This week I attended the first (hopefully of many) StemCONN meetings in Connecticut. Several states have now moved around the federal restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research funding by providing their own grants. California has without a doubt received the most press for their efforts, a situation that derives from being first and promising the most money (3 billion bucks in total). That said, California’s efforts are also famous because of the drawn out court battle over actually handing out some money. Other states, including Connecticut, have started to hand out smaller sums, to less fanfare perhaps, but actually signed, sealed, and delivered. People are doing stem cell research with Connecticut funding.

Some weeks ago, Connecticut handed out nearly 20 million dollars in its first round of funding and the StemCONN meeting was a showcase of that accomplishment. The first day was dedicated more to policy than science and focus groups worked on issues such as interstate collaborations, ESCRO committees, and commercialization. Day two was all about science and the small meeting in Hartford boasted an incredible roster of big guns including Rudy Jaenisch, Diane Krause, Haifan Lin, George Daley, David Rowe, Miodrag Stojkovic, Laura Grabel, Ian Wilmut, and others. I’d like to shift the focus here just a bit to take a close look at one aspect of state funded initiatives…

A difficult situation is created nationally when states move to fill the void left when the federal government fails to take a seat at the table. For me, one of the most important gatherings at StemCONN was dedicated to exploring how states might best work together to develop uniform policy around stem cell research. This would be a key ingredient to interstate collaborations being able to move the field forward. As it stands now, a difficult patchwork of regulations is developing from state to state. Surely, there must be a better way… and there is.

The best route would be for the federal government to recognize the importance of opening up funding for human embryonic stem cell research. If ANY scientist could apply for an NIH grant to study ANY human embryonic stem cell line that was derived under standard practices of informed consent, then an incredible leveling would occur nationwide and the science would leap forward as more labs entered the field. As it stands now, scientists are left to wonder what fallout may come from collaborating with colleagues in less permissive states, or those that outright forbid certain types of research. I recently co-authored a piece in Drug Discovery Today that speaks to some of these issues. I’d enjoy discussing the matter here.

What do you think should happen next? Is it good enough that individual states either promote or shut down certain areas of research? Or should the feds step up to the plate and politically legitimize the field by allowing us to compete for grants like everyone else, even if the cells of interest were derived after August of 2001?

I’ll tell you my choice in advance: open up federal funding and at the same time keep the cashier’s window flowing on state funding. If the feds brought all human stem cell research into NIH eligibility, states would still stand to reap enormous benefits from continued companion funding (public health, prestige, academics, IP…). Science is one of those areas where money equals work. The more you work, you more you learn and that’s what it’s about.