Promoting Equity in Stem Cell Genomics

What if ALL people regardless of ethnic background, poverty or country of origin could have access to life saving stem cell technologies based on their unique genetic code?

The promoting Equity in Stem Cell Genomics Campaign and Survey aims to incorporate the opinions of ethnically diverse people including African Americans, Africans and others of African ancestry towards the development biobanks and providing access of novel stem cell technologies to these populations.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are a Nobel Prize winning technology revolutionizing research and medicine. They can be made from donations from umbilical cord, small samples of adult skin, blood and the urine of living people using genetic engineering.  These cells can make copies of themselves and can be converted in to hundreds of different types of cells of the body. IPSCs also has the exact genetic code of the person who donated the cells so they can be used to develop medicines and medical treatments that work best for a particular person, family or ethnic group. These cells can be created any time in person’s life and stored for future use in biobanks. Unfortunately, populations such as African Americans and Africans are usually the last to benefit from novel medical technologies for many reasons including poverty, inadequate advocacy, or a poor understanding of the unique genetics of these populations by scientists.

By supporting this campaign you will help the effort to raise awareness about the importance of novel stem cell technologies for the health of ethnically diverse populations. We started this campaign because not enough genomes of people of African Ancestry are represented in stem cell biobanks. This may limit the benefits this population will gain from medical products and treatments that stem cell technologies promise.

EVERYONE can support this campaign by signing the petition on the Care2 Petition site

EVERYONE can support this campaign by learning more on our website: http://ifasemb.org/pesg/

EVERYONE can support this campaign by making a donation https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/promoting-equity-in-stem-cell-genomics/x/5085510

EVERONE can support this campaign by SPREADING THE WORD!!   

If YOU are African, African American, or of African ancestry MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT by taking the survey on this link:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/stemcellg