New stem cell partnership between the MRC and the National Natural Science Foundation of China
31 July 2012
The UK Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) have announced nine new funding awards to address key knowledge gaps in stem cell research and improve collaborative links between scientists in the UK and China.
The scheme provides financial support to establish small scale collaborative projects between research laboratories in the UK and China, and will increase our understanding of stem cell biology and undertake preliminary, pre-clinical studies to underpin therapeutic development in the future.
In the longer term the awards made under this initiative will provide a foundation for the development of more substantive stem cell research programmes between the two countries.
Dr Rob Buckle, Head of Regenerative Medicine at the Medical Research Council, said:
“The rapid-development of stem cell research over the last decade has already led to many fruitful international collaborations. We look forward to maximising the opportunities for UK and Chinese researchers to establish long-term partnerships which will increase our understanding of stem cell biology and how it can best be exploited to improve human health, through both the modelling of disease in the laboratory and the development of new treatments.”
By bringing together eminent research groups between the two countries, the initiative will build on their strengths and accelerate progress in this area.
The nine funded projects are:
