Over 30 researchers in Rhode Island - most unaffiliated with Brown - are currently working with embryonic and adult stem cells on various projects. That's not enough for Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts '78, who released a 67-page report about possibilities for local stem cell research on April 10.
The report, titled "Discovering Rhode Island's Stem Cell Future: Charting the Course Toward Health and Prosperity" was released to "put pressure on the issue" of stem cell research, Roberts told The Herald.
"We have a real strategic opportunity here in Rhode Island, and I didn't see that anybody" was taking advantage of it, Roberts said.
Biotechnology employs more than 4,700 workers in Rhode Island and pays over $270 million in wages, according to the report. The state ranks eighth in receiving funding from the National Institutes of Health per capita, the report notes.
Stem cell research is "an opportunity to change the future of health in some respect," Roberts said, especially for those with loved ones suffering from diseases for which stem cell research may help find a cure.
Roberts and her staff began working on the report in mid-January, soon after she entered office. The report lists stem cell research opportunities in other states, current research in Rhode Island and includes questions Rhode Islanders must address in deciding how the state government should support stem cell research, if at all. Some of the questions ask whether Rhode Island should establish a statewide stem cell institute and whether the state should offer tax credits and direct grants to stem cell researchers.
The report notes the importance of local universities for stem cell research. "Often stem cell institutes are linked closely to institutions of higher education within the respective states," it notes.
Roberts said she visited both Brown and the University of Rhode Island in order to get "a clearer sense of what the resources are." She also said she spoke with Clyde Briant, the University's vice president for research, and Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior adviser to the president, about biomedical opportunities in Rhode Island but not about stem cell research specifically.
Little stem cell research is conducted at the University. Currently, no embryonic stem cell research is being conducted at Brown or by Brown-affiliated researchers at other hospitals in Rhode Island, said Professor of Medical Science Edward Hawrot. Adult stem cell research is being conducted by Professor of Medicine Peter Quesenberry at Rhode Island Hospital.
Professor of Medical Science Michael Lysaght, who has worked with stem cells in the past, said stem cell research is "just not an area the University has picked up on," though he said Brown could do so in the future.
"Biotech could be a great economic growth area for the state, and stem cells are probably going to play a major role in the future of technology and a little bit of the idea of the report is to foster that attitude towards that," Lysaght said.
There is currently no state funding for stem cell research, Roberts said. Federal funding from the NIH is limited.
Additional funding from the state might make stem cells more attractive to researchers, said Hawrot, who worked with NIH-approved human embryonic stem cell lines for research for two years before stopping about a year and a half ago. He described working with stem cells as "labor-intensive" and "not very practical."
"These days, with funding being so tight, funding agencies are more likely to fund research that will give more results," Hawrot said. "Human embryonic stem cells are not in that category."
Hawrot said establishing a statewide stem cell institute in Rhode Island may not be practical either, for financial reasons. States (such as California) that have set up statewide stem cell institutes are able to do so because they have the money, Hawrot said. "I don't think we have the infrastructure in that area," he said. "Rhode Island is kind of late in the game with other states getting involved," he added, saying the state should do "whatever it can to change the federal rules."
Still, Clinical Assistant Professor of Community Health David Ames said he thinks Brown could play "an active part" in the future of Rhode Island stem cell research.
"If the General Assembly really begins to investigate and respond to the policy questions that are raised (in the report), I think there's a real possibility that Brown will become an active player," he said. "If Brown is going to be a major research institution, stem cells should certainly be part of that," he added.
But Ames said support for increased stem cell research in Rhode Island may be hard to manage because of the state's large Roman Catholic population.
