Overseers of the state’s Regenerative Medicine Research Fund said they have awarded $11 million to Connecticut scientists conducting stem cell research.
The money will be split among 22 awards, ranging from $200,000 seed grants to $750,000 established investigator grants for researchers at UConn and Yale, according to Connecticut Innovations (CI), which manages the BioInnovation Connecticut program.
UConn researchers will receive eight grants totaling $3.5 million while Yale researchers will get 14 grants totaling $7.5 million.
Included in the UConn money is $750,000 for Multiclonal Therapeutics, a startup founded by two former Jackson Laboratory researchers and headquartered at the school’s tech incubator in Farmington. The company will use the grant to pursue preclinical models of a lung regeneration mechanism for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which makes it difficult to breathe.
The regenerative fund, formerly called the Connecticut Stem Cell Program, was created by state legislation in 2005. Since its launch, it has provided more than $90 million to more than 190 research projects, according to CI.
Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly characterized the founders of Multiclonal Therapeutics. They are former Jackson Labs researchers who are now focused solely on their startup company, according to Jax.
