Celling Science

Recipients of the first stem cell training grants include the Keck School of Medicine of USC, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and Caltech.

by Lori Oliwenstein

On a Friday in early September, California made scientific history—again—when the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) gave out its first grants to institutions throughout the state. These stem cell biology training grants allow institutions to begin training aspiring researchers in the sorts of cutting-edge stem cell techniques that may lead to the scientific advances this branch of medical research promises.

Among the named institutions were the Keck School of Medicine of USC, which received a three-year, $3.16 million stem cell training grant, and its affiliated Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, which received a three-year, $2.3 million grant. Overall, the agency—created by the passage of the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative in November 2004—promised some $39 million to 16 institutions. The agency is currently unable to distribute the money due to pending litigation brought by opponents of the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative.

CIRM’s Research Funding Working Group lauded the Keck School’s application for “the very high quality of the program director, experience of staff in research training, the commitment of the institution to developing a major effort in stem cell biology and the substantial pool of high-quality applicants.” The Keck School’s grant was one of several that were announced in Sacramento during a public meeting of the Independent Citizen’s Oversight Committee (ICOC), the group charged with governing CIRM and the way in which it disperses the $3 billion in total funding.

“This is an exciting moment for the CIRM, as these awards mark the first step in our scientific program of stem cell research—an accomplishment we have been able to achieve in less than one year as a state agency,” says Zach Hall, Ph.D., whose official appointment as CIRM’s president was announced along with the grant awards. “The CIRM training program established today will be the most comprehensive training program to date in the field. It will provide a pipeline of highly trained basic and clinical investigators for the research that CIRM will fund in California.”

Brian E. Henderson, M.D., dean of the Keck School of Medicine and a member of the ICOC, says, “This grant award bodes well for the program we are trying to develop here at the Keck School of Medicine—the USC Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine—and speaks highly of the research being conducted here and at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

“But the truth is that the entire research community, and indeed the entire region, stands to benefit from this funding. It really is an extraordinary opportunity, and I am proud to be a part of it.”

The Keck School’s grant will be used to train graduate students as well as postdoctoral and clinical fellows across 27 departments at USC, with trainees being recruited from existing doctoral programs at the Keck School and at USC’s Andrus School of Gerontology and the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

A team of the institutions’ top scientists will teach two new courses: An interdisciplinary course in the social, legal and ethical implications of stem cell work will be taught at the Keck School, Childrens Hospital and Caltech, and a unique tri-institutional stem-cell biology lecture course, taught in conjunction with Childrens Hospital and Caltech, will train students in gene-transfer technology applications in the clinic and current stem-cell research. Childrens Hospital has been affiliated with the Keck School for more than 70 years; Caltech and the Keck School run a highly regarded joint M.D./Ph.D. program.

Robert Maxson, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Keck School and principal investigator on the grant, says the funding also will be used to recruit 16 “highly qualified individuals” to be funded and designated CIRM Scholars and to “support seminars and retreats that will build a larger community for stem cell research by involving and facilitating collaboration among students and faculty.”

Maxson adds, “We have a terrific group of scientists at Keck and across the university who worked very hard to put this program together. I am very gratified to be a part of it.”

The $2.39 million grant to the Saban Research Institute at Childrens Hospital, combined with the Keck School’s $3.16 million, makes USC the largest single recipient of CIRM grant awards.

“The biomedical environment and strength of stem cell research at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and the Keck School of Medicine combine to provide a rich milieu for training the next generation of physicians and scientists who will use stem cells as the basis for research and therapy,” says Donald B. Kohn, M.D., director of the Childrens Hospital Gene, Immune and Stem Cell Therapy Program and professor of pediatrics and molecular microbiology and immunology at the Keck School.

Roberta G. Williams, M.D., vice president of pediatrics and academic affairs at Childrens Hospital, adds, “We are truly excited about the stem cell training awards. They will help strengthen the ties between the outstanding stem cell program at Childrens and the scientific expertise at the Keck School. Students and post-doctoral fellows will have a great opportunity to learn about stem cells and their medical applications.”

Frank Markland, Ph.D., Keck School associate dean for scientific affairs, says, “The medical school has a number of investigators interested in stem cell research, and this training grant will enable us to pool our resources with Childrens Hospital and Caltech to offer graduate students, postdoctoral scholars and clinical fellows an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the exciting new developments related to human embryonic stem cell research and the clinical potential of this research.

“The awarding of this grant will definitely serve as a stimulus to our stem cell research and recruitment efforts and will open the door to a whole new arena of research and clinical development in the Southern California area.”