I have been highly involved in the support of Stem Cell research projects for the past 10 years. This area of study holds some of the greatest possibilities for advancement that science has seen in decades.

I have been highly involved with UCSF in support of their Stem Cell Biology Program. Since President Bush’s announcement in August 2001 limiting federal funding of Stem Cell research, leading research institutions turned to private funding to retain the best research talent and keep pace with research progress.

Working with my friend, Dr. Jeffrey Bluestone, Interim Director of the Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program we made strides to assure that the best researchers would continue to work in American facilities. Following the Bush announcement, UCSF lost one of its leading Stem Cell researchers, Dr. Roger Pedersen to Cambridge University in England, where public funding for stem cell research is more generous and far less restricted. It is only through private funding that Dr. Bluestone and his team were able to retain great people and continue their important work.

Stacy and I were proud that UCSF was able to use the grant support an FDA-approved “core research facility,” a key component in translating the laboratory advancements made in stem cell research into therapeutic applications.

It was important for me to take an entrepreneurial approach to the funding that incorporated a business plan approach to stem cell research. The most responsible kind of philanthropy we can provide is to support facilities that will speed the most promising breakthroughs from the laboratory bench into clinical human trials.

Current studies at UCSF involve both animal and human stem cells and are paving the way for treatments of various diseases and conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and spinal cord injury. The core facility has helped further the research of treatments for diabetes and the development of potential vaccines for various cancers including colon, prostate and brain tumors.

Over the past few years Several of the UCSF studies have achieved significant laboratory milestones and are now waiting to move into clinical trials including their work taking human embryonic cells almost all the way to a beta cell in the fight against multiple types of diabetes. It is a very exciting time.

Learn More: UCSF’s Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Program or learn more about my thoughts on philanthropy.