Connecticut (Stem Cell) – what-when-how

THE CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT of Health aims to make the state of Connecticut an international center of excellence for stem cell research. On June 15, 2005, the Connecticut General Assembly approved Public Act 05-149 entitled An Act Permitting Stem Cell Research and Banning the Cloning of Human Beings.

The act was signed by Governor M. Jodi Rell and incorporated into Connecticut law. This act made Connecticut the third U.S. state to publicly support stem cell research, budgeting $20 million for embryonic or human adult stem cell research for the fiscal year of 2007-2008. It earned Connecticut the nickname Stem Cell Central, given by the New York Times in a major article reporting on the act.

The first call for research proposals received 70 applications from Connecticut researchers and resulted in nearly all $20 million being allocated to researchers at Yale University in New Haven, Wesleyan University in Middletown, and the University of Connecticut, the main campus of which is at Storrs.

For the remaining fiscal years until the one ending in June 2015, an additional $10 million was to be set aside for this research. The funding for the research would come from the State of Connecticuts Tobacco Settlement Fund. As of 2007, Connecticut receives just over $375 million annually from its tobacco settlement payments, as well as from a tobacco tax.

The Connecticut Stem Cell Research Fund has supported projects of all sizes. Dr. Michael P. Snyder of Yale University received $3,815,477 to study an integrated approach to neural differentiation of human embryonic stem cells, and embryonic stem cell core facilities at three universities (one at Yale and one joint facility at the University of Connecticut and Wesleyan University) received $2.5 million each. Dr. Joseph LoTurco at the University of Connecticut received approximately $500,000 to study the migration and integration of embryonic stem cell derived neurons into cerebral cortex.

Many more researchers were granted approximately $200,000 for smaller, shorter studies that also targeted the molecular biology of stem cells, including a grant to Dr. Yingqun Joan Huang of Yale University, who studies the function of the fragile X mental retardation protein in early human neural development, and one to Dr. Gang Xu of the University of Connecticut for the study of the generation of insulin-producing cells from human embryonic stem cells.

To oversee the Stem Cell Research Fund, the State of Connecticut has a Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee, with a Subcommittee on Law and Ethics, as well as a Stem Cell Research Peer Review Committee. The Peer Review Committee reviews submitted proposals for funding by the Connecticut Stem Cell Research Fund, following guidelines established by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

To oversee the use and research of stem cells at the University of Connecticut, this institution has organized an Embryonic Stem Cells Research Oversight Committee (UC-ESCRO). UC-ESCRO functions to guide researchers at the University of Connecticut, as well as those scientists affiliated with the university, through their research to ensure ethical compliance and proper handling of sensitive topics. If the oversight committee determines a particular project to be unethical, regardless of the funding source, this project will not be allowed at the university. Wesleyan University and Yale University have similar committees.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health, the Connecticut Stem Cell Coalition, and Connecticut United for Research Excellence sponsor the annual conference StemCONN. This conference is an international symposium for stem cell research. One result from the conference is a publicly available panel discussion on stem cells, which is targeted toward people who are not necessarily scientists. In particular, the panel aims to stimulate discussion and thereby education and awareness among youth in high schools and colleges across the state.

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Connecticut (Stem Cell) - what-when-how