The Rockefeller University is widely recognized as a center of innovation in basic research to improve the scientific understanding of the biology of stem cells. Rockefeller scientists provided the first description of "stemness" in humans, the complete genetic overview that documents the ability of embryonic stem cells to self-renew and generate all cell types of the body; isolated stem cells from the skin of a mouse, and showed, for the first time, that an individual stem cell can renew itself in the laboratory and then be used in grafts to produce skin, hair and oil glands; and initiated experiments aimed at increasing the numbers and/or potency of insulin-producing cells that arise from laboratory cultures of mouse embryonic stem cells. Six of the university's 75 laboratories now conduct basic research with embryonic, neuronal and skin stem cells derived from laboratory mice, laboratory cultures of human adult skin stem cells, and human embryonic stem cells. Human embryonic stem cell research at Rockefeller uses cell lines from the National Institutes of Health registry, as well as non-registry cell lines. With support from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, Rockefeller University scientists are creating new human embryonic stem cell lines that will be accessible to other researchers. In 2004, a generous endowment grant from New York City philanthropist Harriet Heilbrunn enabled Rockefeller University to establish the Robert and Harriet Heilbrunn Center for Stem Cell Research. Stem cell investigations at Rockefeller are also supported by gifts from Trustees, Rockefeller University Council members, and other donors to the University's volunteer-initiated Stem Cell Research Fund.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) is a pioneer in the research and use of hematopoietic stem cells to treat blood-related disorders, such as leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma - an area that provides the only current example of stem cell therapy in routine practice. MSKCC investigators were the first to propose umbilical cord blood as a source of stem cells suitable for transplanting, and the first to identify human mesenchymal stem cells in bone marrow. Highly promising work today includes studies aimed at identifying and characterizing cancer stem cells in multiple forms of disease. Other research is currently underway to delineate how neural and embryonic stem cells develop into specialized neurons of the brain and nervous system. MSKCC investigators are engaged in studies ranging from the use of embryonic stem cells to repair damage caused by radiation treatment for brain tumors to the development of cell-based therapeutic strategies targeting Parkinson's disease. Within one laboratory at MSKCC, researchers have assembled, with private support, one of the largest existing collections of human embryonic stem cell lines, including those registered by the federal government and others that are not.
In addition to the individual projects now underway at each institution, several laboratories from across the three campuses are engaged in a wide scope of productive research collaborations. This approach continues to generate fresh insights into stem cells and their functions.
Other Support from The Starr Foundation for the three institutions:
Tri-Institutional Collaboration:
The three institutions involved in the new Tri-Institutional Stem Cell Initiative have undertaken previous successful collaborations. In 1991, for example, they created a tri-institutional MD-PhD program, funded through the National Institutes of Health, which is one of the most highly rated training programs of its kind in the country. In 2000, The Rockefeller University, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Cornell University and its Weill Medical College developed, with a $160 million investment, a collaborative, interdisciplinary program in basic biological research, which includes joint faculty appointments and shared graduate programs in chemical biology as well as in computational biology and medicine.