July 12, 2005

Akin Tours Cardinal Glennon’s Cord Blood Bank
St. Louis Effort is Second Largest in the World

St. Louis, MO. - Congressman Todd Akin (R-MO), a member of the House Science Committee, visited the St. Louis Cord Blood Bank at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital July 6th to review the facility’s work on cord blood research. The Cord Blood Bank collects umbilical cord blood for the purposes of non-embryonic stem cell treatment and research. The Cardinal Glennon program is the second largest of its type in the world.

Congressman Akin toured the facility with its director, Donna Regan and Medical Director Dr. Michael Greer. Congressman Todd Akin is a cosponsor of the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005, which passed the House of Representatives on May 24th. The bill supports adult stem cell research and would bolster umbilical cord blood banks.

“It is encouraging to see that Cardinal Glennon is working to advance stem cell treatment which does not require the destruction of a human embryo,” Akin said. “Stem cell treatment that uses umbilical cord blood has shown vastly more promise than embryonic stem cell research without the ethical problem of creating a life in order to destroy it.”

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