La BioMed Supports Stem Cell Initiative

Main Category: Stem Cell Research
Article Date: 31 Jul 2004 - 0:00 PDT


In coalition with major health and business groups throughout California, LA BioMed has indicated its support for the California Stem Cell Bond Issue Initiative that recently qualified for November's ballot. The initiative will allocate money from a $3 billion bond to fund promising, California-based stem cell research.

The initiative will distribute an average of $295 million per year over a 10-year period to fund stem cell research at California's universities and other advanced medical research facilities. It will fund all aspects of stem cell therapy development from basic research through clinical trials to the actual delivery of therapies to patients.

Kenneth P. Trevett, President and CEO of LA BioMed, recently issued the following statement about the initiative:

The stem cell initiative is a necessary step in the pursuit of scientific research because federal funding for stem cell research has been limited. Unquestionably, stem cell therapy is potentially the most important medical advance since the discovery of antibiotics.

This critically important statewide initiative closes the federal funding gap and sets a new state model for advancing scientific research. From an economic standpoint, California will benefit from patents and royalties that result from the research. Construction of research facilities and new research jobs will generate millions of dollars in new tax revenues for California.

More importantly, if stem cell research results in a single cure that reduces healthcare costs by just one percent, it would pay for itself several times over during the following decade and save lives along the way.

Mr. Trevett is available to speak the merits of the stem cell initiative. To contact him, telephone or e-mail the Communications Office at 310-222-2820 or df@issuesmangement.com.

Contact: David Feuerherd
df@issuesmanagement.com
310-215-0234
Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed)

The Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) is one of the largest independent, not-for-profit biomedical research institutes in Los Angeles County. Affiliated with both the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, the Institute has an annual budget of over $67 million and currently supports more than 1,000 research studies in areas such as cardiology, emerging infections, cancer, women's health, reproductive health, vaccine research, respiratory physiology, neonatology, molecular biology, and genetics. LA BioMed also plays a pivotal role in the training of young physician - scientists and scientists-to-be and is active in promoting the health and well being of nearby communities through community service programs that meet a variety of social and medical needs.

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