UC Irvine gets $10 million donation for stem cell research
Associated Press
IRVINE, Calif. - Newport Beach bond trader Bill Gross is donating $10 million to the University of California, Irvine, to support human embryonic stem-cell research at a campus that's competing hard to become a leader in the young and controversial field.
At least $2 million will be allocated to support research at UCI. Another $8 million will be a matching gift for a proposed Stem Cell Research Center building.
"Despite its understandable controversy, there is so much promise in stem-cell research," said Gross, founder and chief investment officer of Newport Beach-based investment firm PIMCO.
The $10 million is the couple's first major gift to UCI and represents a big lift to the university's efforts to compete with science centers in San Diego, Los Angeles and the Bay Area for money to study human embryonic stem cells.
Last year, Bill and his wife, Sue, made sizable donations to Duke University and Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach. They also fund awards for teachers of the year in Orange County.
Sue Gross said stem cell research "brings new hope for finding cures for debilitating diseases and conditions."
Such researchers as UCI neurobiologist Hans Keirstead harvest stem cells from five- to seven-day-old embryos. He then duplicates the "master cells" and looks for ways to convert them into cells that could ease or repair spinal cord injuries.
Other scientists are studying the same types of cells for their potential in treating diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and diabetes.
The research is controversial because removing stem cells involves destroying surplus embryos that were donated to medical science by fertility clinics.
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PLENTY OF MONEY OUT THERE FOR PROMISING VENTURES IN THE STEM CELL ARENA.
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