CAMR APPLAUDS NIH STEM CELL RESEARCH GUIDELINES

Washington, D.C.; July 6, 2009; 1:30 p.m. ET

This statement may be attributed to Amy Comstock Rick, president, Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR):

“We applaud the National Institutes of Health for issuing clear and well-thought out guidelines for the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.  What must have been a Herculean task, weighing more than 49,000 comments on this groundbreaking research, has resulted in guidelines we believe will advance the field of biomedical research and provide a solid ethical basis for the federal funding of this valuable and promising research.  It’s rewarding to see that the process of engaging the community works.

“We are especially pleased these guidelines offer a pathway by which existing stem cell lines, on which current research has only been able to proceed with private funding until now, now can finally move forward with the full support of the federal government. This will allow research that has been stifled for years to move forward – something the patient community has been advocating for since the restrictive federal policy was imposed by the previous Administration. We look forward to working with NIH and other federal policy entities on this issue as the research continues to evolve and advance, particularly in the area of somatic cell nuclear transfer and parthenogenesis.”

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The Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR) is the nation's leading bipartisan pro-cures coalition. Comprised of more than100 nationally recognized patient organizations, universities, scientific societies, and foundations, CAMR’s advocacy and education outreach focuses on developing better treatments and cures for individuals with life-threatening illnesses and disorders.