The New York Stem Cell Foundation Awards Fellowships To Four Innovative Stem Cell Scientists

Main Category: Stem Cell Research
Article Date: 01 Jun 2009 - 2:00 PST

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The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) announced the award of four new NSYCF-Stanley and Fiona Druckenmiller Fellows. These New York-based post-doctoral scientists join 13 extraordinarily accomplished stem cell researchers from leading research institutions who have been supported by the fellowships program since 2006.

The program has committed $5,000,000 to date to training the next generation of stem cell scientists who are performing advanced stem cell research in the United States.

"These gifted scientists are innovating the stem cell technology that is revolutionizing medicine," said Susan L. Solomon, NYSCF CEO. "For example, second-year NYSCF Fellow Dr. Justin Ichiida has identified chemical compounds that allow adult stem cells to be reprogrammed without the use of cancer-causing genes." She also noted that NYSCF Fellows have published scientific papers in the most prestigious scientific journals, including Science, Nature and Cell. "Their accomplishments are impressive," she continued.

"Through its Fellowship Program, NYSCF is ensuring that the next generation of researchers has the knowledge and expertise in cutting-edge techniques that will be required to lead their field as it grows," said Shahin Rafii, MD, Director of The Ansary Center for Stem Cell Therapeutics at Weill Medical College, Cornell University, and co-chair of the NYSCF Fellowship Review Committee and member of NYSCF's Medical Advisory Board.

Each of the scientists will receive funding over a three-year period to support their research initiatives. They will have access to NYSCF's specialized stem cell laboratory in Manhattan, where they will be able to conduct their research and receive training in advanced stem cell research techniques. The fellows will also present their work at NYSCF's Annual International Translational Stem Cell Research Conference, to be held on October 13 and 14, 2009 at Rockefeller University in New York City.

"Stem cell research holds the promise of helping millions of Americans affected by Parkinson's, Type 1 diabetes, Alzheimer's, heart disease, ALS, cancer and other devastating conditions," said Solomon. "Each of these brilliant young researchers is doing groundbreaking work that may bring us closer to therapies and cures for these major diseases."

The New York Stem Cell Foundation Fellows are applying stem cell technologies towards the development of therapeutics for a variety of medical conditions.

The 2009 Fellows:

- Nuria Flames, PhD, working with Dr. Oliver Hobert at Columbia University, is developing ways to produce dopaminergic neurons for therapeutic treatment of Parkinson's disease.

- Valentina Fossati, PhD, working with Dr. Hans Snoeck at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is producing thymus cells from human pluripotent stem cells for the treatment of immune deficiencies and many autoimmune diseases, like DiGeorge Syndrome and diabetes, caused by loss of thymus function.

- Dung-Fang Lee, PhD, working with Dr. Ihor Lemischka at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, is developing improved methods for maintenance of human embryonic stem cells and production of mature cell types for transplantation-based therapies.

- Gabsang Lee, PhD, working with Dr. Lorenz Studer of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, is using disease-modeling in human pluripotent stem cells to develop novel therapeutic agents for a hereditary nervous system condition, Familial Dysautonomia.

- The New York Stem Cell Foundation Fellowship Program is significantly supported by a generous gift from Stanley and Fiona Druckenmiller and by an anonymous donor. For more information, visit http://www.nyscf.org.

Source
The New York Stem Cell Foundation

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