Los Angeles (June 5, 2007) - The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) and its affiliated Childrens Hospital Los Angeles have been awarded a total of $6.4 million in Shared Research Laboratory Grants from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

These grants will fund dedicated laboratory space and equipment for multiple researchers and institutions to share for unrestricted stem cell research. USC's grant also includes funding to develop an educational course in current protocols in stem cell research.

CIRM's advisory panel strongly recommended funding for USC's laboratory space.

"We are very pleased that our USC faculty at the Keck School and at Childrens Hospital fared well in securing these most recent grants from CIRM," says Brian Henderson, M.D., dean of the Keck School of Medicine of USC. "The grants complement our hard work in developing strong programs and recruiting an outstanding team of scientists. The funding will help develop more vitally important facilities that are needed for stem cell investigation and the eventual translation of new discoveries to patient care."

Childrens Hospital Los Angeles received $2.8 million to build a 3,000-square-foot centralized laboratory area that will be housed at the hospital's Smith Research Tower. The area will include four tissue culture rooms with positive pressure air handling, four shared equipment rooms, storage space and an office space.

Physicians and researchers at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles hold joint appointments at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

Approximately $3.6 million will go to USC's Center for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (CSCRM). The 1,500-square-foot research laboratory will be housed on the USC Health Sciences Campus in the new Harlyne J. Norris Cancer Research Tower. The laboratory space will include seven tissue culture workstations, each with its own biosa
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Contact: Jennifer Chan
chanj@usc.edu
323-442-2830
University of Southern California
5-Jun-2007