The University of Wisconsin-Madison received federal grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of General Medical science for research on embryonic and adult stem cells.  The $8.9 million dollar grant will fund three projects lead by John Coon, Igor Slukvin, Junying Yu, and stem-cell pioneer James Thompson.  UW is especially lucky to get this grant as the federal government has been very stingy with the allocation of dollars for embryonic stem cell research.  Wisconsin’s position as a stem-cell leader will be further cemented by this grant, but we can’t rely on federal funding, the state has to play its role too.