VOLUME 12, NUMBER 15 • FEBRUARY 16, 2001

Stem Cells Are Topic of Next Cohn Forum

Steven H. Holtzman will discuss the ethical question of the "personhood" of embryos and how the current debate affects scientific research.

Steven H. Holtzman, chief business officer of Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., will present the next Cohn Forum on Mon., March 12. His topic will be "Stem Cells: Persons or Therapies in Embryo?"

Human stem cells, derived from embryos, are a unique biomedical resource with potential to help us understand complex processes of human development, as well as to treat diverse afflictions including spinal cord injury, burns and heart disease. In his Cohn Forum talk, Holtzman will explore recent NIH recommendations on stem cell research and explain why, particularly in light of the new administration’s opposition to fetal tissue research, addressing the central ethical question of the personhood of embryos is crucial to continued progress.

Holtzman has been with Millennium, a pioneer and leader in the identification of the genetic basis of common human diseases, since early 1994. Under his leadership, the company has grown to over 1,500 employees and is ranked among the top 10 companies in the biotechnology industry in market capitalization and revenues.

Before joining Millennium, Holtzman was a founder of DNX Corporation, the first commercial enterprise devoted to the development of biomedical and pharmaceutical applications of transgenic animal technology. Prior to his work with DNX, in the early 1980s, Holtzman was the founding executive director of the Ohio Edison Program, the nation’s first state government program dedicated to achieving economic development through funding young technology-based ventures and collaborative university/ industry research and development efforts.

Holtzman currently is serving his second term on the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, the principal advisory body to the president and Congress on ethical issues in biomedical and life sciences. He is a member of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) Bioethics Committee, which he co-founded in 1995. He has served as a trustee of The Hastings Center for Bioethics since 1999.

The talk takes place in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Dining Room at 5:30 p.m. and is preceded by a reception at 5 p.m.

The Cohn Forum is a series of colloquia on issues in health and biomedicine. The Cohn Forum’s Web site is www.rockefeller.edu/pubinfo/cohn.html.