Message from HSCI Directors

Dear Friends,

As the second anniversary of the creation of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute approaches, we would like to take a few minutes of your time to bring you up to date on where we have been, where we are now, and where we plan to go.

At the Institute's founding symposium in April 2004, we announced that in its initial phase HSCI would be organized as a virtual institute, with researchers spread across the breadth of Harvard's community of schools and teaching hospitals. The virtual Institute was developed through cross institutional meetings, symposia, and various electronic technologies linking scientists, clinicians, academics, and students all seeking to understand these miraculous cells that we are convinced will be developed into treatments and cures for many of the chronic diseases now plaguing so many millions of people across the world.  During this time, we awarded twelve seed grants to promising young investigators; doubled the number of human embryonic stem cell lines available to the world; identified nine disease areas and seven technology areas to focus on; began operation at four new core facilities within our affiliated institutions; and raised nearly $40 million in start-up funds from private donors.

Thanks to the generosity of individuals from around the country, the first phase of HSCI's creation is complete. We are now ready to embark on the second phase of our vision  - the building of a facility to serve as the "home base" of the Institute. Harvard recently announced the selection of an architect and site for a 500,000-square-foot science complex in Allston that will serve as the Stem Cell Institute's "bricks and mortar" home. The new facility, about a quarter of which will be taken up by HSCI, is being designed by Behnisch, Behnisch & Partner of Stuttgart Germany, an architectural firm internationally recognized for its pioneering work in sustainable design. The building will be located on the future Harvard campus in Allston, adjacent to Harvard Business School, and within a short walk of the Cambridge campus.  This first tangible step toward the construction of our new home marks a major milestone not only for HSCI, but also for Harvard University's vision for science in the 21st century; this new science complex will be designed to facilitate the kind of large, cross-disciplinary efforts that will have a major impact on health and well-being in the years ahead. And with your continued support, HSCI will be at the center of those efforts.

To say that we're very excited about this is quite an understatement, because we have always believed that the way to make real progress in the nascent field of stem cell biology is to bring together a community of scientists to work in close physical proximity, sharing both their roadblocks and their breakthroughs in a variety of disciplines and through different and novel approaches. Moving forward with this new science complex plants a stake in the ground, and provides a hub from which Harvard will advance this potentially life-saving science.  However, this hub has many spokes and the work of HSCI will continue throughout the Harvard community - in the classrooms and during summer research projects for undergraduates, in the laboratories of our faculty in Cambridge, Longwood, and Boston, and in the teaching hospitals where many of HSCI's members are based.  We are excited that Allston presents an opportunity to expand and strengthen our already vibrant community of stem cell scientists.

As we look to the future, we are excited by the next phase of our work.  Harvard and the Institute expect to announce shortly that several laboratories across the University's community will be embarking on research programs designed to produce disease-specific embryonic stem cells.  This technology, known as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), will allow us to better understand the development of diseases, such as diabetes and Parkinson's, which in turn will help scientists across the world understand how to interrupt those disease processes and develop chemical targets to slow disease progression.

We are delighted to partner with you on this scientific journey.  Thank you for your support and encouragement.  Your efforts have helped create the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and your generosity has sustained our efforts to date.  We welcome you as a member of the HSCI family and encourage your active participation in the Institute's work through our virtual home on the web www.stemcell.harvard.edu and through our personal interactions with you across the country and at Harvard.

Best wishes,

Doug Melton
Co-Director, Harvard Stem Cell Institute

David Scadden
Co-Director, Harvard Stem Cell Institute

Brock Reeve
Executive Director, Harvard Stem Cell Institute 

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