$6 million establishes stem cell biology program at School of Medicine
The School of Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver has established the Charles C. Gates Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology Program, a comprehensive new program that will conduct cutting-edge research that could lead to cures for debilitating diseases.
The Charles C. and June S. Gates Family Fund trustees approved a $6 million commitment to establish the program and an endowed chair. Charles C. Gates was former chairman of the board and CEO of the Gates Corporation and Gates Rubber Company.
School of Medicine Dean Richard Krugman, MD, announced the selection and recruitment of Dennis Roop, PhD, as the first Charles C. Gates Chair in Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology. Roop is currently professor and director of the Center for Cutaneous Molecular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. He will begin at UCD Jan. 1.
“ Dennis will complement the substantial existing research efforts by School of Medicine faculty. This gift is the largest single gift to date for research at the School of Medicine at UCD and we are very grateful to Diane Gates Wallach and her brother, John Gates. It is a wonderful tribute to their father,” said Krugman.
Diane Gates Wallach, trustee of the Gates Family Fund and daughter of Charles C. Gates, said, “My father was so excited about the potential for this area of research before he died last August. This is a wonderful way to recognize his innovative pioneering spirit, his love of science and passion for prevention and early intervention approaches to medicine. We are truly excited to be part of this new venture and hope that it will bring new understanding, new discoveries and hope for many.”
UCD Chancellor M. Roy Wilson, MD, MS, said, “We are incredibly grateful to the Gates family and trustees for their exemplary and generous gift. They have demonstrated their commitment to medical research at a time when there is great potential for significant advances in medical science in an environment of dwindling resources. This commitment will allow us to bring together several disciplines and focus efforts on the tremendous potential of stem cell research. On behalf of all of us at the University, we thank you.”
The $6 million commitment to the School of Medicine is comprised of $2.5 million for an endowed chair and $1.75 million for specialized laboratory equipment. An additional $1.75 million is being offered in the form of a challenge grant to fund portions of up to seven discipline-specific programs. The specialties are for heart/congestive heart failure; liver disease; vascular disease; neurological diseases/Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s; type 1 diabetes; blood diseases/leukemia, and cancer.
As director of the program, Roop will recruit additional scientists and medical researchers to the program. In addition, he will oversee the comprehensive stem cell biology program, overseeing faculty who will focus on biomedical research from a wide variety of disease specialties.
Roop has been consistently funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 1989. He brings five NIH grants with him to UCD totaling $3.8 million.
Roop was one of the first investigators to begin using molecular techniques to study how the skin forms during normal embryonic development. He has identified many of the genes required for normal skin development and discovered that defects in some of these genes cause inherited skin diseases. Roop has recently shown that epidermal stem cells are defective in inherited skin diseases. His current research efforts are focused on developing methods to isolate and correct defective epidermal stem cells so that they could eventually be grafted onto patients with inherited skin diseases.
Roop has also made major contributions in understanding the genetic defects that lead to the development of skin cancer. He is currently focused on isolating and characterizing cancer stem cells.
The School of Medicine already has significant numbers of researchers and clinicians involved in stem cell research; the formation of the Charles C. Gates Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology program and the recruitment of Roop will further advance these existing research and clinical efforts.
The gift will be managed by the University of Colorado Foundation.
