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A Newsletter for Friends and Alumni of the University of Washington
News Stories
Regenerating hope through stem cell research
Charles Murry adjusts the focus on a microscope, and then looks down at a sea of tiny, pulsing specks. These cells were once undifferentiated stem cells; researchers have coaxed them into becoming heart cells, what Murry calls “beaters.”
“When I look in the microscope and I see the cells beating, I know the hard work is done,” says Murry, co-director of the year-old UW Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine and director of the UW Center for Cardiovascular Biology. “I know that one day we’re going to make this work.”
Murry is referring to the institute’s efforts to develop stem cell-based therapies to help people with damaged hearts. He estimates that heart regeneration clinical trials could begin within three years. Meanwhile, nearly 70 researchers at the institute are developing stem cell-based therapies to treat heart disease, spinal cord injuries, glaucoma, diabetes, hearing loss, liver disease, and other conditions, tapping into the potential of stem cells to transform into different cell types in the body.
Because of government restrictions on stem cell funding, private support is particularly important to realize the potential of this research. Many UW friends and alumni, including the Orin Smith Family Foundation, Michael (’48) and Linda Mastro, William (’53) and Marilyn Conner, and the John H. Tietze Foundation, are helping provide the resources for UW researchers to advance their work.
The Conners established the William and Marilyn Conner Chair for the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, which supports the institute’s director, Randall Moon. The Conners are especially interested in stem cell research because it holds promise for treating diseases that affect their family — and millions of other people worldwide.
Like the Conners, Eileen and Larry Tietze are committed to supporting that promise. They recently established the Tietze Young Scientist Award for Stem Cell Research with a gift from the John H. Tietze Foundation, created by Larry’s father. “Two things really struck us,” says Eileen Tietze. “The importance of stem cell research and the lack of government funding.”
By partnering with private philanthropists, the institute is able to support the team approach that sets the UW apart from other organizations engaged in stem cell research. “This is one of the greatest research universities in the world,” says Murry. “The culture is different here. It’s a culture of collaboration. Doing something as audacious as trying to regenerate the heart or another body tissue can’t be done alone.”
For more on the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, visit http://depts.washington.edu/iscrm/.
In the 19 years Doris Stiefel (’54, ’71) ran the UW’s Dental Education in Care of Persons with Disabilities (DECOD) program, she turned a fledgling training program into an internationally recognized example of what universities can do to expand access to dental services for people with disabilities.
To honor this pioneering alumna – the first female School of Dentistry graduate – her colleagues established the Doris J. Stiefel Endowed Fund to support DECOD and dental and dental hygiene students interested in treating patients with special needs.
DECOD annually treats more than 3,500 patients, many with movement or communication limitations, at its UW clinic and at nursing homes and group care facilities. It serves as a training ground for dental students and professionals from around the world.
Stiefel says DECOD continues to address a critical need. “The program serves as a major resource for clinical treatment of special needs patients in Washington,” says Stiefel, now retired. “Through its educational component, it helps dental professionals feel more comfortable and competent treating this population.”
Mae Chin, DECOD’s clinic manager, says the endowment is a fitting tribute to Stiefel, who was tenacious about improving and expanding the program. “This endowment will help ensure that more people with disabilities receive compassionate dental care.”
For more on the School of Dentistry, visit www.dental.washington.edu.
Preserving the core at Friday Harbor Labs
In the summer of 1964, Dennis Willows took a class at Friday Harbor Laboratories (FHL), the UW’s marine life research facility on San Juan Island, that changed the course of his life.
“The education, the excitement, the colleagues and the research that evolved from that core class formed my entire professional career,” says Willows, whose research on the nervous systems of mollusks during his Marine Invertebrate Zoology class served as the basis for his thesis and decades of neurobiology research.
Willows, who retired in 2005 after 33 years as FHL’s director, recently helped establish an endowment to ensure permanent support for FHL’s core classes. Many universities have eliminated these types of core classes due to cost and logistical issues.
More than 40 contributors, including Willows, have made bequests or outright gifts to the Marine Life Endowment, which will provide faculty funding and other support to the core classes, which also include Marine Algae/Botany, Comparative Invertebrate Embryology and Marine Fish Biology.
