ANN ARBOR ? The University of Michigan will build a $10.5 million interdisciplinary center for stem cell research, which will be based at the university?s Life Science Institute.
The center for stem cell biology will be established with funding provided by the U-M Medical School, the Life Sciences Institute and the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute.
Under the leadership of noted stem cell scientist Sean Morrison, the center will recruit up to seven faculty whose laboratories will be located in the LSI, the Medical School or in MBNI. The U-M stem cell center will emphasize using stem cell science to answer the most pressing questions of fundamental human biology, such as how specific tissues in the body are formed and how cells communicate with one another.
?Stem cell science is one of the most important areas in biomedical research today,? said
U-M President Mary Sue Coleman. ?It has already yielded key insights into the elusive biology of human development and has great potential for increasing our understanding of devastating human diseases like diabetes, cancer, Parkinson?s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.?
U-M scientists have made notable advances in many areas of stem cell science, especially involving tissue-specific and cancer stem cells. The U-M Medical School is home to one of only three NIH-funded human embryonic stem cell research centers in the United States. The new center will expand current areas of research strength by using stem cells to pursue basic biological questions.
“We believe the new center for stem cell biology will serve as a research hub leading to increased communication and collaboration among all U-M scientists working in this dynamic field of scientific inquiry,” said Allen S. Lichter, M.D., dean of the U-M Medical School. “Medical School scientists – many of whom will be located in our new Biomedical Sciences Research Building just across the street from the Life Sciences Institute — will be in a perfect position to work closely with LSI researchers. The opportunity to interact and share expertise and technical resources will be an enormous benefit to everyone involved.”
The center?s director, Sean Morrison, is associate professor of internal medicine in the Medical School and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. Dr. Morrison?s research focuses on blood-forming (or hematopoietic) stem cells that give rise to all blood and immune system cells and on neural crest stem cells that give rise to the peripheral nervous system. In looking at the fundamental biology of stem cells, the center will examine such phenomena as the remarkable ability of stem cells to replicate themselves indefinitely, which could provide insight into how cancer cells can do the same thing.
The Morrison laboratory has published several important advances in stem cell biology in recent years. They showed for the first time that stem cells persist throughout adult life in the peripheral nervous system, a discovery that could lead to new treatments for nervous system injuries. They discovered mechanisms that regulate the maintenance of adult stem cells throughout life, an insight that could have implications for regenerative medicine and cancer. Most recently, they discovered new markers that enhance the purification of blood-forming stem cells, an advance that could lead to safer and more effective bone marrow transplants. Morrison was honored with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2003.
Morrison is moving his laboratory to the LSI and will lead recruiting for the new faculty who will hold joint appointments in many different U-M life science departments. The new center will also encompass key core facilities used in stem cell research. Close interactions are expected with the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Faculty recruiting to the new center will be underway this fall. Pending approval of U-M?s Board of Regents, Morrison will be appointed the Henry Sewall Professor in Medicine and will also hold the title of research associate professor in the Life Sciences Institute.
