By Julie O’Connor, M.B.A,. and Amy Oprean

Through exceptionally diverse expertise and a pioneering commercialization center, Wayne State University is at the forefront of research in utilizing stem cells to treat or cure many of the most devastating and widespread diseases in the United States.

WSU’s expertise includes a multidisciplinary group of mitochondrial, embryonic and basic stem cell biology experts – one of the few of its kind in the country. The group, which is headed by Carol Brenner, Ph.D., associate professor of physiology in WSU’s School of Medicine and James Eliason, Ph.D., associate professor of internal medicine, is working to develop a new method for inducing pluripotency that may produce stem cells that are safe for therapeutics and can be used to model diseases. Other Wayne State stem cell research projects include targeting the endless self-renewal capacity of cancer stem cells in nearly every major tumor type, while others are zeroing in on areas such as cerebral palsy, spinal muscular atrophy and kidney transplantation.