Willows says the endowment will help preserve FHL’s unique learning environment for future generations. “Young people interested in marine science will continue to have the opportunity to become involved with world-class academics and to achieve scholarly discovery that results from this kind of training.”
For more on Friday Harbor Laboratories, visit http://depts.washington.edu/fhl/.
Picture-perfect giving at the Henry
Along with its stature as the Northwest’s leading museum of contemporary art, the Henry Art Gallery claims another distinction: Its holdings include one of the most complete photography collections anywhere, thanks to the ongoing generosity of former UW faculty members Joseph and Elaine Monsen.
Since 1967, the Monsens have donated a thousand photographs from their collection, which spans the entire history of photography and includes rare historical works, vintage prints by pioneering modern photographers and contemporary works that extend the boundaries of the genre.
Recently, they contributed an additional 14 works to the collection, which is showcased in a series of exhibits in one of the Henry’s north galleries. A recent exhibit titled Photographer Unknown featured a grouping of Monsen Collection photographs by unknown 19th century photographers. Last fall, the Henry staged 75 at 75, featuring 75 favorite prints chosen by Joseph Monsen on the occasion of his 75th birthday.
Henry Director Richard Andrews says the collection is a priceless resource, particularly for UW students. “The Monsens have transformed the Henry’s ability to offer the public and UW students significant exhibitions drawn from the history of photography,” he says. “We are grateful to Joseph and Elaine for their foresight and generosity.”
For more on the Henry Art Gallery, visit www.henryart.org.
As an undergraduate at the University of Washington, Art Levinson (’72) took a genetics course from future Nobel Laureate Leland Hartwell that made a deep impression on him. “After a couple of weeks in Lee Hartwell’s course, I knew I wanted to be a scientist and study genetics and molecular biology,” he says. The fact that the UW offered no such major at that time did not deter him. Devising a course of independent study, Levinson was soon conducting research under the wing of faculty member John Keller.
Now CEO of biotechnology firm Genentech, Levinson and his wife, Rita, recently created the Levinson Emerging Scholars Program to allow highly motivated juniors and seniors to fully immerse themselves in the UW’s research culture.
“Much as Art used the flexibility of independent studies to design his UW education, these students are ready to undertake greater risk and potential for innovation by pursuing research projects of their own design,” says Ed Taylor, dean and vice provost of Undergraduate Academic Affairs. “This program will provide that critical opportunity.”
“Conducting research with faculty defined the course of my future,” Levinson says. “Rita and I are pleased to extend similar opportunities for discovery to exceptional UW undergraduates.”
For more on the Levinson Emerging Scholars Program, visit www.washington.edu/research/urp/levinson/index.html.
Couple taps own interests in creating Students First endowments
Margaret Stanley (’77) and her husband, Thomas Bleakney (’50), have found an effective way to ensure that future generations of UW students have the resources they need to pursue their lifelong goals.
“My husband and I both have a lot of enthusiasm for the UW and we both had good experiences there. It made sense for us to each endow a scholarship or fellowship in our areas of interest,” says Stanley, who recently established the Margaret T. Stanley Endowed Fellowship in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, where she received her master’s degree. Her husband, a retired actuary, created the Thomas P. Bleakney Endowed Scholarship in Mathematics.
Stanley and Bleakney were able to increase their investment in students by establishing their endowments through the Students First matching initiative, launched in 2006 to provide students greater access to the UW. Individuals may create a Students First named endowed scholarship or fellowship with gifts totaling $100,000 or more, which the UW will match at 50 percent. Groups may combine their contributions to create Students First endowments; individuals may also direct contributions of any amount to the Students First Matching Challenge Fund.
Stanley, executive director of Puget Sound Health Alliance, says the fellowships she received while in graduate school made paying for childcare for her three children and concentrating on schoolwork easier. She hopes her Students First fellowship will help ease the way for others.
Bleakney says establishing the scholarship allows him to express gratitude for the education he received at the University. “I just feel so positive about the math department that I felt very strongly motivated to do this,” says Bleakney. “You grow up thinking about how nice it would be to make money, but it’s really nice to give it away.”
For more on Students First, visit www.uwfoundation.org/studentsfirst.