Leaders in academic medicine ask Congress to pass stem cell legislation

Leaders in academic medicine ask Congress to pass stem cell legislation

By Michelle Brandt

Members of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) are calling on Congressional leaders to pass legislation that would authorize and continue federal support for human embryonic stem cell research.

A letter (.pdf) delivered on Friday and signed by more than 100 representatives of medical schools and teaching hospitals, reads in part:
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...
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.
Philip Pizzo, MD, dean of Stanford's medical school, is among the signees.

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