Coalition Receives National Grassroots Advocacy Award for Efforts to Protect Patient Rights in Missouri

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures continues to receive national attention for its grassroots and coalition building efforts to promote ethical stem cell research and to protect Missouri families' access to cures for diseases like Parkinson's, diabetes and Alzheimer's.

Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures has been designated by the board of the Genetics Policy Institute to receive the 2007 National Grassroots Advocacy Award.

Bernard Siegel, executive director of Genetics Policy Institute, said, "Stem cell research represents the promise of innovative medicine to challenge and treat previously incurable diseases. The Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures and its members recognized the promise and undertook the task of presenting this to the Missouri voters. These efforts resulted in the passage of the 2006 Missouri Stem Cell Amendment, a landmark achievement, for which all Missourians should be proud. Missouri is now at the forefront of health care and cutting edge medical research."

"Making sure Missouri families have access to lifesaving cures and defending vital medical research is a cause that every family in Missouri has a stake in," said Donn Rubin, chairman of Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures. "We're grateful that this award recognizes the hard work of so many Missouri citizens, patients and their families and patient groups who have worked together to make our state home to the best medical treatments America has to offer. We are proud to accept this national grassroots advocacy award on behalf of our more than 60,000 members, and we vow to keep fighting for the cures that Missouri families need and deserve."

The Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures was formed in early 2005 to defeat repeated attempts in the Missouri legislature to ban some of the most promising forms of stem cell research. MCLC quickly grew into the largest grassroots coalition ever formed to support a ballot measure in Missouri as it advocated for the Stem Cell Amendment, which was approved by Missouri voters in November. Passage of the Stem Cell Amendment guaranteed Missourians' access to the newest, federally approved medical treatments and cures available to other Americans and set the ground for Missouri to become a leader in ethical stem cell research. It also unequivocally banned the cloning of human beings.

The Genetics Policy Institute (GPI) is the catalyst of the "Pro-Cures Movement," a global coalition of pro-research stakeholders and patient groups. The 2007 National Grassroots Advocacy Award will be presented in conjunction with "The Stem Cell Summit -- Revolutionary Science and The Hope for Cures," which will gather a global community patients, doctors, researchers, and advocates to learn what's new, share ideas, search for solutions and focus on advancing ethical stem cell research from "the bench to the bedside." The Stem Cell Summit, co-hosted by Harvard Stem Cell Institute, will take place Oct. 2-3 at Hynes Convention Center in Boston. The awards dinner is on Oct. 2. For more information about the summit or to register, please visit http://www.thestemcellsummit.com.

    Paid for by Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, Lindsay Holwick,
                                  Treasurer