The Kansas Coalition for Lifesaving Cures

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Notable Quotes about the Importance of All Types of Stem Cell Research and Cures

"Stem cell research holds great promise for the nearly 21 million Americans who have diabetes. Stem cell research could lead not only to a cure for diabetes, but to better treatment as well. The American Diabetes Association is a proud member of the Kansas Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, and we will continue to oppose any measure that will stand in the way of progress of potentially lifesaving research."
Bruce Barrett, State Advocacy Leader
American Diabetes Association

"Stem cell research has the potential to provide better treatments and cures for many currently incurable medical conditions, including spinal cord injury, diabetes, Parkinson's and many others. We are members of the Kansas Coalition for Lifesaving Cures because we believe patients should have access to future therapies and cures that improve and save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Kansas – and provide a model that may be needed in any other states where politicians try to impose state-level bans on stem cell treatments that are permitted under federal law."
Michael Manganiello, Senior Vice President of Government Relations
Christopher Reeve Foundation

"At the University of Kansas Medical Center, we are very supportive of the efforts to use both mature and early stem cells in research to find new treatments and cures for disease. Both mature and early stem cells offer extraordinary potential for cures. It may be that one type of stem cell is the cure for one disease, while another is the treatment required for a different disease, much as one drug isn't the therapy for all diseases. We also recognize that mature and early stem cells are not replacements for one another. Consequently, we believe that pursuing both avenues provides the best hope for achieving dramatic progress in discovering new cures."
Barbara Atkinson, M.D.
Executive Vice Chancellor, University of Kansas Medical Center
Executive Dean, School of Medicine
www.kumc.edu/stemcell/atkinsonview.html

"We believe early stem cell research is important for the future of Kansas patients. Stem cell research holds the potential for treating some of our most devastating diseases including juvenile (type 1) diabetes. A few politicians should not stand in the way of lifesaving stem cell research and cures for Kansans that are developed in the future and are available in other states."
Peter Van Etten, President and CEO
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

"Our organization represents more than 90 national patient advocacy, disease and research organizations. We support the Kansas Coalition for Lifesaving Cures because we believe stem cell research and cures should remain available for Kansas patients. Most scientists believe and studies show that embryonic stem cells will likely be more effective in curing diseases because they can grow and differentiate into any of the body's cells and tissues and thus organs. It is important that we work together to ensure Kansas patients have access to any stem cell treatments and cures allowed by federal law and available to other Americans."
Sean Tipton, Vice President of Communications
Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research

"Kansas has a long, proud tradition of fostering cutting-edge bioscientific research. We should ensure that this tradition continues as advances are made in the tremendously promising field of stem-cell research."
Sarah Johnston, M.D.
Wichita Eagle
Opinion Editorial, July 21, 2005

"We are in agreement with the Kansas Coalition for Lifesaving Cures that any stem cell research, therapies or cures that are permitted by federal law should be allowed in Kansas. Stem cell research could provide cures for many of the most devastating diseases including cancers like leukemia and lymphoma. We are happy to join with the overwhelming majority of medical experts, medical organizations and patient advocacy groups who believe that all types of stem cell research should be pursued in the effort to find lifesaving cures."
George Dahlman, Vice President of Public Policy
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

"The Alliance for Aging Research is proud to be a member of the Kansas Coalition for Lifesaving Cures because we believe Kansas medical researchers and institutions must be allowed to pursue early stem cell research. This important research could lead to the development of treatments or cures for numerous age-related diseases and disabilities including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, spinal cord injuries, heart disease, ALS, and many other devastating conditions. All Americans, including the aging, want the best therapies for life-threatening, disabling and chronic conditions. We must ensure aging Kansans have access to quality medical treatments in the years to come."
Dan Perry, Executive Director
Alliance for Aging Research

"Early stem cell research may one day lead to cures for neurological disorders afflicting our children. Stem cells have the amazing capability to regenerate new cells that can be used to replace diseased ones and perhaps treat the underlying causes of pediatric neurological disorders. For this reason, we are happy to be working with the Kansas Coalition for Lifesaving Cures. We must make sure we keep hope alive for our children who are depending on us to protect their right to have access to medical treatments in the future."
Fia Richmond, President and Founder
Children's Neurobiological Solutions Foundation

"The United Spinal Association is proud to be a member of the Kansas Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, because we support stem cell research that may one day provide a cure for paralysis and prevent secondary complications of spinal cord injury. Upwards of 700,000 people in the United States have some type of spinal cord disability. Stem cell research has the potential to improve the quality of life for millions of Americans."
Gerard Kelly, Executive Director
United Spinal Association

