MUSC to house new stem cell research center

The Medical University of South Carolina is set to be the site of a new center for stem cell research that could position South Carolina as a leader in bioengineering and biomedicine.

The Center of Economic Excellence in Cancer Stem Cell Biology and Therapy will be housed at MUSC, which is also home to the Hollings Cancer Center and four other cancer-related CoEEs.

The new center received $5 million in state funding through the S.C. Centers of Economic Excellence Act and the S.C. Research Authority. That money is being matched by Health Sciences South Carolina and other philanthropic organizations.

The new center will be responsible for researching stem cells as a key to improving cancer patient survival rates and will have two endowed chairs in cancer cellular research and cancer bioengineering research. A search is currently under way for nationally respected researchers to fill these roles.

Andrew Kraft, director of the Hollings Cancer Center, said the new facility will “position South Carolina as a leader in this new transdisciplinary field, which merges bioengineering and biomedicine.”

“This CoEE will provide the resources to recruit outstanding individuals to explore the function and inhibition of cancer stem cells, and in so doing, may lead to exciting new stem cell-based cancer therapies that will improve survival rates and create new economic opportunities for South Carolina,” Kraft said.

Kraft said the effort would not be possible without collaboration between MUSC and Clemson and the investments made by the state of South Carolina, Health Sciences South Carolina and its members.