While the Food and Drug Administration currently regulates storage and use of cord blood (CB) in the United States, other state and federal guidelines on CB education, awareness and ethical considerations remain variable, and no mandatory international guidelines exist. To help organize and coordinate efforts across the United States and other nations, policymakers should implement regulations for high quality standards for both private and public CB banks.

Regenerative medicine and stem cell research are exciting new fields. But as the fields progress toward clinical therapies, controversies emerge. Hype surrounding stem cell research has caused an increase in their use in interventions that are not clinically proven. Furthermore, the regulatory agencies have a lot of difficulty dealing with cell therapies, which are distinctly different from drugs and medical devices they more commonly approve. To move the field forward, advocates, regulators and scientists need to come together to find new options for stem cell research oversight that protects both the patients and the research field.

Peter Hotez, fellow in disease and poverty, proposes ways for countries around the world to increase their reliance on vaccine diplomacy in their foreign policy approaches.

Abstract

Past literature suggests that Certificate of Need (CON) regulations for cardiac care were ineffective in…

A large group of developing countries did relatively well during the Great Recession, thanks to the broader room for countercyclical macroeconomic policies, and the world economy will continue to be more dependent on the developing world than any we have known in history.

In this article, the authors compare two different approaches to establishing stem cell policy: a defined policy (U.K.) and a changing policy (U.S.). The U.K. has a clear and precise policy, agreed upon and supported by lawmakers, scientists and the public. By contrast, U.S. federal policy is continuously being updated based on balancing political ideologies and advances in science, and it only regulates federal funding. By investigating these contrasting policy approaches, the authors hope to demonstrate the impact of policy on stem cell research and public opinion.

This study assesses the state of stem cell research in the Greater Middle East, reports on the policy and ethical considerations facing the region, and determines the impact of international research collaborations in this area.

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Abstract

Background: Several states use…

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Abstract

Several U.S. states enforce…