The SmartState Center in Cancer Stem Cell Biology and Therapy was approved in 2008 by the Commission on Higher Education for $5 million in state funding through the South Carolina Research Centers of Economic Excellence Act. HSSC, along with philanthropic funding from the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and Clemson University, provided the $5 million dollar-for-dollar match required by the State.
Dr. Andrew Kraft, then director of the MUSC Hollings Cancer Center, said the SmartState Center in Cancer Stem Cell Biology and Therapy positions South Carolina as a leader in this new transdisciplinary field, which merges bioengineering and biomedicine. “This SmartState Center provides the resources to recruit outstanding individuals to explore the function and inhibition of cancer stem cells, and in so doing, may lead to exciting new stem cell-based cancer therapies that will improve cancer survival rates and create new economic opportunities for South Carolina.”
The new HSSC-support SmartState Center in Cancer Stem Cell Biology and Therapy was made possible because of close collaboration between MUSC and Clemson. Early activities were spearheaded by Vincent S. Gallicchio, PhD.
