Joan, thank you so much for all you do for all of us.
Hangin' on, Ray
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joan Snyder" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, September 04, 2006 1:03 PM
Subject: the governor and me


  Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich was coming to Peoria on Friday, September 1st
and I was determined to thank him personally for this money and for his
commitment to see stem cell research to continue in Peoria and in
Illinois.Even though was in town to announce an expanded program
allowing all women in Illinows access to Breast & Cervical Cancer
screenings, I figured that if I could get a moment, that it would not be
entirely inappropriate to tell him how much his words and actions mean
to all of us in the PD community. I arrived at the Diagnostic Center of
Methodist Medical Center early enough to talk to all of his aides as
they set up for the Press Conferenced. and I had the opportuinity to
tell a few my reason for being there.When it was time for the event to
begin, the speakers entered the staging area from the right. First was
Michael Bryant (my very good friend & supporter), followed by 3 or 4
women from the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the local county health dept.,
a breasty cancer survivor and finally by the Governor with his wife and
two young girls with him.Before he even got to his place on the dias, he
came down the aisle, the crowd parting for him and walked up to me.
Although we had never met before, he took my hands and asked: "Joan
Blessington Snyder?" After I said that I was, he questioned "Parkinson's
Disease?" Again I nodded. His next words to me were "Hang on...can you
please hold on for just a little while longer?? Help is on it's way!!
This money and the talents of the researchers here in Peoria are going
to find a way to help you." Later on during his speech, he mentioned the
stem cell grant and said that if it weren't for the efforts of one
person who had written him so many letters and driven his poor aide
crazy with all the phone calls urging him to check out the stem cell
research in Peoria,he would have been reluctant to designate the money
to Peoria. I can only thank the Lord that something I did had made a
change in this area. So even when you feel that you are only butting
your head against a brick wall, keep up the armchair advocacy. You can
never tell when your letters and phone calls are making a difference!!!

_July 20, 2006_
Gov. Blagojevich directs $5 million from FY07 budget to stem cell
research in Illinois
Governor’s action comes one day after Pres. Bush shuts down hope of
federal funding for stem cell research


CHICAGO – Just one day after President George Bush vetoed bipartisan
legislation that would expand scientists’ access to new, healthy
uncontaminated stem cell lines, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich announced he is
directing $5 million to stem cell research in Illinois in fiscal year
2007. For the second year in a row, the Governor is using his executive
authority to bypass stalemates in Springfield and Washington, D.C, and
ensure stem cell research continues in Illinois.

“President Bush’s action yesterday was a clear indication that stem cell
research will get no support from Washington as long as he occupies the
White House. And the Illinois General Assembly has yet to back a plan
that would provide significant, ongoing support for stem cell research.
It would be wrong to ask sick and injured people and their loved ones to
wait for the tides in Springfield and Washington to change before
research into potentially life-saving cures can move forward. That’s why
I am directing $5 million in state funds this fiscal year to continue
supporting the research being done. Investing in research that can save
lives and prevent serious illnesses is more than a sound public health
strategy, it’s our moral obligation,” said Gov. Blagojevich.

Gov. Blagojevich is allocating $5 million of state funds from an
administrative line in the Department of Healthcare and Family Services’
(HFS) budget to fund stem cell research in Illinois. Recipients will be
selected from proposals that were previously submitted, but not funded,
based on the recommendations from an outside panel of stem cell research
experts and bioethicists that advised the Illinois Regenerative Medicine
Institute (IRMI) in its first grant-making process.

This past April, the Governor was joined by Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn and
Comptroller Dan Hynes in announcing the first ten grants worth a total
of $10 million for life-saving stem cell research at several Illinois
hospitals and research institutions.

“Investing in stem cell research has the potential of saving thousands
of lives now and in the future,” said Lt. Gov. Quinn.

“Let’s be very clear here. The states did not ask for this
responsibility, but the President’s action, in direct conflict with the
wishes of a large majority of Americans, has forced us to take on what
rightly should be the federal government’s job of funding this
life-saving research,” said Hynes. “I am grateful that Governor
Blagojevich has had the courage to act.”

