Let's keep the Stowers Institute in KC

[proud2BlibKansan]

Stowers action is a wakeup call







In a disturbing development, funds are flowing out of Kansas City for lifesaving medical research — money that ideally would have been welcomed in this area.



Jim and Virginia Stowers — founders of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research — have announced they will spend $6 million for a new stem-cell research program. However, scientists involved in the initiative won’t be employed at the Stowers institute just east of the Country Club Plaza. Instead, they will work in Cambridge, Mass.



In recent years the Stowerses as well as other supporters of life-science research have watched in dismay as some Missouri lawmakers have pushed for a ban on certain types of promising stem-cell research. This has caused the couple understandably to delay expansion of their research facilities in the Kansas City area.



The recent decision to establish an organization called the Stowers Medical Institute in Massachusetts should be seen as a warning.



Fortunately, patient advocates, business groups and researchers have begun gathering signatures to place a state constitutional amendment on the November 2006 ballot. The petition is worth signing; see www.MissouriCures.com for more information.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/opinion/13116188.htm