State Stem Cell Funding Possibly In Jeopardy

State money has helped Connecticut carve a niche in stem cell research, luring top scientists to the state and funding more than 200 researchers at the University of Connecticut, Yale and Wesleyan as they pursue treatments for cancer, Parkinson's and other diseases using promising new methods.

But with a looming budget deficit, state stem cell funding could be in jeopardy, at least temporarily.

In her proposal to address the deficit, Gov. M. Jodi Rell called for redirecting to the general fund the $10 million that would have gone to stem cell research in 2010, putting off the next installment of research money for a year.

Jeffrey Beckham, a spokesman for Rell's budget office, said that although stem cell research is a good thing to fund, "We have to prioritize, and some things have to be deferred."

Democrats, who control the legislature, have not yet released a proposal to address the deficit, but legislative leaders said they were mindful that stem cell research creates jobs and that cutting it could hurt the state's economy.

Scientists say that taking away the research funding, even for a year, could hurt the state's standing in stem cell research.

"To take the money off the table, it just would send the message that Connecticut is delaying its program, and I think it'll affect our ability to work with people outside the state and with private concerns," said Marc Lalande, director of UConn's Stem Cell Institute.

Although stem cell research in Connecticut is on the upswing — attracting federal funding and private start-up companies — Lalande said the situation is still fragile enough that a loss of even a year of funding could be a difficult blow. A delay in the funding would make it harder to keep top scientists in Connecticut, especially as other states, including Massachusetts, put money into stem cell research.

Federal funding is now available for stem cell work, but research dollars are tight and it is unclear how much federal money will be devoted to stem cell work, Lalande said. The competition for any federal money that is available will be keen, because the funds will be open to researchers throughout the country, he said.

By contrast, the $100 million that Connecticut lawmakers committed in 2005 for stem cell research over 10 years is meant for research in Connecticut. If the program continues as planned, the state would award another $60.6 million in grants by 2015.

Connecticut's stem cell funding did what it was meant to: Put the state on the map as a stem cell center, said Paul Pescatello, president and CEO of CURE, which advocates for the pharmaceutical and biotech industries in the state.

Cutting the money now, even if it's just a one-year delay, could give the impression that the state is reneging on its promise, Pescatello said. "Once that credibility is gone," he said, "it's hard for people to believe that they can count on it and make hiring decisions."

Haifan Lin, director of the Yale Stem Cell Center, likened the potential cut to killing a chicken to get its eggs, a short-term saving that will foreclose the state's ability to realize lasting gains.

Yale University has received $17.3 million in stem cell funding from the state, which created 128 full- and part-time jobs, Lin said. The state money prompted Yale to invest more than $40 million in stem cell research.

That helped Yale recruit 33 researchers and 11 faculty members from out of state, including Lin, who brought with them $7.65 million in grant funding. Other Yale faculty members have also attracted federal funding.

"This is a shining example in Connecticut," he said. "If we destroy this example, it's such a pity."

Although the proposed cut of next year's stem cell money won't take back money from previously awarded grants, it could pose a problem for researchers who used up their funding and were planning to seek another grant to continue their work, potentially disrupting their research, Lin said.

Already, about 200 scientists at Yale and UConn have written close to 90 grant applications for the next round of funding.

State Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams and House Speaker Christopher Donovan, both Democrats, spoke of stem cell research's ability to create jobs and said they wanted to avoid cuts that could hurt the economy. Williams said he wanted to do all he could to maintain the funding, while Donovan said that the proposed cuts could jeopardize good jobs in an area of strength for Connecticut.