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Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation is
a biomedical institute which exists to conduct stem cell and related
research for diseases and conditions which currently have
no effective methods of treatment
or cure. Click
on a book to learn about our programs. |
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About Us Mission Statement: Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation is a biomedical institute which exists to conduct stem cell and related research for diseases and conditions which currently have no effective methods of treatment or cure. Download our Fact Sheet to get a quick overview of the Foundation. Find out about our Neurosphere Challenge Grant 2006. Public Charities Can Rapidly Advance Biomedical Research The success of the Foundation's Special Program of Assisted Reproduction demonstrates the speed and efficiency with which public charities can bring about biomedical advances. The tax exempt status granted to qualified public charities highlights the government's belief that taxpayers have the right to directly support activities they feel are important. The Bedford Research Foundation has lower operating costs than large teaching and medical institutions. For this reason, more research results from each donation received. The Foundation conducts research within its own laboratories (Stem Cell, Prostate, Infectious disease) as well as in collaboration with other laboratories (Stem Cell, Infectious Disease) and raises money to award research grants to qualified investigators seeking to improve the safety and success of assisted reproduction to mothers and babies (Small Grants Program). Much of the research supported by The Foundation cannot be funded by federal grants-in-aid because of the U.S. moratorium on funding research on human eggs activated either artificially or by sperm. (www.nih.gov) BSCRF Past News Briefs
August 11, 2007 - Fertility and Sterility: 17706204 (PubMed Website with Abstract) October 25, 2006: Minding the Stem Cell Gap August 11, 2006: Money Talks in Connecticut Too. BY DAVID JENSEN, California Stem Cell Report Blog June 9, 2006 - Williams Appoints Harvard Professor and Stem Cell Research Pioneer Ann Kiessling to State Stem Cell Panel
June
20, 2005: Newsweek - Ethics, Eggs and Embryos March
31, 2005: Dr. Kiessling on WBUR "Stem Cell Debate
Sparks Concerns over Women's Health"
Letter
from the Director July 28, 2004 Ron Reagan defends stem cell research,
Son of former president makes case at Democratic convention June 2002: Overseeing Research on Therapeutic Cloning: A Private Ethics Board Responds to Its Critics A Brief History The Foundation was formed in 1996 through the efforts of men and women whose lives were altered by blood products tainted with the AIDS virus (Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV) and Hepatitis C virus. Faced with unprecedented disease obstacles, the men and women insisted that biomedical technology be developed to fight their infections, and allow them to conceive children of their own. Because they were relentless and insisted that the National Institutes of Health fund research on their diseases, nearly two dozen anti-viral drugs were developed in less than a decade. For the first time in history, two virus epidemics (AIDS and Hepatitis C) are being fought with drugs instead of vaccines. In sharp contrast, research to ensure the safety of conception by assisted reproductive technologies in general was not funded by the National Institutes of Health because of the U.S. Congress decisions in 1996 and 1998 that research on fertilized human eggs "...is meritorious and should be done for society..., but will not be funded by taxpayer dollars." For this reason, the men and women themselves raised the money to fund the Special Program of Assisted Reproduction. Within two years, technology was developed to protect against virus transmission at conception. As a result, Baby Ryan was born in 1999 to a healthy Mom and a Dad with hemophilia who was infected with Hepatitis C and HIV by tainted blood factors. (see the story by Stephen Smith, Minnesota Public Radio at www.americanradioworks.org/features/fertility_race/part5/) With the help of eight collaborating clinics, twenty nine more babies were
safely born to couples with infectious disease infertility by January, 2004,
with
eight on-going pregnancies. All babies and mothers are infection-free. Stem Cell Research with Human Eggs Stem cell therapy could transform medical treatments for "incurable" diseases such as spinal cord injury, heart failure, Parkinson's disease, kidney failure, retinal degeneration, and diabetes. (FAQ's about stem cells). The confusion surrounding "human embryonic stem cells" and "human therapeutic cloning" research has led to strong negative public debate. This has strengthened the will of Congress and President Bush to not allow the National Institutes of Health to fund research on either fertilized human eggs or unfertilized human eggs used to develop stem cells. In 2002 the Foundation implemented a unique program for recruiting women willing to donate their eggs for stem cell research. The goal is to take advantage of scientific advances that lead to activation of eggs that have not been exposed to sperm. With more research it will be possible to derive therapeutic stem cells from unfertilized eggs, thus avoiding both ethical and moral controversies, as well as the tissue compatibility problems associated with deriving stem cells from fertilized human eggs. The guidelines for the donor program were originally developed by the Ethics Advisory Board for Advanced Cell Technology (www.advancedcell.com) chaired by Dr. Ronald Green, Dartmouth College. Dr. Ann