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Boston Medical Center receive grant to build free lab to research with stem cells

The Boston Medical Center plans to build a stem cell repository that is free and open to researchers across the country as a result of a grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. PHOTO BY KYRA LOUIE/DFP FILE PHOTO
The Boston Medical Center plans to build a stem cell repository that is free and open to researchers across the country as a result of a grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. PHOTO BY KYRA LOUIE/DFP FILE PHOTO

The Center for Regenerative Medicine at Boston Medical Center and Boston University received a $2.7 million grant on Nov. 6 to construct a stem cell repository that will be open to researchers across the country for free from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

The laboratory will provide induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which are adult stem cells programed in a variety of forms, said CReM Administrative Director Meenakshi Lakshminarayanan. Researchers use these cells to construct disease models in a lab and test potential treatments for a variety of diseases.

“We feel strongly about the power of collaboration, and that through our center’s ‘open source biology’ philosophy, we can advance science to heal the world,” Lakshminarayanan said in an email. “Researchers will be able to use this repository to model human lung health and disease and help develop new and better treatments.”

Lakshminarayanan said the new cell repository would provide iPS cells for other research facilities in the United States and train investigators about the maturation of iPS cells.

Andrew Wilson, a pulmonary specialist and assistant professor at BMC, said researchers have goals for the repository such as modeling disease, screening for methods for diseases and correcting the mutated genes that cause diseases.

“There are a lot of diseases that we just do not fully understand,” he said. “We know the way that they affect patients, and the way that patients look to us if we see them with these diseases, but we just do not know what happened to those cells that caused the deficiency.”

With the specific goals in mind, researchers will continue utilizing iPS cells for treatment of lung diseases and inform the public about stem cell research, Wilson said. Patients with cystic fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension could receive better treatment as a result of this research.

Finn Hawkins, pulmonary doctor and assistant professor in BU’s School of Medicine, said with a lot of hype in the medical field about stem cells, the repository will be useful for careful and exciting research.

“What’s most exciting to me about this repository is that … it is a really great resource for the field, and in general, it is a really good model for how we should be, doing research in the 21st century,” he said. “Providing really, really valuable cells of good quality, than anyone in the country can use and can do experiments with. Hopefully it will spark a lot of collaboration, onto new discoveries, and it can really make significant advances.”

Several BU students said the grant would set the stage for future lung disease research and treatment.

Vidur Bhushan, a freshman in the School of Management, said this type of research reflects BU’s strong presence in the medical field.

“It would help because BU in particular is known for its medical programs and there are a bunch of really good hospitals there [in Boston], so we have training and professionals that could work with this money as opposed to if it was given to some other place that didn’t have the same resources we did and the knowledge to help and cure people,” he said.

Megan Neely, a College of General Studies freshman, said she supports the advancement of disease research because it will help people.

“My mom currently has a lung disease with a really difficult bacteria, so it’s actually really good that they are investing in these kind of things because it’s a chronic problem,” she said. “The investment in this kind of technology will hopefully be real helpful.”

Fernanda Neri, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said America’s health issues will receive great aid from this grant and many more provided by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

“I support this grant. It will help the medical center to conduct more research on heart and lung disease,” she said. “Heart disease is definitely one of the leading causes of death in the states followed by lung disease. It will definitely help Americans and health issues.”

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