"More than 50,000 Kansans suffer from Parkinson's disease. For them, even swallowing, walking and speaking will eventually become impossible. Stem cell research offers hope to these people and their loved ones. This enormously promising research may soon allow Parkinson's disease to join polio as a disease vanquished. The Parkinson Foundation of the Heartland fully supports the Kansas Coalition for Lifesaving Cures in its efforts to protect access to stem cell research and cures for all Kansans."
Meg Duggan, Executive Director
Parkinson Foundation of the Heartland

"The Kansas Coalition for Lifesaving Cures is dedicated to supporting lifesaving stem cell research that could save millions of patients from some of the worst diseases and injuries including Parkinson's Disease. We believe in the promise of stem cell research, and agree that any cures that result from this important research should be available for Kansas patients."
Amy L. Comstock, Executive Director
Parkinson's Action Network

"Countless children suffering from HIV/AIDS and other debilitating diseases stand to gain an entire lifetime from treatments that could be developed through early stem cell research. We support the Kansas Coalition for Lifesaving Cures because we believe in the importance of keeping stem cell research available for children and their families so they can have hope for a better life."
Mark Issac, Vice President
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

• As researchers, doctors, and nurses, our daily focus is to relieve human suffering, to both cure and prevent diseases and save lives.
• The pursuit of therapeutic stem cell research provides some of the best opportunities for achieving dramatic progress in discovering new cures for devastating diseases such as Type 1 diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
• All types of stem cell research should proceed with appropriate ethical and regulatory standards.
• We support a ban on human reproductive cloning, as do all reputable researchers."

"Given the enormous promise of stem cells therapies for so many devastating diseases, NIH [National Institutes of Health] believes that it is important to simultaneously pursue all lines of research and search for the very best sources of these cells."
National Institutes of Health
"NIH Backgrounder on Stem Cells"

"[B]ecause of their flexibility, embryonic stem cells hold more promise to ameliorate presently incurable diseases than any other approach."
Dr. Steven Teitelbaum, Professor of Pathology and Immunology
Washington University in St. Louis
Wichita Eagle, October 19, 2005

"While stem cells have been isolated from both embryonic and adult tissues, they differ in several properties including the ability to differentiate into specialized cell lineages...Most scientists agree that research must be conducted in parallel on both adult and ES cells since each has advantages and disadvantages (e.g., plasticity, longevity, expansion, immune compatibility). For any particular disease, both embryonic and adult stem cells may have to be evaluated to determine which is most efficacious."
American Medical Association
www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/13630.html

"Those who would pit research with adult stem cells against research with early stem cells [also embryonic stem cells] are trying to mislead laypeople. The overwhelming majority of scientists and physicians in the U.S. support research with both adult and early stem cells. The organizations to which they belong support research with early stem cells, including those produced by SCNT [Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer]. These include the American Medical Association, the National Medical Association, the Association of American Medical Schools, and the National Academy of Sciences."
William Neaves, Ph.D., President & Chief Executive Officer
Stowers Institute for Medical Research
"Why the Stowers Institute Supports Stem Cell Research"
Greene County Medical Journal, June 2005
www.kansascures.com/documents/GreeneCoMedicalJournal0605.pdf

"Science has presented us with a hope called stem cell research, which may provide our scientists with answers that have so long been beyond our grasp. I just don't see how we can turn our backs on this - there are just so many diseases that can be cured, or at least helped. We have lost so much time already, and I just really can't bear to lose any more."
Nancy Reagan, Former First Lady
Remarks at Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation benefit supporting
embryonic stem cell research, May 8, 2004

"Recent studies in adult stem cell research have shown promise, but because these cells are not as pliable as embryonic stem cells, they may not be as useful for therapeutic interventions. Research into the transplantability and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells appears to have the greatest potential to lead to important therapies for a large number of intractable diseases...ASH believes that stem cell research offers a significant degree of promise and hope to the approximately 100 million Americans suffering from deadly and debilitating diseases, including cancer, stroke, heart attack, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, diabetes, and traumatic brain and spinal cord injury."
American Society of Hematology (ASH)
Statement in Support of All Avenues of Stem Cell Research
www.hematology.org/policy/statements/avenues_of_stem_cell.cfm

"If the potential of stem cell research is realized, it would mean an end to the suffering of millions of people – a rescue, a cure...Stem cells could lead to breakthroughs in developing treatments and cures for almost any terminal or catastrophic disease you can think of. This is one of the reasons that support for this work has galvanized a coalition of advocates from just about every patient community in the nation. If stem cell research succeeds, there isn't a person in the country who won't benefit, or know somebody who will."
Michael J. Fox
Founder, Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
Excerpt from his book, Lucky Man (2002)

