The Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) is focused on identifying and fostering cutting-edge research and innovation in the field of regenerative medicine in Maryland. Our Accelerating Cures initiative comprises programs that help transition human stem cell-based technologies from the bench to the bedside as well as mechanisms to build and grow stem cell companies in Maryland. Since 2007, MSCRF has invested close to $200 million in accelerating stem cell research, cures and commercialization, in addition to building a collaborative stem cell community in our region. Discover how the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund Accelerates Cures here.
Below is a list of our most current awardees.
2024
Production of Neonatal Cardiac Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Treat Patients with Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Commercialization of an Affordable, Robust, and Biosafe bFGF Produced in Algae
Validating the Utility of Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Corneal Endothelial Cells for Regulatory Approval by FDA
Validation of MoroPLUR TIRN-hiPSC for Generating Animals with Human Lympho-Hematopoietic Systems
Tunable Viscoelastic Hydrogels to Enhance the Production & Immunomodulation of Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles
Engineered MSCs-Derived Extracellular Vesicles as an Effective Microglia/Macrophage-Targeted Therapy for Hemorrhagic Stroke
New Human Cardiac Amyloidosis iPSC Lines Provide Novel Insight and Therapeutic Opportunities
Dynamic MPI Cytometry of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in a Mouse Model of Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
2023
Developing a Hematopoietic Stem Cell-derived Myeloid Cell Therapy for Solid Cancer
Generation of Immortalized Lymphoid Progenitors and Ready to use NK Cells from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (hiPSCs)
A Phase Ia Study of LT2950 Tri-specific CAR T-cells for Patients with Relapsed/Refractory B-Cell Lymphomas
Mesenchymal Stem Cells for the Treatment of Ocular Graft versus Host Disease
Validation of the GPB Curate Cell Processing System for Manufacture of Therapeutic Hematopoietic Stem Cells
ROCK Inhibitor-Free 3D Culture and Cardiac-Differentiation of Human iPSCs and Banking of iPSC-Derived Cardiac Organoids
3D-Bioprinted Allograft-Polymer Hybrid Constructs for Bone Regeneration
Validating the Utility of Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Corneal Endothelial Cell Sheets in Endothelial Keratoplasty
Commercial Validation of Clinical-Grade Progenitors from TIRN hiPSC
FBN1-Deficiency Destabilizes Endothelial Cell-Cell Attachment and Mechanosensing in Marfan Syndrome
In Vivo Tracking of Unlabeled MSCs and MSC-EVs for Rapid Clinical Translation
Establishing the Role of DNA Methylation Changes in Aged Human Blood Stem Cells by Xenotransplants
Novel use of Peripheral Blood-Derived Cells to Identify Individuals at High Risk of Developing PD
Human Marrow Stem-Cell Derived Pro-Inflammatory Myeloid Progenitors as Immunotherapy for Pancreatic Cancer
Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived MYOrganoid for the Treatment of Volumetric Muscle Loss
Targeting a Novel Cocaine Receptor to Mitigate Cocaine Neurotoxicity
Microglial Infused Cerebral Organoid Cultures to Study Viral Infections of the CNS
CD141 Identifies Novel Mesenchymal stem/Progenitor Cell Subsets for Skeletal Tissue Engineering
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles for Wound Healing
New Gene+Cell Therapy Platform Targeting Diabetes with Engraftable Skeletal Muscle Stem Cells
In Vitro and in Vivo Characterization of Human PSC-Derived Lens Cells
A Versatile Human iPSC Platform for Modeling Corticospinal Motor Neuron Connectivity
Developing Novel Therapies for Osteogenesis Imperfecta using Growth Plate Organoids from Patient-Derived iPSCs
Developing Stem Cell Technology for Megakaryopoiesis and Platelet Production
Leveraging In-Vitro Organoid Model and Clinical Data to Examine Phenotypic Diversity in SYNGAP1 Intellectual Disability
Mentor: Dr. Xitiz Chamling
Investigating the Potential Contribution of Retinoic Acid Receptor-Related Orphan Receptor-Gamma Pathway in Oligodendrocyte Maturation and Myelination
Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Erwin
Neural Mechanisms of Schizophrenia using Variational Autoencoder Analysis of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neural Networks
Mentor: Dr. Satoru Otsuru
Investigating the Changes in Mitochondrial Function and Energy Metabolism in Osteoblasts in Osteogenesis Imperfecta
Mentor: Dr. Ivy E. Dick
Evaluating the Pathogenic Mechanisms Underlying CACNA1A Disorders
Mentor: Dr. Ted Dawson
Contribution of Oligodendrocytic Cellular Milieu in Generation of A-Synuclein Strains in Multiple System Atrophy
Mentor: Dr. Xiaobo Mao
