Endocrine Insider
March 21, 2007

Zerhouni Makes Case for Expanding Stem Cell Research, Clinical Trials
During his testimony before the Labor-Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee on Monday, NIH Director Elias Zerhouni spoke of the need to provide access to additional stem cell lines in order to advance progress towards finding medical cures. In response to a question posed by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) regarding whether there is a better chance of finding new cures or interventions for diseases if the current restrictions on stem cell research are lifted, Zerhouni stated, “I think the answer is yes.”

Under current US policy, federal funding may only be used for research on 60 embryonic stem cell lines that were in existence before the President banned the use of federal funding for research on new stem cell lines. Approximately 20 of these 60 stem cell lines are still considered viable. Zerhouni went on to say that “these cell lines will not be sufficient for the research we need to do. The most important point is these cell lines have exhibited instability from the genetic standpoint, and it’s not possible for me to see how we can continue with the momentum of science in stem cell research with the cell lines that we have currently at NIH that can be funded…So from my standpoint it is clear today that American science…will be better served, and the nation will be better served if we let our scientists have access to more cell lines.”

Zerhouni also discussed how minimal increases in NIH funding on scientific research has forced the agency to move slower than it should. “We’ve given up our ability to do clinical trials” to change medicine, he said. In response to Harkin’s suggested increase of $1.9 billion in NIH funding, Zerhouni stated that it would help to maintain a pool of new and established scientists that would allow NIH to carry out medical research and clinical trials.