Private support for the Grove Stem Cell Challenge has enabled the UCSF Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology to deliver research awards totaling $200,000 to four UCSF stem cell investigators.

Andrew S. Grove, National Chair of the Campaign for UCSF, created the Grove Stem Cell Challenge last summer to help launch the program. The Challenge provides matching funds for gifts made either to individual stem cell investigators or to the Stem Cell Discovery Fund, which will be used by the new program to sponsor innovative research initiatives, recruit outstanding investigators and provide the technology that enables their work.

As recipients of the first set of awards from the Stem Cell Discovery Fund, the following investigators will each receive $50,000 to facilitate their promising research:

• Bruce Conklin, MD, who is working to induce stem cells to replace tissue damaged by childhood diabetes.
• Y.N. Jan, PhD, who is studying the role of stem cells in adult neurogenesis to find new treatments for a wide range of nervous system disorders.
• Renee Reijo Pera, PhD, who is examining how stem cells differentiate in the first weeks of pregnancy to better understand human development, infertility and birth defects.
• Ron Vale, PhD, who is investigating how stem cells function in tissue regeneration to develop strategies for using these cells to regenerate damaged and diseased tissues.

"It's thrilling to see the level of interest donors have in the Grove Challenge," says School of Medicine Vice Dean for Research Keith Yamamoto, PhD. "Given the lack of federal funding for stem cell research, this private support is essential."

To learn more about the Grove Challenge and the Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, please contact Erik Rausch at 415/502-1758 or erausch@support.ucsf.edu.