The foundation of late Home Depot cofounder Bernie Marcus has committed $28.7 million to stem cell research at the University of Southern California. The research aims to develop treatments for heart damage caused by heart attacks. The funding will support physician-scientist Charles “Chuck” Murry, director of USC’s Stem Cell Center. His team is studying how stem-cell-derived heart muscle cells could help regenerate damaged cardiac tissue. The work is still experimental and is being developed towards clinical trials. It is not yet an established treatment for heart attack patients. The donation also continues Marcus’ long history of supporting medical research, a cause that had a personal connection to him because he had once dreamed of becoming a doctor.
Home Depot founder donates $28.7 million to advance stem cell research
The Marcus Foundation has committed $28.7 million to support Murry’s research into regenerative treatments for damaged hearts. USC says his work focuses on using stem-cell-derived heart muscle cells to repair tissue damaged by heart attacks, while the foundation said the funding will help advance gene-edited cellular therapy towards clinical trials. The gift is the largest the Marcus Foundation has given to USC and one of its largest contributions to academic medicine. A heart attack can destroy part of the heart muscle when blood flow is blocked, leaving behind scar tissue that can weaken the organ and reduce its pumping ability. Researchers are studying whether new heart muscle cells created from stem cells could replace some of the lost tissue and help restore cardiac function.
How stem cells could repair heart damage
The human heart has a limited ability to replace muscle cells after major injury, which is why researchers have been exploring regenerative medicine as a possible treatment for heart disease. Murry’s work focuses on cardiomyocytes, the specialised muscle cells responsible for the heart’s contractions. Scientists can produce these cells from stem cells in the laboratory and study whether they can survive after being transplanted into damaged heart tissue, integrate with existing cells and contribute to the heart’s function. However, the treatment remains experimental and faces several challenges. Researchers must determine how effectively the new cells work in humans and whether they can be safely introduced without causing complications.
Gene editing could help make the treatment safer
A major challenge with transplanting new heart muscle cells is the risk of abnormal heart rhythms if the cells do not beat in sync with the patient’s existing heart tissue. Murry’s team has explored gene-editing techniques designed to address this problem before the cells are transplanted. USC has reported promising preclinical findings from animal studies in which gene-edited cells reduced the risk of dangerous arrhythmias and helped restore damaged heart tissue. However, these findings do not prove that the treatment is safe or effective in humans. Clinical trials will be required to determine whether the approach can eventually be used as a treatment for people who have suffered heart attacks, and the Marcus Foundation’s funding is intended to help move the research closer to that stage.
Bernie Marcus’ lifelong connection to medicine
Marcus had dreamed of becoming a doctor before he became a billionaire businessman. His family could not afford medical school, so he instead studied pharmacy at Rutgers University and graduated in 1954. According to Home Depot, Marcus sometimes skipped classes to sell Amana freezers door-to-door while studying. He later moved into business and held senior positions at several companies before being fired from Handy Dan, a home improvement retailer, in 1978. The setback led Marcus and Arthur Blank to establish Home Depot with other partners, opening the first stores in Atlanta in 1979. The company eventually grew into one of the largest home improvement retailers in the US. Marcus died on November 4, 2024, at the age of 95, with Forbes estimating his fortune at about $11 billion.
The Marcus Foundation’s long history of medical giving
Marcus and his wife, Billi, established The Marcus Foundation in 1989, and the foundation says it has since awarded more than $2.7 billion through more than 3,500 grants. Medical research is one of its main areas of focus, with priorities including stem cell research and regenerative medicine, cancer detection and treatment, autism, integrative medicine and cardiovascular disease, including stroke. Its past medical initiatives include the Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center at Grady, the Marcus Autism Center and the Marcus Institute for Brain Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. The latest USC donation continues that decades-long focus on medicine. While stem-cell-based heart regeneration is still experimental, the $28.7 million commitment could help researchers determine whether the technology can eventually become a safe treatment for heart tissue damaged by heart attacks.
