The University of Connecticut’s board of trustees has officially approved creation of a Stem Cell Institute that will unite two major UConn programs, the Center for Regenerative Biology in Storrs, and the Department of Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology and Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development at the UConn Health Center in Farmington.
Dr. Marc Lalande, professor and chair of the Department of Genetics and Developmental Biology and associate dean for research planning and coordination at the Health Center, will direct the new Institute.
Eventually, the Institute’s home will be in Farmington, where the University has purchased the former FarmTech building, located across the street from the Health Center campus. The nearly 113,000-square-foot building will be completely renovated by 2010.
Also housed in the Institute will be the Stem Cell Core, directed by Dr. Ren-He Xu, a program funded by state grants to UConn and Wesleyan University that creates and banks human embryonic stem cell lines for use by qualified researchers in Connecticut and beyond.
Summarizing developments in a new brochure devoted to the university’s stem cell capabilities, Dr. Lalande states: “Stem cell research is a hugely complex, yet immensely fascinating, area of research with the potential to unlock the greatest scientific and medical discoveries ever, and UConn is well positioned with a wide range of dedicated scientific teams to continue to be a pioneer in what will be the most important research area of the 21st century.”
The brochure traces UConn’s roots in stem cell research to 1996, when Xiangzhong “Jerry” Yang, one of the world’s foremost animal biotechnologists, joined UConn as an associate professor of animal science and biotechnology and head of the Biotechnology Center’s Transgenic Animal Facility. Spearheaded by Yang, the Center for Regenerative Biology opened in 2001, signaling UConn’s commitment to advancing the frontiers of regenerative biology.
