In consultation with the faculty, the grant proposal was developed by staff in the office of Dean Spiegel, in conjunction with Dr. Shamoon; Salvatore Ciampo, senior director of facilities management; Julia Herrick, former assistant dean for research development; Cecilia Haas, assistant director of facilities planning; and John Harb, M.S.P.H., assistant dean for scientific operations and director of the Office of Biotechnology.

The Gottesman Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Research is supported by external sources, including the NIH and the New York State Stem Cell Research Program, as well as by a major generous gift from the Gottesman family.

Currently, Einstein has a faculty base of nearly two dozen NIH-funded stem cell investigators tackling some of the world's most challenging diseases - including liver failure, cancer and heart disease. Einstein has been a leading recipient of stem cell funding from New York State since its 2008 initiative to commit $600 million in the next decade to advance stem cell science in the state (NYSTEM). To date, Einstein researchers have received over $15 million in NYSTEM funding, including two new awards totaling over $1.4 million announced last month.

The recent NYSTEM grants were awarded to Jayanta Roy-Chowdhury, M.B.B.S., professor of medicine and of genetics, and Ulrich Steidl, M.D., Ph.D., the Diane and Arthur B. Belfer Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research and assistant professor of cell biology. Dr. Roy-Chowdhury was awarded a $1,080,000 Investigator-Initiated Research Project grant to study the Amelioration of Hepatic Metabolic Defects by Stem Cell-Derived Human Hepatocytes. Dr. Steidl was awarded $330,000 for an Innovative, Developmental or Exploratory Activities award for Identifying Epigenomic Determinants of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Commitment.

SOURCE Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University