The University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester has named Joseph C. Laning as head of the human stem cell bank and registry.
The cell bank is being created with and funded by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. It is intended to provide researchers with lines of human embryonic stem cell lines for research and therapeutic uses.
Laning previously served as senior director of cell and analytical biology at ViaCell Inc. of Boston, which researches adult stem cell technology to treat cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Before that, he was associate director of research at Newton-based Amaranth Bio Inc. and research manager for immunobiology at Organogenesis of Canton.
He has a Ph.D. in immunology from Harvard University.