Kiessling, Bedford Research Foundation director, was a founding member of Advanced Cell Technology's Ethics Advisory Board. Some of the work of that board was reported in the Hastings Center Report in June, 2002 (www.thehastingscenter.org). The goal of the Foundation's egg donor program is to safely promote research using unfertilized human eggs to derive stem cells (guidelines). Because the Foundation has no financial stake in the outcome of the research, the health and safety of the egg donors is the primary consideration. Eggs obtained through the Foundation's Egg Donor Program for Dr. Jose Cibelli's research team at Advanced Cell Technology allowed the development of laboratory procedures for activating human eggs two ways: artificially, termed parthenogenesis, and following transplantation of nuclei from other cells, termed nuclear transplantation, or ovasomagenesis. An early report of the work appeared in the Journal of Regenerative Medicine in the fall of 2001. Although no human stem cell lines were obtained as a result of the research reported in 2001, major progress was made, and the principle was proven that human eggs could respond to laboratory manipulations in ways developed for animal eggs, including monkeys. To continue to move the work forward, Bedford Research Foundation launched a fund-raising campaign for human embryonic stem cell research. Major contributors were Irvin and Diane Naylor of Pennsylvania, in addition to dozens of others. The contributions funded more experiments designed to solve the problems associated with the nuclear transplant technology. Because of the screening and medical procedures put in place to protect women donating eggs for research, each egg donor cycle carries a price tag of $25,500. Dr. Jose Cibelli accepted a Professorship at Michigan State University in January, 2003. Michigan state laws prevent university scientists from experimenting with human eggs, so Dr. Cibelli is using monkey and other animal models to improve the success of nuclear transplantation. He was confirmed as a Bedford Research Foundation Trustee in April, 2003. In November, 2003, the Bedford Research Foundation Board of Trustees voted to not renew the research agreement with Advanced Cell Technology. The BRF egg donor program for stem cell research was suspended pending new funding/research partners. BRF has an active pool of dedicated women willing to undergo egg donation for stem cell research when funding is available. In July, 2004, Irvin and Diane Naylor of Pennsylvania renewed their pledge to fund the egg donor program; research will begin again in September, 2004. In January, 2004, Dr. Lisa Fitzgerald joined the BRF laboratory research team. Dr. Fitzgerald received her PhD in Biology from Boston University in 1999. Her graduate work was in bone marrow stem cells. She has also conducted research in HIV disease and in gene expression, most recently with Perkin Elmer Corporation. Dr. Fitzgerald brings a wide breadth of research experience to the BRF laboratory. While awaiting the human egg donor research program to renew, Dr. Fitzgerald and Dr. Kostas Stefanidis are conducting experiments to improve the efficiency of deriving mouse embryonic stem cells, and isolating mouse eggs from stem cells, according to the methods published by Professor Hans Scholer in May, 2003 (PDF). Because BRF is privately funded, BRF scientists can take advantage of the more recently described lines of human embryonic stem cells. The goal is to develop the laboratory methods to generate cells with characteristics of human eggs from human embryonic stem cells. The human egg-like cells may be a valuable, safe source of cells for the production of stem cells from parthenotes and nuclear transplant technology (FAQs). For additional details, see Stem Cell Research. Prostate Research The research to improve the safety of reproduction by
HIV-infected men led to novel approaches for diagnosing other male reproductive
tract disorders,
such as diseases of the prostate. Several research programs are underway, including
new ways to detect other infections, such as bacteria, in semen specimens.
These new approaches could lead to rapid advances in understanding and diagnosing
diseases
of the prostate, including prostatitis and prostate cancer. Prostate
Research. The current administration has banned federal research support of new lines of pluripotent stem cells. Thus, although several states have voted in favor of pluripotent ("embryonic"), the moratorium on federal funding means that not only will stem cell research involving human eggs be entirely dependent on private funding, so will research to improve the safety and efficiency of assisted reproduction for the tens of thousands of women undergoing fertility treatments each year, and the babies that result. This need applies to all couples, including those with sexually transmissible diseases, seeking medical assistance in achieving pregnancy. Of particular interest to the Foundation is to raise funds to help offset the costs of family building by the men with hemophilia that were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C by tainted clotting factors. With respect to prostate research, budgetary crises
have stalled the increases in biomedical research funds allocated by
congress
to
the National
Institutes
of Health.
Thus, the
new developments
in diagnosing and understanding diseases of the male reproductive tract will
not receive federal funding for a few years. The rapid success of the SPAR
program indicates similar rapid advances may be possible through private
funding of Bedford
Research Foundation scientists. The Foundation is seeking trustees, benefactors, and fundraisers for these urgent goals.
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