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CODEY MAKES CASE FOR MAJOR STEM CELL RESEARCH INVESTMENT
NEWS RELEASE
Acting Governor Richard J. Codey
Date: April 15, 2005
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Kelley Heck - 609-777-2600
Acting Governor Outlines Vision for Awarding, Funding Research Grants
(PRINCETON) - Acting Governor Richard J. Codey today outlined his vision for awarding and funding stem cell research grants and named national bioethics expert Harold T. Shapiro, Ph.D, as chairman of the newly established Ethics Advisory Panel. The panel will ensure that state-funded research will comply with state guidelines.
From July 1996 to October 2001, Shapiro served as chairman of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission under President Clinton. He is currently President Emeritus and Professor of Economics and Public Affairs at Princeton University.
Codey delivered his remarks during a national symposium on the policy and economic implications of state-sponsored stem cell research held at Princeton University.
The "States and Stem Cells" symposium was sponsored by Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs and its Policy Research Institute for the Region, along with the New York Academy of Sciences.
The text of Codey's speech is below.
"Thank you Professor Reinhardt for that kind introduction.
And thank you to Princeton University's ...
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs ... and its Policy Research Institute for the Region...along with the New York Academy of Sciences ...
for bringing us together to discuss the policy and economic implications of ... state-sponsored stem cell research.
It is appropriate that this national symposium is being held in New Jersey.
Our state has long been on the forefront of scientific advances.
Thomas Edison set up the world's first R & D center in my hometown of West Orange.
The first artificial knee - nicknamed the "New Jersey knee" - was developed here.
And the development of laser technology started in this great state.
I have been involved in many health care issues.
But a lot of people have been asking recently ...
Why should the state support stem cell research?
It is full of hope ... but it is controversial ... and there are no guarantees.
I believe that, as a society ... and a government ... we have an obligation to help those among us who are suffering.
If we have an opportunity to save lives ... we must pursue it.
And stem cell research is that opportunity.
It is our best hope for the grandmother who is slowly slipping away to Alzheimer's ...
or the retiree whose golden years are tortured by Parkinson's ...
or the high school athlete who is paralyzed by a spinal cord injury.
Opponents say stem cell research takes lives.
They want you to believe that any embryo used for stem cell research ... would have developed into a person.
That is just plain wrong.
Let us be clear about this ...
these are embryos that if not for stem cell research ... would be discarded.
Using them to potentially save lives is the morally correct thing to do.
This is not a liberal versus conservative issue.
Or even a Democrat versus Republican issue.
This is about saving lives, plain and simple.
Similar controversy surrounded organ donation.
Today, more than 50 years after the first kidney transplant ... organ donation has saved millions of lives across the globe ...
and stem cell research has even greater potential than that.
Now, I don't say this just because I am Governor of New Jersey ... but our state is the best place to realize this potential.
We are the medicine cabinet to the nation.
We have a biotech cluster that is among the top five in America.
Fifteen of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies call New Jersey home.
We have more scientists, engineers and technicians per capita than virtually any state in the country.
And we are blessed with leading researchers such as ...
Dr. Ira Black ...
Dr. Wise Young ...
And Princeton's own Ihor Lemischka and Kateri Moore.
New Jersey is the natural place for stem cell research.
And we must be willing to put state dollars behind its potential.
A state investment will ...
produce better health care ...
enhance our research and development industry ...
solidify New Jersey's place at the forefront of medical technology.
In my State of the State speech, I proposed a $380 million investment in stem cell research.
This includes $150 million for the construction of the New Jersey Stem Cell Research Institute.
Construction of this world-class facility in New Brunswick is expected to begin in August.
We want to attract the best researchers to New Jersey.
We want to build a collaborative environment.
And we want to extend beyond basic research into clinical research ...
so ultimately our patients receive the most cutting edge treatments and best possible care.
I also proposed a $230 million ballot initiative for stem cell research grants.
Crafting this proposal is not easy.
There are a lot of issues we need to consider.
I talked with scientists and researchers ... business leaders and patient advocates.
I looked at what is being done in California ... to see what we can learn and what we should avoid.
And we will be building on the work presented at today's conference ... which could not have come at a better time.
We are going to make sure the pool of eligible applicants is broad ...
from non-profits and universities ...
to hospitals and the private sector.
To ensure research is done ethically, we will establish an ethics panel ...
to be lead by Princeton's own Harold Shapiro, president emeritus of this great institution
and former chairman of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission under President Clinton.
And to make sure science - not politics - governs the award of grants ...
an independent panel of scientific experts will score applications.
Our goal is to fund to the most promising research based on the best science.
And to ensure citizens of New Jersey who support stem cell research benefit ...
the state will share in 5 percent of the patent royalties.
Investing state dollars into stem cell research is not an easy decision.
There has been a lot of legitimate discussion about whether now is even the time to do this.
But the benefits far outweigh any concerns that have been raised.
And frankly, New Jersey cannot afford to wait.
Science and the potential benefits of this research, economically and on a human level ...
cannot be put on hold until New Jersey's financial stars align.
New Jersey is ahead of the curve right now.
But other states are already catching up.
There is already a recruiting war for the top scientists.
The more we wait, the more we risk losing the best researchers to other states.
We have a unique chance to be on the cutting edge of life saving research.
We cannot let it pass us by. "
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Photos and audio and video clips from Acting Governor Codey's public events are available
in the Acting Governor's Newsroom section on the State of New Jersey web page,
http://www.nj.gov/gov_newsroom.html
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