By Erin Jordan, The Gazette

IOWA CITY An Iowa City-area research institute has received donations from around the world as Catholic organizations encourage members to route their Ice Bucket Challenge gifts to an organization that doesnt do research on embryonic stem cells.

The John Paul II Medical Research Institute, founded in 2008 by Dr. Alan Moy, an Iowa City pulmonologist, has gotten hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from people who want to support research on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), but dont want the research done with human embryos, said CEO Jay Kamath.

We serve as an alternative to them to donate money that aligns with their values, Kamath said Wednesday.

The non-profit institute, which employs three researchers at the University of Iowas BioVentures Center in Coralville, has developed a platform for research on adult stem cells, but so far hasnt done any studies on ALS, he said.

We havent had the funding streams, Kamath said.

But thats changing.

Donations have been pouring in since Catholic organizations, such as the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and Archdiocese of St. Louis, issued statements encouraging Catholics to donate money to the institute rather than the ALS Association, which started the Ice Bucket Challenge July 29.

The challenge asks people to post videos of themselves being doused with icy water and/or make a donation to an ALS charity. The ALS Association has so far raised more than $94 million from the drive.

The Archdiocese of Dubuque is the latest group to ask Catholics to steer donations to the John Paul II institute.

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Iowa City-area research institute benefiting from ice bucket challenge