British lawmakers learn about Connecticut stem cell program

HARTFORD, Conn. --Three parliament members from the United Kingdom visited Hartford on Tuesday to learn about Connecticut's state-funded stem cell research program, saying they hope to work collaboratively with the state.

"We feel that there needs to be a solid foundation for global research," said Stefan Winkler, vice consul of science and technology for the British Consulate General in Boston.

"Connecticut is one of the states that we think ... are on the forefront of this in establishing a very solid and ethical framework and actually are one of the states that put forward funding in this very important area of research," he added.

The British and Irish officials said they want to learn more about how Connecticut runs its program, what policies have been put into place and the types of issues, including ethical consequences, the state faces as it doles out funding.

Researchers in the U.K. have been working with stem cells for about 10 years and developed the first stem cell bank in the world.

Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed a bill last year setting aside $100 million for embryonic and adult stem cell research. Other U.S. states have made financial commitments as well. California set aside $3 billion.

The Connecticut legislature appropriated $20 million to support research between now and June 30, 2007. From 2008 until 2015, an additional $10 million will be available each year.

Stem cells are able to morph into all the cell types found in the body and scientists hope to learn how to coax them into growing replacements for damaged tissue.

"Stem cell research offers great promise to mankind. And we feel that in the U.K., we're at the leading edge of this," said parliament member Bob Spink. "We think there's a lot that we can do together. We think that we also share a lot of the problems. This technology offers great hope for mankind in solving some of the terrible diseases that we have to grapple with."

Besides Spink, parliament members Ann Keen and Dr. Alasdair McDonnell met with Connecticut officials and attended a meeting of the Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee.

Warren Wollschlager, chief of the Office of Research and Development at the state Department of Public Health, said officials in the United Kingdom and Connecticut are interested in exploring economic development partnerships together that involve stem cell research and sharing stem cell technologies and research techniques.

"We don't want to be redundant. We want to share resources, we want to share knowledge," Wollschlager said.

A panel in Connecticut is reviewing applications for the first round of funding and hopes to make recommendations by mid-October so the advisory committee can announce grant recipients by the end of the year.