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Credit: Courtesy of UMDNJ
Ira Black
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Dr. Ira Black, an internationally recognized neuroscientist and a founding director of the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey, died Jan. 10. He was 64.
Since 1990, Dr. Black was professor and chair of the neuroscience and cell biology department at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. In 2004, after New Jersey became the second state, after California, to adopt legislation approving stem-cell research, Black was appointed as co-founding director of the state-financed Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey.
His research focused on the molecular mechanisms that underlie brain function and cognition. Most recently he focused his attention on the potential of stem cells in brain repair. His team succeeded in converting adult bone marrow stem cells into nerve cells in culture and in vivo to treat a variety of neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and spinal injury.
“Ira Black was a friend and a much-valued colleague,” said Wise Young, chair, department of cell biology and neuroscience and founding director, W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, both at Rutgers. Young worked closely with Black to develop the state Stem Cell Institute. “We shared the vision of New Jersey taking a leadership role in the new field of cellular therapies. My great regret is that he will not see the fruition of his work and the use of bone marrow stem cells to treat neurological diseases.”
Dr. Black received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Columbia College. In addition to serving as professor and chair of the department, he was director of the joint graduate program in physiology and neurobiology of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers.
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