Iowa City-area institute gets $400,000 from Ice Bucket Challenge

IOWA CITY - An Iowa City-area research institute that pledges to avoid using embryonic stems cells has received more than $400,000 in donations from the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Several Catholic archdioceses, including those in Cincinnati, St. Louis and Dubuque, recommended Catholics divert donations from the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association to the John Paul II Medical Research Institute because the ALSA has one study using embryonic stem cells.

Using stem cells from aborted fetuses is opposed by some religious groups.

'We've received donations from all 50 states and 37 countries,” said Jay Kamath, CEO of the JP2 Institute. 'A good portion of that has been earmarked for ALS.”

The ALSA started the Challenge July 29, asking people to post videos of themselves being doused with icy water and/or make a donation to an ALS charity. The national group raised more than $100 million from the viral drive.

The JP2 Institute, founded in 2008 by Dr. Alan Moy, an Iowa City pulmonologist, has developed a platform for research on adult stem cells, but so far hasn't done any studies on ALS. The non-profit is trying to raise $1 million to set up a 'clean room” so researchers can do clinical studies themselves, rather than outsourcing to other laboratories.

The institute employs three researchers at the University of Iowa's BioVentures Center in Coralville.