Your definitive Christmas list of stem cell elves

Merry Christmas! 

You heard me, Merry Christmas! I’m a Democrat and I love Christmas!

As we think about the holiday season, it seems appropriate to make our list, just as Santa is doing, of the elves and grinches of the stem cell world. For today on Christmas, let’s forget the grinches and not even give them attention…let’s focus on the ‘nice’ elves!

Bernie Siegel, Executive Director of the Genetics Policy Institute (GPI) and Chair of the fantastic World Stem Cell Summit.  As I said in my 2011 Stem cell awards post earlier, it is hard to imagine the stem cell universe with Bernie. We would be in bad shape without this elf!

Don C. Reed. Don is the energizer elf of the stem cell world. It was my pleasure to share the stage with Don at this year’s World Stem Cell Summit during one of the panel discussions. Don is a great writer of books and internet pieces including many on Huffington Post. He sponsored California’s Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act of 1999.

Roman Reed. My friend Roman was the winner of my stem cell activist of the year award this year. Roman is a tireless force for good and makes real, practical things happen in the stem cell and medical world with his efforts. Roman founded the Roman Reed Foundation.

Keri Kimler. Keri is a powerhouse stem cell advocate. She runs the stem cell website, stemcellcite.com .  Keri was formerly a leader in Texans for Stem Cell Research and works constantly to advance the pro-cures cause.

Mary Schneider. Mary works endlessly for advancing the cause of stem cell-based cures. Mary makes a huge difference and is an articulate advocate. You can watch a video of Mary here. She was a speaker at the World Stem Cell Summit this year and is part of the Children’s Neurobiological Solutions (CNS) Foundation.

Marion (Joe) Riggs. Joe is scientist and Ph.D. candidate, but Joe has taken the extra step of being an advocate too. In that role, he founded the Student Society for Stem Cell Research (SSSCR).

I’m sure this is not even close to an all inclusive list–tell me more in the comments section and I’ll add more elves to the list.

Paul