Interest gaining momentum in ethical research grant.
By Anthony Barich
Sydney Cardinal George Pell is offering another $100,000 grant to support research on the therapeutic potential of adult stem cells to combat the culture of death.
The Archdiocese of Sydney has invited applications from Australian-based researchers for the grant to be awarded on the recommendation of an independent panel for applications that show innovative therapeutic applications that are likely to arise from the research.
The archdiocese introduced the grants in 2003.
Researchers must have a track record of success in undertaking similar or related research, and the grant’s criteria warrants that matching funds have been found from another source.
The research must display novelty in its experimental approach, and meet the highest standards of scientific excellence.
The research must also comply with the ethical standards set out in Chapter 6 of the Code of Ethical Standards for Catholic Health and Aged Care Services in Australia.
Funds will be available for expenditure from January 1, 2010 and should be expended by December 31, 2011. The closing date for applications for the grant is July 28.
Sydney’s Archdiocesan Life, Marriage and Family Centre policy officer Brigid McKenna said that the number of companies interested in the ethical research grant has increased since the grant started in 2003 when it only had four applicants; eight applied in 2005 and 10 in 2007.
She said that by offering the grant, the Church is encouraging scientists to use their talents to assist humanity, “recognising that science is a great gift and we need to be great stewards of it”.
“Cardinal Pell’s bi-annual research grant encourages scientists to pursue ethically and clinically promising forms of research,” she said.
“It offers an opportunity to see the hand of the Creator, not replace it.”
The grant is also an effort by the Church to counter the culture of death advanced by the likes of legislation passed by the NSW Parliament in 2007 that allowed for experimentation on embryos for ‘therapeutic cloning’.
However, since this legislation was passed, it is understood less than a handful of institutions have applied for permission as the National Health and Medical Research Council inserted tight licensing requirements while drafting the legislation.
Cardinal Pell was awarded the Mystery of Life Grand Prix Award last year by the Archdiocese of Seoul in South Korea for the Sydney Archdiocese’s Grant for Adult Stem Cell Research.
The South Korean award included $104,000, which the cardinal said would go towards new pro-life initiatives like the Grant for Adult Stem Cell Research.