Drew Faust Lobbies in D.C. for Stem Cell Research Funding

University President Drew G. Faust lobbied lawmakers on Capitol Hill yesterday to ensure funding for human embryonic stem cell research.

In response to a federal judge’s recent decision to prohibit the government from supporting this research, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education held a hearing yesterday to consider crafting legislation to provide such funding.

Faust met with members of both the House and the Senate yesterday, including Rep. Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Sen. Mark R. Warner, the Virginia Democrat. Both congressmen hold committee positions likely to influence the outcome of federal stem cell legislation.

“Stem cell funding has been an evergreen issue since the Bush restrictions were put in place 10 years ago,” said Kevin Casey, the University’s chief lobbyist. “There has been great uncertainty in the federal funding and that has brought us to bring it up.”

During her meetings with members of Congress yesterday, Faust described Harvard’s cutting edge research as an example of what collaboration between the government and universities can accomplish.

Federal backing of stem cell research has languished after its opponents won a court case in which they successfully argued that the 1995 Dickey-Wicker Amendment prohibited the government from participating in scientific research that involved the destruction of human embryos.

Upon taking office in 2009, President Barack Obama expanded the number of stem cell lines available to researches, and the National Institutes of Health have since upped their funding, a large portion of which goes to the University.

According to Casey, Harvard researchers are responsible for 48 of the 75 federally sanctioned stem cell lines.

Yesterday’s hearing indicates that Congress could take action on the issue, a measure many Democrats think could prove politically beneficial in an election year, according to a report in The New York Times.

“We’ve come too far to give up now,” said Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat. “If we don’t win this battle in the courts, we’ll take it up in Congress. This research must continue. The politicians and activist judges who oppose it need to respect the views of the overwhelming majority of the American people, who want this research to go forward.”

Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Democrat, introduced legislation earlier this week that would codify government support for human embryonic stem cell research in federal law, a measure that would reduce the uncertainty surrounding the research.

“Young scientists rightly void fields of science for which funding may come and go due to political whim rather than scientific and medical merit,” he said in a speech on the Senate floor. “A temporary end to the current restrictions is an incomplete and ultimately self-defeating solution.”

Harkin—who chairs the subcommittee—said in yesterday’s hearing that, given the potential for medical breakthroughs, it was unconscionable for the government not to continue its support.

“No one has ever claimed that embryonic stem cells are a silver bullet. But they have special properties that no other cells can match, and that’s why they offer so much hope to people who are suffering,” he said. “That’s why so many scientists are excited to have access to these stem cell lines and to see what they can learn from them.”

—Staff writer Elias J. Groll can be reached at egroll@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Sofia E. Groopman can be reached at segroopm@fas.harvard.edu.