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PRESS RELEASE: BROAD COALITION LAUNCHED TO PASS STEM CELL RESEARCH LEGISLATION IN NEW YORK STATE (New York, NY -- April 28, 2004) - A coalition of activists have come together from across New York who are interested in state legislation that supports stem cell research. New Yorkers for the Advancement of Medical Research (NYAMR) primarily includes public interest groups representing the tens of thousands of New Yorkers who suffer from diseases whose potential treatment and cure could ultimately result from stem cell research. In addition, other organizations have joined forces with them, like Columbia University Medical Center and Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, whose hospital in Israel, the Hadassah Medical Organization, was the second in the world to develop viable cell lines with which cutting edge research is conducted. In response to a Presidential decision in August, 2001 to limit federal funding of stem cell research to the lines that existed at that time, states are now moving to pass legislation to permit wider research. California and New Jersey have recently passed such legislation and are being used as models for NYAMR. In 2003, New York State Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver (D-64) introduced a pro-stem cell research bill into the Assembly, which passed but stalled in the Senate. Assemblyman Silver has once again introduced the bill. The coalition is trying to secure passage in the Senate this time around. Coalition members to date include: Parkinson's Disease Foundation; Parkinson's Action Network; Parkinson Alliance; Tourette's Syndrome Association; Lupus Foundation of America; Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation; American Diabetes Association; Project ALS; Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation; Columbia University Medical Center; Biotechnology Association of New York; AMDEC, a biotechnology advocacy organization; Community Health Charities of New York; and Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn