UW-Madison gains two new stem cell programs
Terry Devitt
Wisconsin Week
University Communications
Posted: 4/26/2005
Capitalizing on its across-the-board-strengths in stem cell research, UW-Madison
will add two new stem cell programs to its portfolio.
 At
a meeting of stem cell researchers in Madison today (April 26), UW-Madison
professor of anatomy and neurology
Clive
Svendsen announced the establishment of a new regenerative medicine program
and an interdisciplinary postdoctoral training program that will advance stem
cell research across the university.
The regenerative medicine program, which draws on faculty from the Medical
School as well as the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, will focus on
translating the basic science of stem cells to application through the
development of cell replacement therapies.
"The ultimate promise of regenerative medicine is that many degenerative
diseases of the heart, pancreas, nervous system and blood will be treatable with
cell replacement therapies," said Svendsen, a noted stem cell expert whose work
is aimed at developing neural cells to treat brain and nervous system disorders.
Svendsen, along with UW-Madison Medical School Professor Timothy Kamp, a heart
specialist, will direct the new program.
The program will draw on faculty from five Medical School departments: surgery,
anatomy, pediatrics, pathology and radiology. Importantly, it brings the basic
science of stem cells - where most work to date has been accomplished - together
with clinical medicine, representing a key step toward realizing the great
potential of stem cells to treat a host of debilitating cell-based diseases.
The new program will be supported to a level of $700,000 per year for the next
four years. Support for the program comes from the Wisconsin Partnership Fund,
the fund established to promote Wisconsin health initiatives when Blue Cross
Blue Shield of Wisconsin converted to a for-profit corporation in 1999; private
support through the UW Foundation; and several UW Medical School departments.
"We are committed to regenerative medicine," says Paul DeLuca, UW Medical School
associate dean for research. "We're very enthusiastic about the possibilities
and we are convinced this will have a substantive impact on the health and well
being of the citizens of Wisconsin."
The program, DeLuca notes, will be among the first of its kind in the United
States and that it could presage the establishment of an institute, a center
with more established structure and more certain long-term funding.
The UW-Madison Regenerative Medicine Program, according to Svendsen, will be
centered on four core areas: resources for providing access to National
Institutes of Health (NIH)-approved human embryonic stem cell lines, immunology
and pathology services to address issues of immune rejection of transplanted
cells, non-human primate resources for preclinical safety and efficacy testing,
and imaging resources to track the incorporation of transplanted cells.
Kamp, who first identified and characterized the different types of heart cells
that can be derived from human embryonic stem cells, says the new program will
provide critical infrastructure for scientists to develop the strategies and
methods that will make cell transplants possible.
"The Regenerative Medicine Program seeks to harness the remarkable advances in
stem cell biology and translate them into powerful new therapies," says Kamp.
"The program will bring together the interdisciplinary expertise and
infrastructure needed to overcome the shared roadblocks present for
disease-specific applications."
In addition to the new UW-Madison Regenerative Medicine Program, Svendsen also
announced the establishment of an interdisciplinary postdoctoral training
program for all aspects of research into the biology of stem cells.
Supported by a $1 million grant from the NIH, the program will enable three
fellows per year for the next five years to receive intensive training in stem
cell biology - from basic embryology to clinical trials - before embarking on
research careers. The program is the first of its kind supported by NIH focusing
exclusively on stem cell biology.
"We aim to train a future generation of stem cell biologists," says Svendsen.
"They will be able to participate in a number of newly-developed courses in stem
cell biology and be exposed to the latest thinking in the field. It will be a
tremendous asset for the university and our already established programs."
Svendsen stressed that both new programs will operate in close conjunction with
the existing UW-Madison Stem Cell Research Program, a program established in
2004 to foster communication and collaboration, and to support efforts to
develop resources and opportunities for UW-Madison stem cell researchers.
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