Spike Protein from SARS-CoV-2 Promotes Tauopathy Propagation and Neuroinflammation in Alzheimers Disease
Mentor: Dr. Brady Maher
Investigating the Effects of TCF4 Mutations During Oligodendrocyte Development and Maturation in a Human-Derived Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder
Mentor: Dr. Chulan Kwon
The Role of Splicing Factor Sf3b2 in Cardiomyocyte Maturation
Mentor: Dr. Valina Dawson
Role of MIF Nuclease in Neuroinflammation and Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease
Mentor: Dr. Linda Resar
HMGA1 Chromatin Regulators in Clonal Hematopoiesis and Cardiovascular Disease
Mentor: Dr. Xiaobo Mao
The Efficacy of PFFNB2 in Human Neurons with Synucleinopathies
Modulation of Rescue Competent MicroRNAs in Cystic Fibrosis Lungs
3D Model and In-Line Assessment of Colon based on iPS Cells for Ulcerative Colitis Treatment
Investigating H3K4 Methylation Pathway Targets in Human Stem Cell Models of Schizophrenia and SETD1A Haploinsufficiency
Use of Extracellular Vesicles from Metabolically-Engineered Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Prolonged Organ Preservation in Heart Transplantation
Rejuvenate Hematopoietic Stem Cells by Counteracting the Alcohol-Induced Aging Process
Inferring the Mechanistic Regulation of Human Hematopoietic Stem-Progenitor Cells During Standard and ROS-induced States
Enhancing Mesenchymal Stem Cells Intrinsic Expression of IL-10 and MMP-9 to Augment Capacities for the Treatment of Liver Diseases
LBSL iPSC Brain Modeling: A Prototype for Pediatric Rare Disease
Effects of Innate Immune Signaling on Ischemia-Reperfusion Tolerance of Human Stem Cell-Derived Cardiomyocytes
Leveraging Innervated Human Cardioids to Study Cardiac Disease
Mobile Cleanroom-Based Manufacturing of Genetically Engineered Cellular Products
Establish Vita In-House GMP Manufacturing in Maryland to Deliver Cost-Effective Therapeutics
Development of a Closed Extracellular Vesicle (EV)/Exosome Drug Substance/Product Manufacturing Process without Sterile Filtration
2022
A Mesenchymal Stem Cell Containing Matrix for Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH)
Simplified Solution for Enhanced Production of High Purity Extracellular Vesicles from Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Autologous Volar Fibroblast Injection into the Stump Site of Amputees
Extracorporeal Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy (SBI-101) in Severe Sepsis Complicated by Acute Kidney Injury
Regenerative Medicine to Restore Hematopoiesis and Immune Function in Immunodeficiencies and Inherited Bone Marrow Failures
Mechanism of Action of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells in Oxygen-Enhanced Bone Regeneration
Developing A Stem Cell Model of Epigenetic Dysregulation in Huntington's Disease
Generation and Characterization of Human Mrgprx1+ Sensory Neurons for Developing Novel Anti-Pain Therapies
Amniotic Fluid Derived Stem Cells for the Treatment of Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Premature Infants
A Human Retinal Organoid Model to Study Retinal Ganglion Cell Biology
Validation of Ripk2 Kinase As A Novel Therapeutic Target for Alzheimers Disease
Mobilization of Skin Resident Stem Cells to Drive Skin Growth
High-Throughput Screen For Small Molecules That Inhibit RPE-EMT as an Approach for Treatment of AMD
Cardiolipin Modification In iPSCs: Developing A Treatment for Tissue-Specific Mitochondrial Defects In Barth Syndrome
Intraarterial Administration of Human MSCs Secreting P2X7-Blocking Nanobody as Adjuvant Therapy for Acute Stroke
Investigating A Novel Signaling Pathway in iPSC-Derived Models of Tau-Associated Neurodegeneration
Mentor: Dr. Matthew Trudeau
Restoring the Function of hERG LQT2 N-terminal Mutants with Non-Canonical Amino Acids in hiPSC-CMs
Mentor: Dr. Piotr Walczak
Homing of Intravascularly Injected Glial Progenitors to Demyelinating Brain Lesions Enhanced by Focused Ultrasound Treatment
Mentor: Dr. Nicholas Maragakis
Modeling Corticospinal Tract Pathophysiology with ALS iPSC-Derived Corticospinal Motor Neurons
Mentor: Dr. Warren Grayson
Mitigating the Impact of Trauma-Induced Senescent Cells on Stem Cell-Mediated Bone Regeneration
Mentor: Dr. Aaron James
Exploration of Human Perivascular Stem Cell Diversity
Mentor: Dr. Gabsang Lee
Functional Schwann Cells Direct Induced from Hypo-Immunogenic Human Fibroblasts
Distilling Predictive Models of Human Stem Cell Fate Control from Single Cell Omics Data
Development of Patient iPSC-derived Organoid Models for Beck-Fahrner Syndrome: Probing DNA Methylation and Advancing Treatment
Intravital 2-Photon Imaging Human iPSC-Derived Progenitors Grafted into Ischemic Mouse Brain Assisted by Helper Cells
Noncoding RNA Regulation in Fragile X-Syndrome Patient-Derived Stem Cells
2021
Intravascular Bioreactor Delivery of Anti-Inflammatory Paracrine Factors to Treat Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Generating Human Liver in Pigs: Meeting a Growing Unmet Need
