INSTITUTE FOR STEM CELL AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE

What INSTITUTE FOR STEM CELL AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE does

The Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (ISCRM) is the University of Washington's largest interdisciplinary research institute focused on stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, founded in 2006 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It operates through more than 130 affiliated research labs and four shared core facilities, including the Ellison Stem Cell Core, Garvey Imaging Core, Quellos HTS Core, and Genomics Core, providing fee-for-service infrastructure to internal UW investigators and external academic and industry collaborators. Its research portfolio spans stem cell differentiation, organoid and disease modeling, tissue regeneration, and computational protein design, with recent documented outputs including AI-designed EpiBinders for Type 1 Diabetes cell therapy and AI-designed signaling proteins for dental enamel regeneration, developed in collaboration with UW's Baker Lab.

ISCRM's business model is that of a non-profit academic research institute rather than a commercial entity. Revenue is assembled from (i) recurring Washington State appropriations, currently $2.625 million annually since the 2019-2021 biennium, (ii) multi-year federal research grants from agencies such as NIH (NIDDK, BRAIN Initiative) routed through individual principal investigators, (iii) recharge fees for the four core facilities' equipment and services, and (iv) clinical-research revenue from the CLIA-certified Cancer Drug Sensitivity Test (CDST), a functional precision-medicine assay deployed through UW Medicine. The institute also runs training and workforce-development activities, including the ISCRM Fellows program, an REU summer research experience, and K-12 outreach, which do not directly monetize but secure the talent pipeline and reinforce its UW Medicine ecosystem position alongside partners including Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the UW Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute (MolES).

Recent strategic activity clusters around three vectors: large multi-year federal grant capture (~$8.6M NIDDK RC2 for diabetes cell therapy; ~$11M NIH BRAIN Initiative for protein sensor engineering), intellectual property buildup (three U.S. patents from the Bomsztyk Lab), and structured cross-institute collaboration, evidenced by the inaugural ISCRM-MolES Scientific Exchange. Faculty momentum is supported by three recent external awards, including the NIH Director's New Innovator Award, signaling continued recruitment of federally funded principal investigators.

Name

INSTITUTE FOR STEM CELL AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE

Legal name

Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, University of Washington

Website

https://iscrm.uw.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (ISCRM) is the University of Washington's largest interdisciplinary stem cell and regenerative medicine research institute, operating 130+ labs and four core facilities, funded by state appropriations, federal grants, and CLIA-certified clinical testing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Stem Cell Research Institute

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171), Medical Laboratories (621511)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Medical Laboratories (8071)

akta.pro primary industry

Oncology Diagnostics (tumor profiling, MRD, liquid biopsy) (HLAAALAE)

Keywords

• Stem cell research
• Regenerative medicine
• Shared core facilities
• Genomic sequencing services
• Biomedical research training

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Government Research Grants: Primary funding from federal agencies including NIH and NIDDK through competitive grant programs such as the $8.6 million RC2 grant for diabetes cell therapy research
2. State Funding: Washington State Legislature appropriations including initial $2.25 million funding in 2017 and increased to $2,625,000 annual funding in 2019 for core staff, technologies, innovation pilot awards, and trainee fellowships
3. Core Facility Services: Fee-for-service access to specialized research equipment and services including stem cell culture, gene editing, genomics, and imaging core facilities for academic and commercial clients
4. Cancer Drug Sensitivity Testing: CLIA-certified diagnostic testing service for cancer patients providing personalized drug sensitivity results to guide treatment decisions

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

ISCRM is an interdisciplinary academic research institute at the University of Washington that conducts stem cell and regenerative medicine research across more than 130 labs. It operates four shared core facilities — the Tom and Sue Ellison Stem Cell Core, the Lynn and Mike Garvey Imaging Core, the Quellos High-Throughput Screening Core, and the ISCRM Genomics Core — providing fee-for-service access to specialized equipment, gene editing, screening, and imaging capabilities. The institute also delivers educational and fellowship programs for graduate, undergraduate, and postdoctoral trainees, and runs a CLIA-certified Cancer Drug Sensitivity Test service for personalized oncology treatment.

