Washington, D.C., August 6, 2002 - Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., president of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), issued the following statement on the upcoming one-year anniversary of President Bush's decision on the federal funding of stem cell research:

"During the past year, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services have moved expeditiously to implement the President's stem cell funding policy. Although it is too early to gauge the results of the limited embryonic stem cell research now funded by NIH, privately funded research has continued and the promise of embryonic stem cell research remains strong.

"The President based his decision, in part, on the expectation that more than 60 stem cell lines would be available to federally funded researchers. When the President announced his decision last year, we urged the Administration to work quickly to guarantee the integrity of and access to the stem cell lines the National Institutes of Health had identified. We are disappointed that only a fraction of that number (estimates range from 5 to 24 lines) have been fully characterized and that only a few stem cell line owners are currently sharing lines with medical school researchers.

"We continue to recognize the significant ethical issues that are raised about embryonic stem cell research and we respect the view of those who oppose such research, including some in our own medical school community. However, we are persuaded otherwise by what we believe is an overriding consideration, namely, that it would be tragic to lose the unique potential for alleviating human suffering afforded by studying stem cells.

"Our goal is to ensure that the medical advances uniquely within the grasp of stem cell research reach the millions of patients, both in our country and abroad, who are in desperate need of them. We remain concerned that the conditions President Bush has placed on funding embryonic stem cell research will unnecessarily impede those advances."

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The Association of American Medical Colleges represents the 125 accredited U.S. medical schools; the 16 accredited Canadian medical schools; some 400 major teaching hospitals, including Veterans Administration medical centers; more than 105,000 faculty in 98 academic and scientific societies; and the nation's 66,000 medical students and 97,000 residents.

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 129 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.

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