Californians 4 Cures

We began as a small grassroots Internet group; spinal cord injury survivors, their families and friends.  Together, with the help of  Assemblymember John Dutra, California Assembly Bill AB 750 - The Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act, providing five years of an statewide funding for spinal cord injury/nerve cell regeneration, was enacted in 2000.  It was extended in 2005 for five more years.

The program was originally paid for ($1.5 million per year) by the General Fund. However, budget cuts removed that, forcing us to develop a new source of funding.

Last year, the Appropriations Committee turned down our request for a $3 traffic ticket add-on to fund the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act.

We listened carefully, adapted our proposal, and hopefully addressed the Committee’s  concerns.  For example:

1.    The Catholic Conference of Bishops (CCB) opposed our research, because we once funded a small number of embryonic stem cell projects—exactly 4 out of 129.  Like my Catholic family, an estimated 72% of American Catholics are in support of this research. We do not expect to change the Bishops’ minds. However, their concerns may have been answered, by the simple presence of the California stem cell program. Since that far-larger program opened its doors, we have had no requests for stem cell funding.

2.    Objections were raised to last year’s proposed funding mechanism: $3 surcharge on traffic tickets. We lowered that request by 2/3, to just one dollar. Our funding mechanism follows precedents set by eight states-- Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina and Alabama—all fund spinal cord research with traffic fines. Their state penalties earmarked for paralysis research go as high as $100—but our bill asks only one ($1) dollar. That amount will mean little to violators of speed limits, whose recklessness may cause spinal cord injuries—but it could mean everything to us.

3.    The third objection was: why single out spinal cord research, when there are so many other injuries resulting from car crash?  First, most wounds heal. Spinal cord injuries do not; paralysis is permanent. On a positive note, however, our research applies to many other conditions: including Parkinson’s, Alzheimers’s, traumatic brain injury, muscular dystrophy, stroke, spinal muscular atrophy, and many other disorders. Because the spine connects brain and body, damage affects our every activity, large or small—not just the ability to move and touch and feel, but also to control one’s bowels and bladder, even just to breathe.

As you decide the fate of AB 1657, think of people you will never meet, because their paralysis keeps them in doors, many never leaving their homes or hospitals.  And think of the millions who have died paralyzed, because there was no cure.

Please be part of paralysis cure.  Support AB 1657 (Wieckowski, F-Fremont)  the funding bill for the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act.


What you can do...

AB 1657 - $1 traffic ticket add-on for the
Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act, to be heard in the Appropriations Committee, May 9th, 2012


There are 1.275 million Americans with a spinal cord injury—and a total 5.6 million paralyzed Americans* from all sources. Whether the paralysis was caused by fall, car crash, disease, or a sports accident, spinal cord injury research opens the door to cures for millions.

Some ask: why single out spinal cord injury for research, when there are so many other injuries resulting from car crash?  First, most other injuries will heal. Spinal cord injuries do not; spinal cord injury is a life sentence. But on a positive note, spinal cord injury cure research applies to many other conditions, such as traumatic brain injury, muscular dystrophy, stroke, spinal muscular atrophy, and many more.

Because the spine connects the brain and body, damage affects not only the nervous system, but also non-neurological activities—the ability to move and touch and feel, to control one’s bowels and bladder, even just to be able to breathe. In our every activity, the spine is crucial.

The Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act has worked wonderfully well. Administered by the University of California and the Reeve/Irvine Research Center at UC Irvine, the act gives small grants to scientists trying new ideas; where those succeed, larger amounts are easier to get from the National Institutes of Health and other sources.

Our breakthroughs range from practical to amazing: from cost-saving new methods of rehabilitation—to a nerve-regeneration therapy which began a company, California StemCells, Inc.—to a new form of a Petri dish which can sort cells by electrical potential.

The Roman Reed core laboratory, supervised by Dr. Oswald Steward, provides an established center of expertise, guidance and resources for new and veteran scientists. In addition to 175 published scientific papers, a small library of what works (and what doesn’t), two patents pending, and several major scientific breakthroughs, we brought new money to California.  Over ten years, California’s $14 million investment attracted $64 million in matching grants and add-on funds—turning $14 million into $78 million-- jobs and new revenue for California. 

      CALIFORNIANS 4 CURES