The FY2018 Discretionary Budget Plan put forward by the U.S. Administration includes dramatic cuts in funding for science and research programs that would threaten biomedical research and its translation into new therapies for millions of people worldwide. Recent advances in stem cell research, gene therapy, genomics, and cancer biology have created unprecedented opportunities to create new treatments for human disease. Yet the 20 percent funding reduction for the National Institutes of Health in the administration’s proposal would slow the development of new cures and cause long-term damage to the U.S. research infrastructure and to public health efforts around the world.

Dear members of the stem cell research community:

The ISSCR community stands united in support of science and the belief that international collaboration and the free flow of ideas is essential to our work. Restricting travel to the U.S. from seven countries named in a recent Executive Order negatively affects scientific exchange, and has generated concern among many.

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), the largest professional organization of stem cell researchers from around the world, opposes the U.S. administration’s Executive Order calling for a 90-day suspension of visas and other immigration benefits for all nationals of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia. Preventing medical researchers from entering the U.S. based solely upon their country of origin is contrary to widely accepted international values and is detrimental to progress in science and medicine.

Fetal tissue research has made major contributions to our understanding of biology and the development of new medical technologies, including vaccines for many diseases that have saved millions of lives.