The Starr Foundation was an early supporter of stem cell research, recognizing its enormous potential to advance bioscience, help develop treatments for a growing number of diseases, and improve human health.
Stem cells are valuable because of their ability to renew themselves and to differentiate into a wide variety of specialized cells, which gives them the potential to regenerate or repair diseased tissue and organs. They can be found in adult tissues such as bone marrow and fat, and in microscopic, three- to five-day-old human embryos that are no larger than a grain of sand. Embryonic stem cell research is conducted with unused embryos created during IVF procedures.
Stem cells are already being used for bone marrow transplants for cancer patients, and scientists are investigating their ability to restore damaged heart muscles, alleviate epilepsy, control cancer, and ease the burden of Parkinson’s disease, among many other areas of research.
After restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research were imposed, The Starr Foundation recognized the urgent need for private funding and invested $50 million in 2005 to create the Tri-Institutional Stem Cell Initiative (Tri-SCI). Tri-SCI brings together scientific experts from three of the world’s leading medical research facilities—Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the Rockefeller University, and Weill Cornell Medicine—to advance knowledge of developmental disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer, and to develop regenerative therapies to replace tissues lost to illness or injury. Read more about Foundation support for stem cell research here.
In addition to support for Tri-SCI, in 2014, The Starr Foundation provided a lead grant of $10 million to the University of Miami’s Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute to accelerate research for a wide array of debilitating conditions, including cardiac disease, cancer, wound healing, stroke, glaucoma, and chronic kidney and gastrointestinal diseases. The Foundation has also supported the New York Stem Cell Foundation and the International Society for Stem Cell Research.
As of 2024, Foundation investments in stem cell research have totaled $160 million.