{"id":42607,"date":"2011-07-21T10:34:57","date_gmt":"2011-07-21T14:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=42607"},"modified":"2015-10-14T11:45:12","modified_gmt":"2015-10-14T15:45:12","slug":"nine-health-center-scientists-sharing-4-4m-in-state-stem-cell-grants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2011\/07\/nine-health-center-scientists-sharing-4-4m-in-state-stem-cell-grants\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine Health Center Scientists Sharing $4.4M in State Stem Cell Grants"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Caroline<\/a>
Caroline Dealy is among nine UConn Health Center scientists whose research will be supported by the latest round of state stem cell research grants. Dealy is the scientific advisor to a Health Center-based startup company that is testing a method of joint cartilage repair using cells derived from human embryonic stem cells. (Al Ferreira\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ten scientists at the University of Connecticut\u2014nine from the UConn Health Center\u2014received grant awards totaling $5.7 million from the Connecticut Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee, to support their pioneering embryonic stem cell research.<\/p>\n

Included in the awards to UConn scientists, was $1.29 million to Chondrogenics Inc., a new start-up company based at the Health Center, to fund its ongoing preclinical testing using chondrogenic cells derived from human embryonic stem cells to repair joint cartilage damaged by injury or aging. This is the first preclinical trial of a stem cell-derived therapy funded by the state stem cell research committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese awards recognize the expertise of University scientists in several promising research areas focused on the treatment of disease,\u201d said Marc Lalande, director of the University of Connecticut\u2019s Stem Cell Institute, Physicians Health Services Professor, and chair of the Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology in the UConn School of Medicine. \u201cOur scientists are not only advancing the fields of stem cell biomedicine, but also contributing to our state\u2019s economic development.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am thrilled and grateful for the support from the state of Connecticut,\u201d said Caroline Dealy<\/a>, an associate professor in the Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development at the Health Center, who with colleagues developed the novel process to replace cartilage through use of stem cells. The state\u2019s three-year grant award will allow Dealy, who is the scientific advisor to Chondrogenics Inc., and her research team to generate data so that the full therapeutic potential of the use of stem cells for osteoarthritis repair can be realized.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A $650,000 grant from the Connecticut Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee will support Hicham Drissi’s work in the area of treating a type of cartilage damage. He is pictured with Amy Tang in a New England Musculoskeletal Institute lab. (Carolyn Pennington\/UConn Health Center Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Earlier this year, the University of Connecticut filed a patent for the novel process developed by Dealy, while the UConn Research and Development Corp., which partners with faculty to develop the commercial potential of their research discoveries, founded the new company. Dealy expects to relocate the fledgling company to the technology incubator in the Health Center\u2019s new Cell and Genome Sciences Building, which also houses UConn\u2019s Stem Cell Institute. The move will provide \u201can ideal setting for our project, which is aimed to develop a stem cell-based therapy for osteoarthritis,\u201d said Dealy.<\/p>\n

Other awardees include:<\/p>\n