Broad Foundation Starts New USC Stem Cell Center

The Broad Foundation, created by philanthropists Eli and Edythe L. Broad who are supporters of advancing medical knowledge and research, has donated $25 million to fund the creation of a new stem cell research center at the University of Southern California (USC).

“There are two areas that are the most promising: human genomics, and stem cell research,” said Eli Broad, who donated a total of $200 million for the foundation of a genome research center at Harvard and MIT, at a press conference announcing the USC Broad Institute last week.

The Institute, which will be the largest stem cell research center in California, plans to revolutionize medical care by looking for cure for diseases like Parkinson’s, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and spinal cord injuries, Eli Broad said at the press conference.

Broad also said he hopes the institute will serve as a catalyst in the economy of the biotech industry, “that it will foster the creation of jobs and encourage a robust tax base and have a far-reaching and long-lasting economic impact,” he said.

Although the Harvard-MIT Broad Institute, created in 2004, also states as its mission finding treatment and cures for various diseases including diabetes and mental illnesses, officials say there will be little overlap between in the research of the two institutes.

The institute here is collaborative rather than competitive, wrote Fintan R. Steele, director of scientific education and public communications at Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, in an e-mail.

According to Steele, the USC stem cell Institute is a completely different kind of organization. It is too early to talk about possible overlap of research topics or collaboration, he wrote in an e-mail.

“The name at USC refers simply to a building that will house many USC centers [whereas] The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT is instead a unique academic organization that serves to bring together the already existing strengths of its members,” Steele wrote.

Officials at the Harvard-MIT Broad Institute and its USC counterpart both agree that it is too early to make any plans for future joint efforts.

USC School of Medicine Executive Director of Health Sciences Public Relations Jon Weiner also said the plans for the USC institute, which is still under construction, are very much up in the air.

Weiner said while the staff for the new institute is largely undetermined, the leadership will be established in the coming months.

Eli Broad however mentioned specific names in his announcement.

“Edye and I have been impressed with USC’s ability to attract Dr. Martin Pera from Australia to head the Broad Institute’s stem cell research. We would like to recognize [USC] President [Steven B.] Sample’s and [School of Medicine] Dean [Brian E.] Henderson’s leadership and vision in advancing such pioneering research,” he said.

Dr. Martin Pera of Monash University is one of Australia’s best know stem cell researchers.

USC also released a sketch of the 215,000-square-foot facility planned for the Institute.