The University of California, San Francisco has announced a $25 million grant from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation to support construction of a headquarters for its stem cell program.

The building, which will bring together twenty-five labs involved in various areas of human and animal embryonic and adult stem cell and related early-cell studies, is designed to enhance scientists' efforts to develop novel treatments for such diseases as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson's disease, HIV/AIDS, and cancer. It will be connected to inpatient and outpatient clinics at UCSF Medical Center, supporting the long-term goal of translating basic research findings to clinical trials.

Construction of the facility began in late summer 2008 and is scheduled for completion in mid-2010. In recognition of the gift, the UCSF Institute for Regeneration Medicine will be renamed the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCSF.�

"Scientists have made significant headway in understanding the basic biology of stem cells in recent years, and UCSF scientists have been at the forefront of these efforts," said Broad Foundation founder Eli Broad.�"The UCSF center's headquarters will be a world-class facility that will enable scientists to accelerate their research by bringing some of the world's leading stem cell scientists together under one roof and providing them with a setting that promotes collaboration and an exchange of ideas, both key to making clinical advances to improve human health."