Dr. Atkinson’s Views on Stem Cell Research

Executive Vice Chancellor, KUMC
Executive Dean, School of Medicine

"The issues surrounding stem cell research and therapeutic cloning have become highly politicized in recent weeks and months. As a physician, an educator, a researcher, and a leader in the health care community, I believe it is my responsibility and the responsibility of all scientists and educators to be a resource, both to the public and to lawmakers to whom the people of Kansas have entrusted responsibility to decide crucial issues such as this."

- Dr. Barbara Atkinson, MD, Testimony to the Kansas House Federal and State Affairs Committee on March 16, 2005

Q&A with Dr. Atkinson

Q: How does the University of Kansas Medical Center view stem cell research?

A: At the University of Kansas Medical Center, we are very supportive of the efforts to use both mature and early stem cells in research to find new treatments and cures for disease. Both mature and early stem cells offer extraordinary potential for cures. It may be that one type of stem cell is the cure for one disease, while another is the treatment required for a different disease, much as one drug isn't the therapy for all diseases. We also recognize that mature and early stem cells are not replacements for one another. Consequently, we believe that pursuing both avenues provides the best hope for achieving dramatic progress in discovering new cures.

Q: Does the University conduct any stem cell research?

A. Currently, the University conducts research on both mature and early stem cells.

Q. Are any researchers studying early stem cells?

A. Three researchers are studying 15 of the National Institutes of Health's approved early stem cell lines. These research efforts are all funded by NIH. They are examining early stem cells to better understand how the placenta regulates the flow of drugs between mothers and their babies, diseases associated with pregnancy, and diseases such as sickle cell anemia.

Q. Are any researchers studying mature stem cells?

A. Yes, mature stem cells are an important part of the research at KUMC. One researcher in particular is studying stem cells from the umbilical cord after it is discarded to better understand the relationship between stem cells and cancer cells. This researcher also is engaged in NIH-funded research to study the use of stem cells as a treatment for stroke and other oxygen-deprivation injuries to different organs. The University has a strong program focused on bone marrow and hematopoietic stem cell transplants.

Q: In the 2005 Kansas legislative session, Representative Mary Pilcher-Cook sponsored HB 2355 that would ban human reproductive and therapeutic cloning. How do you view this legislation?

A. I am opposed to this bill. My opposition to this bill has nothing to do with the bill's professed objective, the banning of human reproductive cloning. I strongly agree that reproductive cloning of a human being should be banned. My concern with the bill, however, is grounded in my belief that the specific language of this bill as currently written will have significant unintended consequences, notably the restriction of medical research in the State of Kansas that holds the potential to alleviate much human suffering. The critical problem that I and many others see with HB 2355 is that, while it aims to outlaw human reproductive cloning, the specific language of the bill does so at the expense of criminalizing the exploration of an entire category of research that holds the potential to profoundly ease human suffering - research that will allow us to study the molecular basis of diseases as they develop from conception to death.