At CIRM, our goal is to bring stem cell therapies to patients with unmet medical needs, and we do that by funding the most promising and innovative research in regenerative medicine. A critical component of this goal is to support our patient advocates and make sure that their voices are heard.

At this year’s World Stem Cell Summit, patient advocates from around the world, representing a breadth of diseases and disorders, came together to share their stories, goals, and needs with the larger scientific community.

One session that particularly stood out, was “Accelerating Cures: The Critical Role of Patient Advocates” on Day 3 of the conference. This panel featured key leaders in patient advocacy:

• Don Reed, the “Grandfather of Stem Cell Research Advocacy”, Vice President of Public Policy at the Americans for Cures Foundation
• Frances Saldaña, an advocate for Huntington’s disease (HD) and founder of HD-Care at UC Irvine, which is a support group to advance HD research and clinical care
• Tory Williams, the Executive Director of the Alabama Institute of Medicine (AIM) which raises funds and awareness for stem cell treatments and cures of disease and injury and the author of “Inevitable Collision“

The panel was moderated by our fearless leader and head of communications, Kevin McCormack. Each speaker shared their story about how they became a patient advocate and what they are currently doing to push the pace of stem cell research.

Don Reed described the heartbreaking story of his son Roman Reed, who suffered a severe spinal cord injury while playing football. Through Don and Roman’s relentless efforts, “Roman’s Law” was passed in 1999, which raised $17 million in California state funding for spinal cord injury research. Don was also a key instigator for the passage of Proposition 71, which gave $3 billion dollars to our agency to fund stem cell research. He continues to be a passionate advocate for stem cell research and spinal cord injury patients, and recently published a book called “Stem Cell Battles: Proposition 71 and Beyond” which you can read more about in our recent blog.

Next, Frances Saldana told a compelling story of raising a family of three beautiful children with a husband who had Huntington’s disease. Unaware of his condition when they were together, Frances’ world took a devastating turn when he died of HD, leaving her to question whether her children would face the same fate. Sadly, all three of Frances’s kids carried the HD mutation. Having to deal with the passing of her two daughters, and a son who is battling the end stages of this disease, Frances decided to share her experience with others and to create a support organization called HD-Care so that others wouldn’t have to face similar experiences alone. HD-Care is conducting an aggressive campaign to bring visibility to HD and supports cutting-edge research in the field including the work done by CIRM-grantee Dr. Leslie Thompson at UC Irvine.

Frances told the audience that her happiest moment since this all began was when her daughter Margie, already suffering from symptoms of HD, spoke at CIRM in 2007. She saw the Board and the scientists and thought, “somebody cares, and somebody will find a cure.” It was a new chapter for her, she explained, and she knew something good was going to happen.

Lastly, Tory Williams, introduced the Alabama Institute of Medicine, which is a non-profit organization that supports the stem cell community with education and public dialogue. She started the institute following both personal and family experiences with cancer and after TJ Atchinson, a close family friend, suffered a severe spinal cord injury. Along the way, she forged a close relationship with Roman Reed who helped her pass TJ’s law in 2013, which is an Alabama state law that promotes spinal cord injury research.

“The goal [of AIM],” said Williams, “is to make a difference in people’s lives affected by disease and injury by helping to advance medicine to eradicate these debilitating issues.”

When the session was opened up to questions, the atmosphere in the room turned electric. Patients and scientists stood up to tell their stories and asked hard questions. One question came from Laurel Barchas, one of the founders of the Student Society for Stem Cell Research, who asked how we as a society can advocate for mental illness and similar diseases where the symptoms are not visible and where patients are either embarrassed or hesitant to make their disease public. Another question was how emerging countries like Mexico who don’t have the same benefits and infrastructure as the US can promote and support patient advocacy.

The mood of the advocates was positive but measured. They know that new treatments and cures take time but they also pointed out that many people don’t have much time so we have to work as hard as we can to help them.

The panel ended with the consensus that the voices of patient advocates are invaluable, and that they will be the key to accelerating stem cell therapies into cures. Frances Saldaña urged other patient advocates that the key to progress is to be aggressive, and be unafraid to be out there. Don Reed concluded on a similar note with quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet:

“Whether ’tis Nobler in the mind to suffer

The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,

Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them.”

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Related links:

• CIRM Spotlight on Huntington’s Disease: Video featuring Frances Saldana and daughter Margie