New prez affects Discovery Institute

Wisconsin State Journal
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Upon the completion of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery in December 2010, UW-Madison will take over the “public” Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, while the private, non-profit side, the Morgridge Institute for Research, will share the building.

This private/public arrangement was designed largely in response to President George W. Bush’s executive ban on federal funding for all but a very few embryonic stem cell lines. The ban called for separate labs, equipment and accounting systems to assure that our government was not in any way complicit in the destruction of embryos. With the election of President Obama these ideological barriers and the stigmatization of this science has largely been removed and now these onerous rules are only relics of the past.

Unfortunately this pre-Obama policy environment continues to shape the structure and programmatic research agenda for UW –WID. UW-Madison, supported by public funds, should rectify this situation through reexamination of the mission, structure and program direction of the institute. Special attention should be given to the effects of commingling the public and private institutes and the potential conflicts of interest.

As an advocate for state funding of stem cell research, I see this public discussion as a way to engage patients, their families, seniors and taxpayers to make this a “public” research institute. It’s not just a research issue but a public health one as well.

For more information on stem cell research reform and how you to get involved, see: danecountyalmanac.blogspot.com.