The Stanford Cancer/Stem Cell Institute is barely off the ground, but the kind of work it will foster is already going on in laboratories throughout the Medical Center. For example, assistant professor of developmental biology Seung Kim, MD ’92, has kept diabetic mice alive using insulin produced from embryonic stem cells.
Institute director Irving Weissman (right), MD ’65, says the new center will provide funding and support for those efforts while seeking to attract internationally recognized scientists in stem-cell and cancer biology. He is especially interested in exploring similarities in how stem cells and cancer cells proliferate, which could lead to a dramatic new understanding of the origin of cancer and how to treat it. Research at the institute will be integrated into the educational program of the School of Medicine, allowing students to opt for a five-year medical degree program in cancer and/or stem-cell research.
The institute will have two deputy directors: Karl Blume, professor of medicine and former head of the bone-marrow transplantation program, will lead the clinical investigation unit; a director of scientific affairs has yet to be named. Stanford also will recruit a medical director for the Clinical Cancer Center now under construction, a facility designed to promote collaboration between clinicians and researchers.
Medical School dean Philip Pizzo (left) sees the stem-cell institute as a prototype for future interdisciplinary research programs at Stanford. “In the plotting and planning of the future of Stanford medicine, I felt it was important to identify targets of opportunity that will bring knowledge from the lab to the bedside,” he says. “There are a handful of areas—cancer and stem cells, neurosciences, cardiovascular medicine, immunology and infectious diseases—where there are significant medical problems and we have significant research strengths.”
Established with an anonymous $12 million gift, the institute will seek additional funds from public and private sources.
