La Jolla

Neuroscience research at UC San Diego has received a $500,000 boost for its investigations into ways of treating neurological problems, such as regrowing damaged nerves or implanting genetically engineered cells into the brain.

The 5-year grant from the Bristol-Meyers Co., which is being announced today in New York, will be used by a research group headed by Fred H. Gage, professor of neurosciences in the UCSD School of Medicine. It has no strings attached, the university emphasized.

Research on transplanting cells into the brain is seen as a frontier for treating degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease, both of which involve the inability of brain cells to secrete essential chemicals.

Scientists hope for a day when they can take cells from a patient’s body, add genetic material to make the cells produce the missing chemicals, then implant the cells in the brain.

Gage’s group also is experimenting with using cells from human placentas to repair nerve damage.

The Bristol-Meyers grant is one of five the company is awarding nationwide this year, totaling $2.5 million. Only one other recipient was from California, Dr. Carl Cotman of UC Irvine. Other grants went to Johns Hopkins, Yale and Cornell universities.