The ISSCR opposes a provision of the U.S. House of Representatives Labor-HHS-Education FY18 Appropriations bill that would ban federal funding for fetal tissue research. In a letter sent to members of the House Committee on Appropriations, and signed by other scientific and medical organizations, the ISSCR says that, if enacted, this legislation would severely impede research that is necessary for the development of new treatments for a wide range of serious and incurable diseases. It would have a devastating effect on the future of biomedical advances and regenerative medicine.

Dear Texas Representative,

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), the leading professional organization of stem cell science and regenerative medicine, opposes House Bill 661, House Bill 810, and House Bill 3236, which would allow investigational agents to be sold to patients without first providing rigorous evidence of safety and efficacy. This would put patients at serious risk of harm from unproven treatments. [This letter has been sent to all members of the Texas House of Representatives].

The FY2018 Discretionary Budget Plan put forward by the U.S. Administration includes dramatic cuts in funding for science and research programs that would threaten biomedical research and its translation into new therapies for millions of people worldwide. Recent advances in stem cell research, gene therapy, genomics, and cancer biology have created unprecedented opportunities to create new treatments for human disease. Yet the 20 percent funding reduction for the National Institutes of Health in the administration’s proposal would slow the development of new cures and cause long-term damage to the U.S. research infrastructure and to public health efforts around the world.

Dear members of the stem cell research community:

The ISSCR community stands united in support of science and the belief that international collaboration and the free flow of ideas is essential to our work. Restricting travel to the U.S. from seven countries named in a recent Executive Order negatively affects scientific exchange, and has generated concern among many.