Harvard University

HARVARD UNIVERSITY, FOUNDED in 1636, is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. It is a member of the Ivy League. Recently, Harvard University opened the Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI), a body committed to translating stem cell research in the laboratory into the clinic as quickly as possible in an attempt to treat disease. Harvard supports research primarily in developing new therapies for disease (e.g., diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer). In fact, HSCI identifies itself as a “scientific collaborative established to fulfill the promise of stem cell biology as the basis for cures and treatments for a wide range of chronic medical conditions.” HSCI states that at present, no embryonic stem cells (ES) have been used to treat diseases in humans, although research on these ES shows great potential. “Stem cell—based therapies are already in widespread clinical use, in the form of bone marrow and cord blood transplants.”

The Harvard community consists of the university, the medical school, and 18 research institutions and hospitals, making it one of the world's largest concentrations of biomédical researchers. HSCI is aware of the importance of interdisci—plinarity in this novel field of science; therefore, it is devoted to the virtue of community. HSCI works closely with its allies: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, Children's Hospital Boston, Joslin Diabetes Center, the Forsyth Institute, McLean Hospital, the Schepens Eye Research Institute, and the Immune Disease Institute, among other institutions from around the world. Harvard also incorporates nearly every department into its stem cell research: the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Law School, Harvard Divinity School, Harvard Business School, Harvard Medical School, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and Harvard University.

HSCI states that it is currently “supported primarily by private philanthropic donations,” which allows it to support a spectrum of research activities that could not otherwise be supported by sources such as the National Institutes of Health. The HSCI has created a unique fusion of professional institutions to address societal issues regarding stem cell research, ranging from legal and political issues to economic and ethical concerns; this interdisciplinary [Page 236]approach has permitted a unique synthesis of the institution's resources and its collaborators.