 The Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center The human embryonic stem hES cell core facility of the Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center opened in April 2006. It occupies approximately 10,000 square feet of space in the research park immediately adjacent to the University of California, Irvine campus. Approximately 1.7 million were committed by the UCI to fully equip the facility for all aspects on hES cell research. Further gifts totaling 236,687 from the Fuji Foundation and the Nichols Foundation provided additional major equipment and supplies that are available for all investigators. The facility was set up as a Federal-free zone in which investigators can to carry out all aspects of hES cell research. Individual rooms are equipped with tissue culture biosafety cabinets, CO2 incubators, an inverted microscope, a dissecting microscope, digital imaging equipment, a centrifuge, a water bath and a dedicated refrigerator and freezer. Ten such tissue culture set-ups as well as standard lab bench space are available to UCI investigators and visitors. 