Sept. 19, 2005

FACT SHEET: U-M center for stem cell biology

Sean Morrison biography (.pdf) (hi res image)

Neural cells grown from a single neural crest stem cell taken from a 15-day-old rat. Photo credit: Genevieve Kruger, U-M Medical School (click image for high resolution)

Administration:

• The center for stem cell biology (CSCB) is a joint initiative of the U-M Medical School, the Life Sciences Institute (“LSI”), and the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute (“MBNI”).  

• The laboratories of CSCB faculty will be housed in the LSI, the Medical School and the MBNI.   Certain core facilities for the center will also be located in the LSI.  

• The center director is Sean J. Morrison, Ph.D., 37, an associate p rofessor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Molecular Medicine & Genetics and in the Department of Cell and Development Biology.   Morrison is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.  

• Dr. Morrison’s laboratory will be located in the LSI and the center will have its administrative home in the Institute.

• Pending regental approval, Dr. Morrison will be appointed the Henry Sewall Professor in Medicine and will also hold the title of Research Associate Professor in the Life Sciences Institute.

Science:

• The center will focus on using stem cells to explore fundamental biological questions.   The center’s specific research will be driven by the scientific programs and priorities of the center’s faculty.   The scope of the center’s research program will not be limited to any particular type of stem cell research.

• Dr. Morrison’s research focuses on the hematopoietic stem cells that give rise to all blood and immune system cells and on the neural crest stem cells that give rise to the peripheral nervous system. The Morrison laboratory’s goal is to understand the mechanisms that regulate stem cell function and tissue development.   (A more extensive biography of Morrison is available.)

• The CSCB at the Life Sciences Institute is distinct from the NIH-funded “Center for Human Embryonic Stem Cells” directed by Sue O’Shea and located in the Medical School.   That center is one of only three such NIH-funded centers in the U.S.   and is primarily involved in growing human embryonic stem cell lines for faculty research and providing expertise and support to faculty who want to work with human embryonic stem cells.   The NIH center will be a resource for the CSCB faculty who work on approved embryonic stem cell lines.   

• The center will take advantage of other efforts in the LSI that span the scientific disciplines while focusing on fundamental biological questions. Center faculty will interact with the Institute’s Center for Chemical Genomics (CCG) and Center for Structural Biology (CSB).

• The center will have close interactions with the UM Comprehensive Cancer Center, in which Morrison is a member.    The faculty appointments will be joint appointments with many of life science departments on campus.   These could include (among others) departments in the Medical School, the College of Engineering, the College of Literature, Science and the Arts, the School of Dentistry, and the School of Pharmacy.

Funding:

• Funding for the center for stem cell biology comes from the Medical School (including the Endowment for the Basic Sciences), the LSI, and the MBNI (including the Neuroscience Scholars Program) and is conservatively estimated at about $10.5 million. This total does not include space commitments, administrative support, and other infrastructure that will support the program over time.

• The center will seek governmental grants and individual, foundation and corporate support for its research.
  

Contacts: Robin Stephenson
Phone: 734-615-9390

or

Contacts: Karl Bates
Phone: 734-647-1842

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