UConn Researchers Awarded Stem Cell Grants

Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced the awards of $9.8 million in stem cell research funds to 19 Connecticut–based researchers. The awards were made by the State of Connecticut Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee at its grant review meeting week in Farmington.

“Connecticut’s continued support of stem cell research has allowed for exciting and innovative research to take place right here in our state,” said Governor Malloy. “The research projects funded by these grants allow scientists to do revolutionary work that puts Connecticut at the forefront of bioscience industry.”

“The projects funded by these grants will advance the clinical use of stem cells to treat some of the most debilitating diseases and injuries,” stated Department of Public Health Commissioner and Advisory Committee Chairperson Dr. Jewel Mullen. “The research conducted as a result of these grants brings hope to people coping with difficult health conditions.”

Eighty-eight stem cell funding applications were accepted for consideration in January 2012. The Connecticut Stem Cell Research Peer Review Committee reviewed these applications in accordance with National Institutes of Health guidelines and provided to the Advisory Committee its recommendations with respect to the scientific merits of each application.

The following awards were made by the Connecticut Stem Cell Advisory Committee:

Evaluating the endogenous potential for brain repair in primary progressive multiple sclerosis using induced pluripotent stem cells

University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington

Stephen Crocker, Principal Investigator

$200,000

RNA targets of the stemness factor LIN-28

Yale University, New Haven

Frank Slack, Principal Investigator

$200,000

Modeling Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) Using Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Yale University, New Haven

Yongming Ren, Principal Investigator

$200,000

Direct differentiation of human iPSCs facilitated by mechanical forces

Yale University, New Haven

Jing Zhou, Principal Investigator

$200,000

Embryonic and pluripotent stem cell- produced factors as novel therapeutic candidates for improved aged muscle function and regenerative responses in humans

University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington

Morgan Carlson, Principal Investigator

$200,000

Mechanical factors influencing the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells

Yale University, New Haven

Eric Dufresne, Principal Investigator

$200,000

Genome-wide shRNA screen identifies novel regulatory pathways in human ES cells

Yale University, New Haven

Zheng Wang, Principal Investigator

$200,000

Stem Cells for cell therapy of hypoparathyroidism

Yale University, New Haven

Julie Ann Sosa, Principal Investigator

$200,000

Transcriptional Control of Pluripotency in Human ES Cells

Yale University, New Haven

Natalia Ivanova, Principal Investigator

$750,000

Inducing immune tolerance to hESCs and their derivatives by the hESC derived thymic epithelial cells

University of Connecticut, Storrs

Laijun Lai, Principal Investigator

$750,000

Generation of functional keratinocytes from hESCs

Yale University, New Haven

Valerie Horsley, Principal Investigator

$750,000

Remyelination potential of human ES cell derived OPCs transplanted into the demyelinated nonhuman primate spinal cord

Yale University, New Haven

Jeffrey Kocsis, Principal Investigator

$750,000

Molecular Regeneration of the Neuronal development by MeCP2

Yale University, New Haven

In-Hyun Park, Principal Investigator

$750,000

A study of the chromatin structure of maternal and paternal 15q alleles to discover therapies for Prader-Willi syndrome

University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington

Stormy Chamberlain, Principal Investigator  

$450,000

Regulation of muscle stem cell programming

University of Connecticut, Storrs

David Goldhamer, Principal Investigator

$450,000

Human tissue-engineered blood vessels using induced pluripotent stem cells

Yale University, New Haven

Yibing Qyang, Principal Investigator

$750,000

UCONN-Wesleyan Stem Cell Core Powered with More Cutting Edge Technologies

University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington/Wesleyan University, Middletown

Ren-He Xu/Laura Grabel, Principal Investigator

$500,000

Continued service and technology development at the Yale stem cell center cores

Yale University, New Haven

Haifan Lin, Principal Investigator

$500,000

Are dopaminergic neurons derived from human embryonic stem cells or from fibroblasts the best candidates for treatment for Parkinson's disease as studied in the best primate model

Yale University, New Haven

D. Eugene Redmond, Principal Investigator

$1,800,000

For more information, please visit www.ct.gov/dph/stemcell