Today, I am launching a new effort called Stem Cell Outreach Program for Education (SCOPE).
I think stem cell technology will transform medicine across the globe, but it will take a concerted effort to make certain that stem cell-based therapies do not become a type of medicine only available to the relatively wealthy or predominantly available only to English speakers in the U.S. and around the world.
Access is a key issue.
As part of my effort to help make stem cell-based medicine available around the world, we have developed a program called Stem Cell Outreach Program for Education or SCOPE.
I think the acronym SCOPE is appropriate because it indicates the importance of the stem cell field to have vision beyond national or other boundaries. It also harkens back to the fact that stem cell scientists spend a large amount of time on ‘the scope” or microscope, studying our stem cells.
The first objective of this project is educational.
I have written a 1-2 page summary containing key facts on stem cells and about why people around the globe should care about them and know about them in terms of managing their own health.
Through a team effort, we are translating this document into many languages. You will see near the top of this blog the question “What are stem cells?” written in multiple languages.
If you click on any particular tab, you can read 1-2 pages of important info about stem cells in that particular language.
We now have this educational information available in Chinese ( 什麼是幹細胞？ ), Spanish (¿Qué son las células madre?), Portuguese ( O que são células tronco? ), Farsi ( سلولهای بنیادی چه هستند؟ ), and Romanian ( Ce sunt celulele stem? ), Polish (Co to są komórki macierzyste?), and English (What are stem cells?).
Look for more languages in the coming week. This is still a work in progress! Also a special thanks to our translators (listed on each specific language page).
Please help us spread the word about the availability of this information now in a variety of languages through social media and your own websites. Also please link to the SCOPE page as a global educational resource.