In a full-page ad appearing today in the Washington Post, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) called on Congress to pass legislation ensuring continued federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research under the National Institutes of Health rigorous ethical guidelines.
The ad (.pdf) is is signed by Philip Pizzo, MD, dean of the School of Medicine, and 74 other leaders of the nation's medical schools. It says in part:
Medical research breakthroughs require a long-term, sustained investment. Even short delays can have dramatic consequences. Unless this research is allowed to resume immediately, important momentum will be lost - and along with it the hopes of all of us who may one day need the cures, therapies, and discoveries that would have come from today's human embryonic stem cell research.
Human embryonic stem cell research across the country has been thrown into limbo because of an Aug. 23 court ruling that suspended federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research.
Previously: NIH intramural human embryonic stem cell research halted, Stanford stem cell expert weighs in on district court ruling and Judge Lamberth's stem cell opinion is disappointingly bad
