By Brian E. Clark
WisBusiness.com
Special To Channel 3000

Beth Donley, former general counsel for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), said Thursday that she expects the next president to loosen the reins on funding human embryonic stem cell research.

But whoever is elected -- Republican or Democrat -- will face stiff opposition from some quarters in Congress, said Donley, who spoke at a luncheon sponsored by WisBusiness.com, Madison Magazine and the Madison Club.

Donley is now the CEO of Stemina Biomarker Discoveries, a new stem cell company based at University Research Park. She also headed WiCell, WARF's stem cell subsidiary. She said Stemina will initially focus on developing ways to identify drugs that may cause birth defects.

Donley's comments come on the heals of statements by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Elias A. Zerhouni that embryonic stem cell research should be expanded.

His thoughts clash with those of President George W. Bush, Zerhouni's boss. Bush has twice vetoed legislation that would expand research on new embryonic lines.

Donley noted that former President Bill Clinton did not expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research -- in part because the country was not comfortable with the ethics of the science.

She said Bush is roundly criticized for drawing an arbitrary line limiting funding to 21 stem cell lines created before 2001.

"At least he got things started," said Donley, who co-founded Stemina last year with University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher Gabriela Cezar.

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