You asked for information on the recently created Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey.

Earlier this month, New Jersey governor James McGreevey announced the creation of the first state-supported stem cell institute in the country. The “Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey” will be a joint research institute between the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and Rutgers University (the state university), and funded through a public-private partnership.

The institute will be constructed in New Brunswick near the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) University Hospital and operated together by UMDNJ-RWJ Medical School and Rutgers. Until this new facility is built, the institute will be housed on Rutgers’ Busch campus and at the medical school in Piscataway. The Stem Cell Institute intends to use state money to attract top stem cell scientists to the state and in turn draw investments from private business in the state.

Governor McGreevey has allocated $ 6. 5 million for the project in the state budget that the New Jersey Legislature must vote on by the end of June. The funding initiative derives from legislation signed into law earlier this year that authorized human embryonic stem cell research in New Jersey (Chapter 203 of the 2003 New Jersey Laws; see OLR Report 2004-R-0081). The “findings and declarations” section of that legislation stated: “Open scientific inquiry and publicly funded research will be essential to realizing the promise of stem cell research and maintaining this State’s leadership in biomedicine and biotechnology. Publicly funded stem cell research, conducted under established standards of open scientific exchange, peer review and public oversight, offers the most efficient and responsible means of fulfilling the promise of stem cells to provide regenerative therapies” (Chapter 203; Sec. 1 f).

The state’s $ 6. 5 million contribution will assist with recruitment and laboratory needs. The state expects that this seed money will attract more than $ 20 million in public and private investments in the first five years, including state and federal monies, support from private individuals and foundations, external grants and contracts, and from industry and other sources. Such funding will be needed for personnel, equipment, construction, and laboratory supplies.

JK: ts