UC Berkeley will team with Stanford University School of Medicine to establish a joint stem cell research institute worth $9 million, campus officials announced yesterday.

The Siebel Stem Cell Institute, funded by a gift from the Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation, will join faculty from both campuses in researching cancer, Parkinson's disease, diabetes and other human development diseases related to stem cell biology.

An additional $1.5 million from the Siebel Foundation-matched by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation for a total of $3 million-will establish the Thomas and Stacey Siebel Distinguished Chair in Stem Cell Research at UC Berkeley. This chair will recruit faculty undertaking world-class level research in the field, said campus spokesperson Jose Rodriguez.

Robert Tjian, a molecular and cell biology professor, will oversee research efforts on campus as director of the Berkeley Stem Cell Center, with Irving Weissman at the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.

"Every penny counts," Tjian said. "We're a state university, so we don't have big endowments for supporting research. This will make a huge difference for us."

The institute will also invite stem cell biologists from around the world to research at UC Berkeley and Stanford University while on sabbatical leave, campus officials said.

The Siebel Foundation is a private nonprofit corporation led by Thomas Siebel, who founded the software company Siebel Systems, and his wife, a UC Berkeley alumna.

"He's a classical case of an American philanthropist who wants to give back to the community that benefits way beyond what his own interests are," Tjian said.

G. Steven Martin, chair of UC Berkeley's molecular and cell biology department, said the deal will allow the two institutions to combine their strengths.

"Stanford has a medical school so they're able to bring in the clinical connection," he said. "We have strengths in developmental biology and research on transcription, so those two areas of expertise are quite complementary."

Stem cell research may be easier to finance than other areas of biology these days, Martin said, but the task remains difficult nonetheless.

"Funding is always an issue," he said.

Tags: THE SIEBEL STEM CELL INSTITUTE, SEIBEL FOUNDATION, STEM CELLS