Shift to state funding of stem cell research

Wisconsin State Journal - Opinion
Tuesday, September 7, 2010

I am a patient advocate who has been working for state funding of embryonic stem cell research since 2005. With the recent federal court’s action to block federal funding once again, I am struck by how Wisconsin still remains so dependent on such an exclusive funding source in spite of how erratic and unreliable it has become. Led by our governor, Wisconsin’s policy of "leaving stem cell research to the scientists" who depend on ever more increasing fickle federal grants alone does not seem to be working.

It is time to bring the citizens and their legislature into this equation. Our state legislature needs to approve state funding and low interest loans, attached to a “payback” to the taxpayer, if and when, Wisconsin’s stem cell research moves into the clinic. All Wisconsin citizens, but especially those who have family members injured or suffering from chronic diseases, have a right to a more flexible, diverse and stable public funding source for this life-saving research.

Such state funding, if only symbolic during these tough economic times, would be the best evidence possible that Wisconsin is truly committed to stem cell research. Those who are suffering daily from chronic diseases and the scientists who labor in the Wisconsin labs deserve nothing less. We should go one step further. Why doesn’t Wisconsin set a goal of having at least one clinically viable stem cell-based application in to the Food and Drug Administration for clinical trials by 2020?