Stanford University School of Medicine investigator Helen Blau has received almost 1 million dollars to expand her research into stem cells.

The $949,608 grant, awarded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) on Dec. 10, will fund Blau’s efforts to determine the differences between stem cells from old and young individuals, and how stem cell function can be altered.

Blau, the Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Professor of Pharmacology, works extensively with muscle stem cells. Blau and her team recently discovered that among the satellite cells surrounding muscles there exist stem cells . Satellite cells help with repair when muscles are damaged. Finding satellite stem cells is the first step toward developing drugs that can stimulate stem cells in the body and prevent muscles from wasting away.

"I am extremely grateful to CIRM for the funding that will allow my lab to develop new technologies for directing stem cell fate,” Blau says. “This new platform will be invaluable to our research and should benefit stem cell researchers worldwide.”

Blau is a faculty affiliate of the Stanford Center on Longevity. More details on Blau’s grant and CIRM can be found here.