, and furnish resources for New Jersey researchers by providing cells, services and training not available in this state.
The commissions grant of $2.5 million to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and Rutgers will enable scientists to focus on gene delivery and bioengineering of human embryonic stem cells, leading to transplant therapies targeting the repair of neurodegenerative conditions.
Three individual Rutgers researchers also benefited from the commissions awards, receiving approximately $300,000 each. Geneticist Mark Brenneman will explore gene modification and recombination in stem cells; Rick Cohen at the Keck Center will study developmental aspects of human embryonic stem cells as they become neural cells; and geneticist Chanshun Shao will investigate the stem cell origins of mutations.
Contact: Joseph Blumberg
732-932-7084, Ext. 652
E-mail: blumberg@ur.rutgers.edu
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NJCST $6.4m grants.ed
070620-2
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