"Recent scientific research demonstrates the great potential for stem cell research to lead to improved understanding and treatment of many diseases including cancer, diabetes, Parkinson's Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and many others. There is strong evidence that research on both adult stem cells and human pluripotent stem cells, sometimes called human embryonic stem cells, will be required to achieve these advances. There is no credible scientific basis to support the conclusion that research on human adult stem cells can take the place of research on human pluripotent stem cells or vice versa."
International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR)
Policy Statement, November 6, 2003

"The Society supports research, done in the highest ethical fashion and within the bounds of federal, state, and local regulations, using all human cell types that might further the development of treatments and a cure for MS. Thus the Society – along with the American Medical Association, other voluntary health organizations, and many scientific societies – opposes regulations that would limit the full exploration of this important area."
National MS Society
www.nationalmssociety.org/IMSOct03-StemCell.asp

"It is our responsibility to do everything possible to protect the quality of life of the present and future generations. A critical factor will be what we do with human embryonic stem cells. These cells have the potential to cure diseases and conditions ranging from Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis to diabetes and heart disease, Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's disease, even spinal-cord injuries like my own."
Christopher Reeve
Late Actor and Patient Advocate
Time Magazine, May 1, 2000

"Neuroscientists agree that there is great potential, although no guarantees, for breakthroughs in therapies for diseases such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, and stroke, through embryonic stem cell research. While adult stem cell research is believed to hold less promise, the AAN and ANA believe both embryonic and adult stem cell research should be pursued rigorously and under close scrutiny."
American Academy of Neurology and American Neurological Association, October 27, 2004

"The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) recognizes that stem cell research encompasses stem cells of many types, and stresses that each facet of stem cell research is in fact complementary – not duplicative. Research on adult stem cells (tissue-specific stem cells found within adults) may uncover the body's innate maintenance and repair mechanisms. This area of research includes important classes of blood-forming stem cells, such as the hematopoietic stem cells resident within bone marrow or the umbilical cord blood stem cells harvested at childbirth, as well as emerging studies of cancer stem cells. Embryonic stem cells (unspecialized stem cells found within very early stage embryos called blastocysts) have the ability to transform into the cells of every major organ system. If this characteristic, called pluripotency, can be controlled, then medical researchers could determine the signals directing the development of human tissues, including cancers."
The American Association for Cancer Research
Position Statement, April 15, 2005

"Embryonic stem cells have specific properties that make them uniquely powerful and deserving of special attention in the realm of medical science. These special properties explain why scientists and physicians feel so strongly about support of embryonic as well as adult stem cell research. Unlike other stem cells, embryonic stem cells are Œpluripotent.' That means they have the capacity to become any type of tissue in the human body. Moreover, they are capable of renewing themselves and replicating themselves over and over again – indefinitely. Adult stem cells meet certain medical needs. But embryonic stem cells ­ because of these unique characteristics – meet other medical needs that simply cannot be met today by adult stem cells. They especially offer hope for treating a range of diseases that require tissue to regenerate or restore function."
U.S. Senator Bill Frist (R-TN)
Senate Majority Leader and Medical Doctor
Remarks in Congress on stem cell research, July 29, 2005

"As a right-to-life Senator, I believe that a critical part of a pro-life, pro-family philosophy is helping the living. The purpose of [stem cell] research is to save life, not terminate it."
U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
In his book Square Peg, Confessions of a Citizen Senator

"Stem cell research holds much promise in the search for better treatment and for a cure for the more than 18 million Americans with diabetes."
Lynn B. Nicholas, Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives & Chief Executive Officer, American Diabetes Association
Press Release, May 23, 2005

"As you may know, Ronnie will observe his ninety-second birthday soon. In earlier times, we would have been able to celebrate that day with great joy and wonderful memories of our life together. Now, while I can draw strength from these memories, I do it alone, as Ronnie struggles in a world unknown to me or the scientists who devote their lives to Alzheimer's research. Because of this, I am determined to do what I can to save other families from this pain. I'm writing, therefore, to offer my support for stem cell research and to tell you I'm in favor of new legislation to allow the ethical use of therapeutic cloning. Like you, I support a complete ban on reproductive cloning. However, I believe that embryonic stem cell research, under appropriate guidelines, may provide our scientists with many answers that are now beyond our grasp."
Nancy Reagan, Former First Lady
Letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch, February 5, 2003

"There is a broad consensus in the scientific community that stem cells obtained from excess embryos and the cell transfer procedure [i.e., Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer] hold great promise for medical cures. Lawmakers can move the promise closer to reality by assisting both forms of research."
The Kansas City Star
Editorial, May 26, 2005