FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE            Connecticut Department of Public Health

March 30, 2009                                        Contact: William Gerrish

                             (860) 509-7270

Connecticut Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee

to consider allocation of $10 million in funding beginning Tuesday, March 31

WHAT:               The Connecticut Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee will meet to make funding decisions on 77 applications for up to $10 million in grants-in-aid from the state’s Stem Cell Research Fund.

WHEN:               Tuesday, March 31, 2009 from 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM

                           Wednesday, April 1, 2009 from 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM

WHERE:             Marriott Farmington, 15 Farm Springs Road, Farmington, Connecticut

WHY:                 After a thorough evaluation for ethical and scientific standards by the Connecticut Stem Cell Peer Review Committee, the 15-member Stem Cell Research Advisory Committee will review grant applications and direct the awarding of grants-in-aid for stem cell research.

WHO:                 J. Robert Galvin, M. D., M. P. H., M. B. A., Commissioner, Connecticut Department of Public Health (Chairman)

Treena Livingston Arinzeh, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ

   Ernesto Canalis, M. D., Director, Department of Research, St. Francis Hospital & Medical Center, Hartford, CT

Myron Genel, M. D., Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, Yale Child Health Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT

David J. Goldhamer, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Molecular & Cell Biology, Center for Regenerative Medicine, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT           

Anne L. Hiskes,  Ph.D., Director of Research Ethics & Education for Stem Cell Research University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

Ann A. Kiessling, Ph.D., Dir., Bedford Stem Cell Research Foundation, Bedford, MA

Julius Landwirth, M. D., J. D., Associate Director, Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics and Donaghue Initiative in Biomedical and Behavioral Ethics, Yale University, New Haven, CT

Stephen R. Latham, Ph. D., J. D., Deputy Director, Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, Yale University, New Haven, CT

Robert Mandelkern, State Coordinator, Parkinson’s Action Network, W. Hartford, CT

Saraswathi Nair, M. D., Chief of Neurology, Norwalk Hospital, Norwalk, CT

Paul Pescatello, J. D., Ph.D., President & CEO, Connecticut United for Research Excellence (CURE), New Haven, CT

Jeffrey Seemann, Ph.D., Dean, College of the Environment and Life Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island

Milton B. Wallack, D. D. S., New Haven Dental Group, LLC, Hamden, CT

This meeting is open to the public.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health is the state’s leader in public health policy and advocacy with a mission to protect and promote the health and safety of the people of our state.  To contact the department, please visit its website at www.ct.gov/dph or call (860) 509-7270.

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