UNMC’s Angie Rizzino, Ph.D., is one of 22 scientists from around the country to receive one-year grant supplement from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) to study induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS).
Dr. Rizzino, professor in the Eppley Institute, received about $115,000 from NIGMS for his portion of the project. NIGMS is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
NIGMS is using $5.4 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to accelerate basic studies of iPS cells — which are reprogrammed from skin or other adult cells and appear to be similar to stem cells derived from embryos.
In theory, iPS cells could generate any type of cell and be used to treat diseases. But to realize this potential, scientists need a much better understanding of iPS cells’ fundamental properties and how to efficiently derive cells that are safe for therapeutic uses.
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Angie Rizzino, Ph.D. |
“The new awards will contribute to the field’s progress by enhancing the utility of iPS cells as tools for research, for testing the effects of drugs on human tissues and ultimately for patient-specific treatments,” said NIGMS Director Jeremy Berg, Ph.D.
The NIGMS funding will supplement Dr. Rizzino’s existing four-year NIH grant for approximately $1 million. The goal of the work supported by this additional funding is to understand how somatic cells, cells that form the body of organisms, are reprogrammed back to a pluripotent state.
“It’s a vital question that could unlock major scientific breakthroughs if we can come up with the answer,” Dr. Rizzino said.
Of the 22 scientists selected for the NIGMS grant supplements, Dr. Rizzino was the only Nebraska researcher, as the majority came from either the East or West Coast.
Dr. Rizzino was one of three UNMC researchers who also received a Stem Cell Research Act grant from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year.
Congratulations Dr. Rizzino on receiving the award.