2011

Cover of 2011 HSCI Annual Report.

2011

April 18, 2011

HSCI Science Update: April 2011

April 6, 2011

Not Just a Cushion: An Active Role for the Cerebrospinal Fluid

The cerebral cortex is the thin layer of nerve cells covering the brain, immediately adjacent to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in which it floats. This cushioning fluid provides mechanical and immunological protection to the brain inside the hard skull. But recent work from Harvard Stem Cell Institute Principal Faculty Member Christopher Walsh and colleagues demonstrates that the CSF has a more active role than simply being a pillow for the brain; it also contains a library of proteins important to neuronal development...

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HSCI Science Update: March 2011

March 14, 2011

SCORE! – Genetics Scorecards Afford a New Generation of Stem Cell Screening Techniques

Embryonic stem (ES) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells have the capacity to differentiate into any type of fetal or adult cell. They represent a powerful set of research tools with the potential to bring sweeping advances to the study of complex diseases, cell-based drug screenings, transplant medicine techniques, and other pressing medical applications. A better understanding of variation among these cells is necessary to fully harness their research potential, as is a manageable,...

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HSCI Science Update: January 2011

January 28, 2011

Learning from Disease

While we often look to stem cell research models to help us better understand disease, new work by HSCI Principal Faculty member Bjorn Olsen, PhD, and colleagues takes the opposite approach. Their recent research explores a mechanism at play in the rare disease known as fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) that transforms endothelial cells into stem-like cells.  FOP is characterized by bone formation in areas outside of the skeleton. The researchers found a surprising source for these pathological bone and cartilage cells. Instead of originating...

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Doing the neuron tango

February 23, 2011

To an untrained observer, the electrical storm that takes place over the brain’s neural network seems a chaotic flurry of activity. But as neuroscientists understand it, the millions of neurons are actually engaged in a sort of tightly choreographed dance, a tango of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. How is...

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Call for proposals: Cancer Program pilot grants

June 7, 2011

Program Overview:
The Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) Cancer Program invites applications for pilot grants funding for 2011. The purpose of this funding program is to provide resources for innovative projects by investigators in the field of cancer stem cell biology, including basic, translational or clinical research. This funding is for groundbreaking, innovative, high- impact research projects that could fundamentally enhance biomedical research.  Particularly welcomed are applications that promote the Program mission: to identify critical genes and pathways that sufficiently distinguish cancer from normal stem cells and hence serve as candidate targets for therapy.... Read more about Call for proposals: Cancer Program pilot grants

From skin cells to motor neurons: researchers find success with direct cellular reprogramming

August 29, 2011

A team of Harvard stem cell researchers has succeeded in reprogramming adult mouse skin cells directly into the type of motor neurons damaged in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), best known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). These new cells, which researchers are calling induced motor neurons (iMNs), can be used to study the development of the paralyzing diseases and to develop treatments for them.... Read more about From skin cells to motor neurons: researchers find success with direct cellular reprogramming

Stem cell lessons: Insights on SCNT in studies, commentary

October 5, 2011

Five years after Harvard researchers first received institutional permission to attempt to produce stem cell lines via somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), a young scientist who worked in the Harvard program as a postdoctoral fellow has succeeded in using the process — known as therapeutic cloning — to produce a stem cell line containing the genes of a patient with type 1 diabetes.... Read more about Stem cell lessons: Insights on SCNT in studies, commentary

2011 end of year giving

December 5, 2011

If you are considering giving a gift to HSCI in tax year 2011, there are a few factors to keep in mind to make sure that Harvard is able to give you a tax receipt for calendar year 2011 instead of 2012.  Mutual funds must be received in Harvard’s account no later than 12/12/2011.  If you are sending a check, please make sure that the envelope is postmarked no later than 12/31/2011, or, if you are using a service other than US Mail, that the package arrives at Harvard no later than 12/31/2011.  Credit card donations must be charged to your account no later...

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