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Adams Institute awards $3M to research in Pioneer Valley
October 25, 2006
The John Adams Innovation Institute has awarded a $3 million grant for a new Massachusetts Center of Excellence in Apoptosis Research to the Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute.
The Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute is a partnership between the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Baystate Medical Center, which is headquartered in Springfield.
Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death, which takes place in body tissue to remove surplus or defective cells, according to Dr. Lawrence Schwartz, director of the Pioneer Valley Institute and a UMass Amherst faculty member. Research in apoptosis is linked to understanding the treatment, prevention and delay of diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disorders.
The John Adams Innovation Institute is the grant arm of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, which is a quasi-state agency based in Westborough dedicated to expanding technology economic development in Massachusetts.
In 2004, a $5 million grant from the John Adams Institute helped establish the Nanomanufacturing Center of Excellence at UMass Lowell. Center officials are in the midst of planning for an $80 million advanced nanomanufacturing and biomanufacturing building to support its research.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst was founded in 1863 and received more than $112 million in research funding in 2005. The Pioneer Valley Life Sciences Institute was established in 2003 and is a nonprofit organizations dedicated to biomedical research.