Phase I/IIA Study of Descartes-30 in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
The RECOVER Trial: Longeveron Mesenchymal Stem Cells (LMSCs) for ARDS due to COVID-19 and Flu
Validating Efficacy of Cryopreserved, hESC-Derived Corneal Endothelial Cells to Form Corneal Endothelium on Denuded Stroma
Evaluating Therapeutic Targets in Autism Spectrum Disorder
New Therapeutic Targets for Prevention and Treatment of GBA1-Associated Parkinson's Disease
3D Culture and Differentiation of Human iPSCs for Cardiac Tissue Engineering and Regeneration
Modeling Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Lung Development with Stem Cell-Derived Organoids
Developing CRISPR Technology to Rejuvenate Blood Stem Cells
Using Non-Canonical Amino Acids to Repair hERG LQT2 Mutants in hiPSC-CMs
Mentor: Dr. Elias Zambidis
Epigenetic Regulation of Vascular Differentiation from Human Nave Pluripotent Stem Cells
Mentor: Dr. Sharon Gerecht
3D In Vitro and In Vivo Models to Study Vascular Graft Remodeling in Atherosclerosis
Mentor: Dr. Donald Zack
Long Range Transcriptomic Analysis of Human Retinal Development and Degeneration
Mentor: Dr. Jeff WM Bulte
In vivo Imaging of Stem Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles using Positive Contrast MRI
Mentor: Dr. Valina Dawson
Tunable Biomaterial Guided Stroke Repairs by Endogenous and Exogenous Stem Cells
Mentor: Dr. Hanseok Ko
Neurotoxic Astrocyte Secreted-ExoDrp1 Causes Excessive Mitochondrial Fragmentation and Neurodegeneration of Human Dopaminergic Neurons
Mentor: Dr. Luo Gu
Dynamic Hydrogel Matrix to Prime Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Enhanced Autoimmune Diseases Treatment
Mentor: Dr. Warren Grayson
Building a Predictive Computational Bone Regeneration Model to Optimize the Application of Stem Cells
Leveraging an iPSC-Derived Model of Acquired Sideroblastic Anemia for Novel Therapies
Identification and Application of Distinct Perivascular Stem Cell Sub-Populations to Rotator Cuff Repair
Role of E-cadherin in the Intestinal Stem Cell Homeostasis and Regeneration
Exosomes Derived from Engineered Human iPSCs for the Therapy of Huntington's Disease
2020
Apical Surface-Outward (ASO) Airway Organoids: A Novel Cell System for Drug Discovery and Personalized Medicine
Building a Commercial Neural Cell Bank from Patient-Derived Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Autologous Volar Fibroblast Injection into the Stump Site of Amputees
Engraftment of Human iPSC Derived Neural Progenitors in Mouse for Developing Treatments for Alzheimers Disease
Validation of Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Corneal Endothelial Cells for Donor-Free Corneal Endothelial Keratoplasty
Chemoproteomic Immunophenotyping of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Derived Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells
Developing MPI for Tracer-Based, Non-Radioactive, and Quantitative Whole Body Imaging of Cell Delivery
Leveraging Novel SIX1 Transcription Factor Network Interactions to Stimulate Human Erythropoiesis
Human iPSC-Derived NF-kB p50-Deficient Myeloid Cell Immunotherapy for Cancer
Engineering Stem Cell Microenvironment for Image-guided Therapeutic Intervention
A Novel Mechanism of Immune Evasion by Human Neonatal Cardiac Progenitor Cells
Developing Human iPSC-Derived Exosome Therapy to Improve Recovery after Peripheral Nerve Injury
Targeting an Activated Microglia/Astrocyte Axis for Reducing Neurodegeneration
A Stem Cell-Derived Human Neuron Model to Explore Treatments of Axonopathies
Developing Stem Cell Therapy for Bone Loss and Fractures with Aging
CHMP7 in the Initiation of Nuclear Pore Injury in C9orf72 ALS/FTD and Sporadic ALS
Universal Donor Naive Vascular Progenitors for Regenerative Medicine
Mentor: Dr. John Fisher
Engineering the Human Joint Microenvironment to Understand the Mechanism of Cellular Senescence and Stem Cell Aging
Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Erwin
Dissecting the Pathological Molecular Mechanisms Underlying X-Linked Dystonia-Parkinsonism with Patient iPSC-Derived Striatal Organoids
Mentor: Dr. Steven Jay
Engineering Potency and Delivery of Oligodendrocyte-Derived Extracellular Vesicles for Spinal Cord Injury
Mentor: Dr. Valina Dawson
RNA Velocity of Single Nuclei in Parkinson Disease
Mentor: Dr. Gabsang Lee
Human iPSC-Derived Myelinating Schwann Cell-Based Disease Modeling and Efficient Differentiation Study
An Isogenic HiPSC-Derived Cortical-Striatal Co-Culture System to Investigate Transneuronal Propagation of Mutant Huntingtin in HD
Human iPSC-derived EGFR+ functional Schwann Cells to Enhance Nerve Regeneration and Improve Functional Outcomes in VCA
Annual reports include profiles and details on past MSCRF awardees, the MSCR Commission, and closed grant awardees.