Two leading stem cell scientists are heading to The Farm to continue their work, thanks in part to the $3 billion in state funding for stem cell research.

In April, Stanford formed the Program in Regenerative Medicine to focus on interdisciplinary stem cell and regenerative medicine projects — attracting scientists like Michael Clarke from the University of Michigan Medical School and Stefan Heller of Harvard Medical School.

“There are several reasons I’m coming to Stanford, but a big one is the new stem cell institute,” Clarke said in an interview with The Daily. “It’s going to be one of the best, if not the best in the world. I think [my future] colleagues at Stanford are phenomenal.”

Along with Clarke and Heller, Dean of Stanford’s School of Medicine Philip Pizzo said he expects more additions.

“Presently we anticipate recruiting a limited number of additional investigators, focusing on the excellence of the candidates and the new areas of research that she or he can bring to Stanford,” he said “In the immediate future I would envision the recruitment of six to ten additional stem cell investigators.”

In his research, Clarke has found that only a subset of cancer cells is responsible for the spread of tumors. Heller is working with pluripotent stem cells, which some day may be able to be transplanted to treat deafness.

Clarke is the first scientist to isolate stem cells from breast tumors. Because these are the cells that divide, zoning in on them might be the answer to curing cancer, or at least making therapies more effective.

“My lab has found that in human tumors there’s a stem cell population — we’re the first lab to describe adult stem cells that make more cells,” he said.

Both Clarke and Heller are known for being the first to isolate specific

types of stem cells. Like Clarke, Heller’s work has been concerned mainly with stem cells from adult and animal tissues. Heller has worked with the embryonic stem cells from mice to create inner ear hair cells from mouse embryonic stem cells. As 80 percent of deafness is due to damage or destruction of inner ear hair cells, Heller's work has been a ground-breaking discovery.

California voters have supported stem cell research, allocating nearly $3 billion in state funds last November, drawing top scientists to the Golden State. However, the White House has been reluctant to do the same.

On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives approved stem-cell funding, despite a threat from President George W. Bush to veto legislation expanding research. The 238-194 vote in the House was a rare defeat for the president, raising the possibility of expanded stem cell research passing through the Senate as well.

If the federal funding proposition does go through, Pizzo said that he will embrace federal funding for stem cell research and does not believe it could detract from the influx of researchers coming to Stanford.

“I do not view this as competitive with our California initiatives but rather additive and synergistic,” Pizzo said “The ultimate goal must be to do all we can to foster research that enhances our fundamental knowledge of stem cell biology and that ultimately leads to new treatments or preventive strategies for diseases impacting adults and children.”