Last summer by Executive Order, Governor Blagojevich and Comptroller Dan
Hynes created the IRMI, making Illinois the first state in the Midwest,
and only the fourth state in the nation, to commit public funds to stem
cell research. The IRMI program is designed to issue grants for stem
cell research to study therapies, protocols, medical procedures,
possible cures for, and potential mitigations of major diseases,
injuries, and orphan diseases; to support all stages of the process of
developing cures from laboratory research through successful clinical
trials; and to establish the appropriate regulatory standards for
research and facilities development.

“Stem cell research has the potential to yield groundbreaking medical
advancements for many debilitating diseases. By supporting work in this
field, we can help ensure that we are building capacity and expertise
here in Illinois in one of the most important areas of research to
date,” said Dr. Eric Whitaker, Director of the Illinois Department of
Public Health.

Researching and studying stem cells allows scientists and doctors to
better understand what causes serious medical illnesses and conditions
such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, spinal cord injury, stroke, and heart
disease, in hopes of discovering new ways to treat or even cure them.
Stem cells are cells that have the potential to develop into many
different types of healthy new cells in the body. As described by the
National Institutes of Health, they act like an internal repair system
for the body. Stem cells can divide to replenish other cells for as long
as the body is alive. When a stem cell divides, each new cell has the
potential to either remain a stem cell or become another type of cell
like a muscle cell, a red blood cell, or a brain cell.

Studying stem cells allows doctors to analyze how cells transform into
other cells. Many of the most serious illnesses or birth defects are
caused by problems during the transformation process. Understanding the
process better may help doctors discover how to prevent, treat or cure
illnesses and conditions.

_/Peoria researcher gets stem-cell grant
Professor among those awarded state funding
Friday, August 18, 2006/_

By MOLLY PARKER

Of the Journal Star
PEORIA - Imagine a world cured of cancer or a day where no one is
terminally diagnosed with memory loss, heart failure, diabetes or a
number of other ailments that strip Americans from their lives every day.

Or think about a doctor delivering this prognosis to a patient with a
broken back from a skiing accident: "Yes, you will walk again."

It's all possible, maybe in the next three to four years, says Dr. Jasti
Rao, a professor and head of the department of cancer biology and
pharmacology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria.

"I'm hoping," said Rao, the recipient of a $1.1 million state grant
announced Thursday at a news conference in Chicago. "Everybody should
hope this is the treatment. It's better than any other treatment."

Rao was one of seven researchers awarded pieces of a controversial $5
million allotment of state money Gov. Rod Blagojevich set aside in the
budget for stem-cell research.

The money will go toward continued lab research on the effects of stem
cells derived from umbilical cords and placentas when injected into rats
and mice with a host of diseases.

This research could be translated into cures for humans in "maybe in
three to four years," Rao said.

Rao has seen positive results from healthy stem cells - essentially
building blocks of the human body - when they are injected into
cancerous tumors or spinal injuries.

"They are killing the cancer cells and helping repair the spinal cord
injuries," Rao said.

Blagojevich announced the additional funding for stem-cell research in
July, saying it would come out of a budget line item for medical programs.

The announcement came on the heels of President George W. Bush's veto of
legislation that would have provided federal assistance for embryonic
stem-cell research, a controversial practice because scientists destroy
the embryo when they extract the stem cells.

Scientists argue studying the stems cells is better than throwing them
away, which often happens with extras at in-vitro fertilization clinics.

But critics contend the research destroys a potential human life, is
difficult to regulate and could lead to human cloning.

Blagojevich's funding, which also includes $10 million from the last
budget cycle, provides grants to scientists in Illinois studying both
embryonic and cord blood stem cells.

Rao said his research is done solely with stem cells taken from
umbilical cord blood, meaning no embryos are destroyed in the process.

State Rep. David Leitch, R-Peoria, who years ago sponsored legislation
allowing for mothers to donate their umbilical cord blood for scientific
research, said he's excited Dr. Rao received the funding, though he
thought the money should have come to Peoria in the last round.

"I'm very happy he will have the opportunity to do his research, because
I think he may well hold the key to some important answers," Leitch said.


--
Joan Blessington Snyder   54/16
[log in to unmask]
www.calipso-pd.org
“Hang tough……..no way through it but to do it.”
Chris in the Morning      Northern Exposure

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