Hundreds of stem cell researchers and policy makers from around the world will gather in Baltimore next fall for the World Stem Cell Summit, a major event officials say highlights the state as a leader in the life sciences.
“We believe in the power and potential of stem cell research in Maryland,” Gov. Martin O’Malley said Wednesday at the first Maryland Stem Cell Research Symposium, where he announced the Baltimore Convention Center as the site of next year’s summit.
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The state has invested heavily in stem cell research in recent years through grants and loans, and Johns Hopkins University and the University System of Maryland are major academic hubs for stem cell research, officials said.
“It was the obvious choice,” Bernard Siegel, executive director of the Wellington, Fla.-based Genetics Policy Institute, which organizes the summit, said of Baltimore. “In 2009, the capital of the stem cell universe will be Baltimore, Maryland.”
About 1,500 stem cell scientists, government officials and business leaders will convene in September to collaborate on ethical and policy issues in the life sciences, Siegel said. Policies such as those that dictate how stem cells are transferred across state and national borders will become more important as the field grows, he said.
Since its establishment in 2006, the Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund has granted $38 million for 82 research projects, said Karen Rothenberg, chair of the commission that administers the fund. For fiscal 2009, the commission has already received 187 letters of intent to apply — up from 127 letters in 2008 — for an additional $18 million, she said.
“It’s gratifying that the scientific community has been more responsive,” she said.
O’Malley has committed to investing at least $200 million in stem cell research over 10 years, and it was a priority in the Bio 2020 Initiative, a plan to enhance the state’s bioscience opportunities.
“Our dollars are actually hitting the labs, getting into the hands of so many of you,” O’Malley said to a crowd of about 250 at Wednesday’s symposium at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel.
Officials said stem cell research is also likely to see more federal support with President-elect Barack Obama’s administration. He wants to lift bans on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
Maryland researchers would be poised to compete for funding, said Renee Winsky, president of the Maryland Technology Development Corp. “We will be more ready than many other states.”
