UW TO OPEN STEM-CELL CENTER; A VIRTUAL CENTER IS BEING CREATED AT THE UNIVERSITY TO TIE TOGETHER CAMPUS STEM-CELL RESEARCH

BYLINE: By DAVID WAHLBERG dwahlberg@madison.com 608-252-6125

UW-Madison may be known worldwide for stem-cell research, but the campus has lacked an organized way to get its stem-cell scientists to share lab equipment, train new researchers, educate the public and garner federal grants, campus authorities say.

That is changing with today's announcement of a new Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center, a virtual center with $750,000 in initial funding.

"Just about every university now has a stem-cell center," said Clive Svendsen, a co-director of the center. "This is a response to national competition in this area. We want to keep UW-Madison a leader in the field."

Tim Kamp, the other co-director, said the federal government someday might fund national centers for stem-cell research, as it does for cancer with the National Cancer Institute's Comprehensive Cancer Centers.

"There's not (a federal) entity just now for stem cells and regenerative medicine, but if we talk in five years I suspect there will be," Kamp said.

The new center will better position the university for such a federal designation, he said.

The center will be formally announced tonight at Scottish biologist Ian Wilmut's public lecture at the Overture Center. Wilmut created Dolly the cloned sheep.

Embryonic stem cells, master cells obtained from 5-day-old embryos otherwise discarded at fertility clinics, are thought capable of becoming all of the body's 220 types of cells.

Researchers are using the cells to study human development, test new drugs and develop cell therapies for conditions such as diabetes and Parkinson's disease. Adult stem cells, found in blood and other tissue, also are used for some of the research.

The center is being formed with money from UW-Madison's medical and graduate schools, along with private gifts, said Svendsen and Kamp, both stem-cell researchers. The center will not fund the creation of new embryonic stem-cell lines or research on existing lines not approved by the federal government, the co-directors said.

That kind of stem-cell research will continue to take place at the privately funded WiCell, a spin-off of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, the university's tech-transfer arm.

The Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, a $150 million public-private research complex to open in the 1300 block of University Avenue by 2010, also will feature some stem-cell research.

The virtual center, meanwhile, will better allow the university's 50 or so faculty who work on stem cells or regenerative medicine to collaborate on research, training and education, Svendsen and Kamp said.

The researchers will have access to new microscopes and imaging equipment to help them track stem cells used in animal studies, for example, Kamp said. The scientists will work together to teach new courses in the emerging biology field, he said.

Another goal of the center is to broaden the definition of who is considered a "stem-cell scientist," Svendsen said.

Judith Kimble, who studies how microscopic worms grow new parts, will be a part of the center, Svendsen said. So will Laura Kiessling, a chemist who studies cell signals and drug screening.

Researchers involved in clinical trials of stem-cell therapies also will be involved. Dr. Amish Raval, who is coordinating UW-Madison's participation in a national study of an experimental stem-cell therapy for heart disease, will take part in the center, Kamp said.

Also participating will be Peiman Hematti - a hematologist, or blood specialist, who is processing patients' cells in Raval's study.

Ethicists such as Alta Charo also will be on board, and public lectures about the science and ethics of stem-cell research will be held.

"The center will run the full gamut, from embryonic stem cells to insect biology to clinical trials, ethics and all," Svendsen said.

The center will also help the university recruit new scientists, he said.

Svendsen's stem-cell research focuses on neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's disease. Kamp specializes in heart disease.