Amy Wagers of HSCI Named W. M. Keck Foundation "Distinguished Young Scholar In Medical Research"
Los Angeles, CA. - The W.M. Keck Foundation, a leading supporter of high-impact medical research, science and engineering, has named HSCI Principal Faculty Member Amy Wagers to its 2007 class of grant recipients under its Distinguished Young Scholars in Medical Research Program.
The Foundation will provide the Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor at Joslin Diabetes Center, one of five “Young Scholars” named this year, with up to $1 million in research funding over the next five years in support of her work using stem cells to better understand, and eventually treat diseases including diabetes, immune deficiencies, muscle weakness, and cancer.
“It’s wonderful to have this support which will allow us to pursue some very exciting experiments around the role of stem cells in aging-related disease,” said Wagers, noting that this type of support is particular important in light of decline in NIH support for basic research.
Amy Wagers investigates the decline with age in the body’s ability to maintain homeostatic cell replacement and to regenerate cells after injury. Building on previous research of the relationship between the age of stem cells and their ability to regenerate themselves, Wagers hopes to discover a method to slow down or reverse the natural process of aging, which may potentially lead to advances in treating illnesses that can have a relation to aging, including those mentioned above.
Robert A. Day, Keck Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said that the nine-year-old Young Scholars program “is designed to give the nation’s most promising young scientists the resources they need to pursue potentially breakthrough research projects in biomedicine. We are very pleased to support…Young Scholars who clearly exhibit extraordinary promise for future research and academic leadership.”
The Keck foundation program is seen as an investment intended to greatly benefit society for generations to come with continued advances in understanding – and combating – the fundamental mechanisms of human disease.
The Young Scholars Program was initiated in 1999 and has awarded grants totalling nearly $45 million to date. Each grant applicant must be nominated by his or her research institution and then evaluated by the Foundation’s Medical Research Board and a Scientific Advisory Committee and unanimously approved by the Foundation’s Board of Directors. Nominations are accepted on an invitation-only basis.
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