Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission announced today the launch of Accelerating Cure, a new initiative to support regenerative medicine and cell therapy technologies moving from research to commercialization and finally to clinical trials. Accelerating Cure will fund close to $9 million with its five programs to address the different stages the technologies need to go through. The Commission also announced that Dr. Amritha Jaishankar joined the team as the Award Manager for the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund.
“The progress we have made in Maryland in the last 10 years is tremendous” said Avram Reisner, chair of the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission (Commission). “Our new initiative Accelerating Cure will advance the technologies and the research projects we have funded and help commercialize them into products, companies and clinical trials.”
“The field of regenerative medicine represents a remarkable innovation in medical care,” said Dr. Dan Gincel, vice president for university partnerships at TEDCO and the executive director of the Fund. “We are excited to revamp our program with this new initiative that will support stem cell technologies at each step. With Dr. Jaishankar’s vast knowledge in stem cell biology, we will have more expertise and guidance to provide our awardees in their projects.”
Accelerating Cure’s five programs will support the stages a regenerative medicine technology has to go through to make it to market, from Discovery to Validation to Commercialization and through Clinical Trials, as well as keeping and expanding the post-doctoral Program.
The five new programs are:
- Discovery – Grants for new innovative ideas Research- requests up to $345,000 for up to two years.
- Validation – Grants to foster the transition of promising stem cell technologies having significant commercial potential from Universities and research labs, to the commercial sector – requests up to $230,000 for up to 18 months.
- Commercialization – Grants for the creation of Start-up companies or new technologies developed in Maryland based companies – requests up to $300,000 for up to 12 months.
- Clinical – For conducting clinical trials in Maryland using human stem cells to advance medical therapies -request up to $750,000 for up to two years and requires a 1:1 match of non-state money.
- Post-doc Fellowship – Grant to support exceptional post-doctoral fellows who wish to conduct research in academia or in industry in the State of Maryland. Each Fellowship will be up to $65,000 per year, for up to two years.
Requests for Application (RFAs) for each program are available on the Funds website www.mscrf.org with details on program’s funding mechanism. All applications are due by January 24, 2017 and awardees will be notified by late May.
About the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission
The Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) was established by the State of Maryland under the Maryland Stem Cell Research Act of 2006 to promote State-funded stem cell research and cures through grants and loans to public and private entities in the State. Administered by The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), the MSCRF is overseen by an independent Commission that sets policy and develops criteria, standards and requirements for applications to the Fund. To date, over $130 million and 375 research grants have been committed and for this year (FY2017) the program has a budget of $9 million. For more information about the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund, please visit www.mscrf.org .