The goals for the Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine are twofold. The Center will explore how to manipulate stem cells to allow for much better transplantation and transfusion therapies. Its scientists also will work to understand how stem cells contribute to diseases in order to develop ways to improve conventional treatment and prevention of these disorders.
"Our dream for the new Center is to make a significant impact on curing disease," says Dr. Curt I. Civin, founding director of the Center, as well as a professor of pediatrics in the division of Hematology/Oncology and Associate Dean for Research at the School of Medicine. "That’s really what biomedical research is all about — providing better diagnoses, treatments and preventions."
The University of Maryland School of Medicine’s stem cell research already encompasses more than $2 million in extramural funding annually, including several grants from the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund and the NIH. Scientists at the Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine represent this burgeoning community. Partnerships between these scientists and other researchers within the School of Medicine will take advantage of a large pool of resources and expertise in basic and clinical sciences, and will be critical to achieving the goals of the Center.
"I want this new Center and its work to have a global impact," declares Dr. Civin. "To that end, I look forward to collaborating with colleagues at Johns Hopkins and at other prestigious Maryland institutions such as the National Cancer Institute and the rest of the National Institutes of Health, as well as other scientists around the globe."
