November 16, 2010 | Carolyn Pennington - Schools of Medicine and Dental Medicine

Advocating for Stem Cell Legislation

Dr. Laurencin and other medical education leaders urge Congress to support stem cell legislation.

<p> Assistant Professor of Genetics and Developmental Biology Stormy Chamberlain works on stem cells at the University of Connecticut`s (UConn) Stem Cell Institute at the UConn Health Center on August 27, 2010 in Farmington, Connecticut. UConn scientists and students have been recipients of federal grants for work using human embryonic stem cells and could be significantly effected by a federal court ruling that would limit funding for embryonic stem cell research. On August 23, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth issued a preliminary injunction in Washington, D.C., halting all federal funding for basic research into embryonic stem cell technology. Stem cell research is believed to offer great hope in finding treatments to many diseases and illnesses including heart attacks, strokes and spinal cord injuries. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images</p>
A researcher works on stem cells at the Stem Cell Institute at the UConn Health Center. UConn scientists and students have been recipients of federal grants for work using human embryonic stem cells and could be significantly affected by a federal court ruling that would limit funding for embryonic stem cell research. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

In a recent letter to congressional leaders, Dr. Cato Laurencin, UConn medical school dean and vice president for health affairs, joined more than 100 representatives of the nation’s medical schools and teaching hospitals in calling on Congress to pass the “Stem Cell Research Advancement Act.”  U.S. medical schools deans, teaching hospital CEOs, and academic society presidents urged action on the legislation, which would continue federal support for human embryonic stem cell research, before the end of the current congressional session in November.

The letter stated, “The discovery of human embryonic stem cells is a significant research advance, and federal support to U.S. researchers is essential both to translate this discovery into novel therapies for a range of serious and intractable diseases, and to ensure that this research is conducted under a rigorous and credible ethical regime.”

<p>Senior postdoctoral fellow Xiaofang Wang pulls out frozen stem cells in a lab at the University of Connecticut`s (UConn) Stem Cell Institute at the UConn Health Center on August 27, 2010 in Farmington, Connecticut. UConn scientists and students have been recipients of federal grants for work using human embryonic stem cells and could be significantly affected by a federal court ruling that would limit funding for embryonic stem cell research. On August 23, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth issued a preliminary injunction in Washington, D.C., halting all federal funding for basic research into embryonic stem cell technology. Stem cell research is believed to offer great hope in finding treatments to many diseases and illnesses including heart attacks, strokes and spinal cord injuries. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images</p>
Senior postdoctoral fellow Xiaofang Wang pulls out frozen stem cells in a lab at the University's Stem Cell Institute. Stem cell research is believed to offer hope in finding treatments for many diseases and illnesses. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The letter went on to say, “This legislation, which has received strong bipartisan support in previous Congresses, recognizes the need to authorize and continue federal support of research on human embryonic stem cells so that the tremendous scientific and medical benefits of their use may one day become available to the millions of patients who so desperately need them.”

The effort to pass such a bill has recently taken on some urgency. In August, a federal district court judge found that the Obama administration’s stem cell policy violates a law barring federal financing for “research in which a human embryo or embryos are destroyed, discarded, or knowingly subjected to risk of injury or death,” and issued an injunction blocking federal money for the research.

Since then, a federal appeals court has allowed government financing to continue while legal arguments wind their way through the courts. But some researchers have said they are now hesitant to submit grants involving human embryonic stem cells, fearing that their research will not be funded.

U.S. Rep. Christopher Murphy (D – 5th District) recently told UConn stem cell scientists that the best opportunity to pass the “Stem Cell Research Advancement Act” will be in November before the new, more conservative Congress convenes in January.