Product overview

ISCRM is a research institute at the University of Washington offering specialized core facilities and educational programs. The core products include four shared research facilities: the Ellison Stem Cell Core (iPSC generation, gene editing), the Lynn & Mike Garvey Imaging Core (advanced microscopy), the Quellos High-Throughput Screening Core (RNAi/chemical screening, CLIA-certified cancer drug testing), and the ISCRM Genomics Core (sequencing pipelines). Educational offerings include the ISCRM Fellows Program, REU summer research program, K-12 school outreach, public science talks, and curriculum resources. These services work together to support stem cell biology research, regenerative medicine development, and biomedical training.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Tom and Sue Ellison Stem Cell Core A 3,500 square foot pluripotent stem cell facility offering training in ESC culture, iPSC generation using non-integrating Episomal and Sendai viral methods, and full-service CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing including knockout, point mutation, and knock-in cell lines. Services are available to academic and external researchers with consultation provided.
• Lynn and Mike Garvey Imaging Core Light microscopy core providing access to Nikon A1R Confocal, Olympus FV1000 Multi-photon, Spinning Disk Confocal, and high-resolution widefield imaging systems with training and application support for more than 50 laboratories.
• Quellos High-Throughput Screening Core Laboratory automation and robotics facility offering RNA interference screening, chemical library screening, and a CLIA-certified Cancer Drug Sensitivity Test that evaluates patient cancer cell responses to chemotherapy drugs for AML, ALL, and Multiple Myeloma patients to guide precision medicine treatment decisions.
• ISCRM Genomics Core Sequencing facility providing a full pipeline from tissue or single cells to data output, including 10x Chromium with Visium single-cell and spatial genomics, Illumina NextSeq 2000 capable of 400 million to 1.1 billion reads, Agilent TapeStation QC, and analysis support using Partek Flow and RStudio on the Hyak supercomputer.
• ISCRM Fellows Program State-funded fellowship program for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows working in ISCRM-affiliated labs, providing research training, mentorship, and funding support to strengthen stem cell and regenerative medicine innovation in Washington State.
• Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) 10-week summer research program enabling undergraduate students from U.S. institutions to conduct regenerative engineering, medicine, and biology projects alongside leading UW scientists.
• Cancer Drug Sensitivity Test (CDST) CLIA-certified diagnostic testing service that directly evaluates patient cancer cell sensitivity to chemotherapy drugs using laboratory automation and robotics, providing physicians with personalized drug response data to guide treatment decisions for AML, ALL, and Multiple Myeloma patients.
• EpiBinders (AI-Designed Mini-Proteins) AI-designed mini-proteins developed in collaboration with the UW Baker Lab to improve the reliable generation of functional pancreatic islets from multiple stem cell lines, supporting diabetes cell therapy research.

Quantifiable outcome

• 60+ publications with ISCRM fellows as co-authors since 2017
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability2 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Baker Lab (UW)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with the Baker Lab at UW for development of AI-designed mini-proteins called EpiBinders used in diabetes cell therapy research. The Baker Lab specializes in computational protein design.
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClinical trials collaboration for Cancer Drug Sensitivity Test program. Patient cell response data is compared against database of results from trials conducted under FHCRC auspices for UW Medical Center and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance patients.
• Diabetes Research Center Vector and Transgenic Mouse CoreminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration partner for generation of Cas9 constructs, donor plasmids for knock-in, and genotyping services for genome editing projects.
• UW Transgenics FacilityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for generating CRISPR-modified mice in collaboration with the Ellison Stem Cell Core for gene editing research.
• Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute (MolES)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative institute at UW hosting the inaugural ISCRM-MolES Scientific Exchange bringing together faculty and trainees from both institutes for cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Allen Institute for Cell Science: Non-profit research institute focused on cell biology with a strong stem cell and iPSC component. Already a technology partner of ISCRM (provides validated pluripotent stem cell lines), and operates a comparable model of shared resources, large-scale data generation, and open-science dissemination.
• Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine: Stanford's primary interdisciplinary stem cell and regenerative medicine research institute, operating as a university-based academic research organization with shared core facilities, faculty labs, and training programs. Highly comparable mission, structure, and funding model to ISCRM, with larger endowment and broader commercial translation track record.
• Cincinnati Children's Center for Stem Cell Biology: Pediatric hospital-based stem cell research center conducting basic and translational regenerative medicine research. Comparable as a university-affiliated research institute with core facility infrastructure and active training programs in stem cell biology.
• Buck Institute for Research on Aging: Non-profit research institute focused on aging biology with strong stem cell and regenerative medicine components. Comparable structure as a multi-program non-profit biomedical research institute with shared core facilities and disease-focused translational research.
• Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research: MIT-affiliated non-profit biomedical research institute with major programs in regenerative biology and stem cell research. Comparable academic non-profit structure with shared facilities, fellowship training, and commercial translation through affiliated faculty startups.
• Gladstone Institutes: Non-profit biomedical research organization affiliated with UCSF conducting research in regenerative medicine, cardiovascular disease, and neurological disease. Comparable model of multiple research institutes under one umbrella with shared core facilities and clinical translation focus.
• Harvard Stem Cell Institute: Harvard's cross-institutional stem cell research institute bringing together faculty across multiple Harvard-affiliated hospitals and schools. Directly comparable as an interdisciplinary academic stem cell research platform with core facilities, training programs, and translational pipelines.
• New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Research Institute: Non-profit research organization conducting stem cell research, disease modeling, and translational programs. Comparable in mission and structure to ISCRM, with additional emphasis on automation and large-scale iPSC derivation, and operates its own research training programs.

Broad incumbents

• Salk Institute for Biological Studies: Large independent non-profit research institute with significant stem cell and regenerative medicine programs. Comparable in academic non-profit structure but broader in scope, with longer operating history and substantially larger endowment.

Others

• 10x Genomics: Commercial provider of single-cell and spatial genomics instruments (Chromium, Visium) that ISCRM's Genomics Core uses as a technology partner. Not a research peer but a key enabling infrastructure provider for the institute's genomics pipeline.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/UWISCRM
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/uw-institute-for-stem-cell-and-regenerative-medicine

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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