GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK’s) investment is expected to support research at Harvard University and in at least four Harvard-affiliated hospitals in the areas of neuroscience, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, musculoskeletal diseases and obesity. In addition, GSK will fund an annual grant, which supports early stage research in stem cell biology, as part of Harvard Stem Cell Institute’s (HSCI’s) seed grant program.
The collaboration aims to integrate HSCI’s stem cell expertise with GSK’s pharmaceutical capabilities to drive advances in drug discovery research. This will include, for example, a staff exchange program where HSCI and GSK researchers will spend up to several months in each other’s laboratories. The collaboration will be overseen by a joint steering committee made up of HSCI and GSK scientists and managers.
Brock Reeve, the Stem Cell Institute’s executive director, said: “This kind of collaborative alliance with GSK will allow the HSCI to ultimately fulfill its promise of advancing stem cell science to benefit patients.”