LONDONDERRY — Three Londonderry residents who are part of a Manchester research committee that's lobbying to increase federal funding for stem-cell research recently met at a roundtable discussion with U.S. Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen at the SEE Science Center in Manchester.
Steve Walter and his 11-year-old son, Alex, and Maureen Chamberlain were joined by other New Hampshire families and children who are affected by diseases such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Parkinson's disease and Lou Gehrig's Disease.
These conditions are widely expected to be either cured or more effectively treated as a result of expanded stem-cell research.
Alex Walter was diagnosed with Type I diabetes when he was 4 years old.
"He has been living with this now for seven years," Steve Walter said. "Kids like Alex need to step up and advocate for this research. Every time he eats something, his insulin has to be adjusted."
Chamberlain, 61, has been living with Parkinson's disease for 10 years.
She had known Steve Walter for years but lost contact. She reconnected with him at the research committee meeting.
Former New Hampshire Governor Shaheen, whose granddaughter, Elle, has diabetes, supports stem-cell research. She said that the country needs leaders who will put scientific advancement ahead of ideology.
"I believe that families in New Hampshire have the right to the best medical research," Shaheen said at the roundtable discussion. Shaheen, who lost her first bid for the U.S. Senate in 2002 to Senator John E. Sununu, is in a rematch of the contest this year.
Shaheen has attacked Sununu's positions on stem-cells. In 2007, Sununu was the only New England senator to vote against lifting the Bush administration's ban on expanding research funding .
"I think we need a new direction in stem cell policy in Washington. I think that researchers should be permitted and encouraged to pursue both embryonic and adult stem-cell research, with ethical oversight from the National Institutes of Health."
Walter and Chamberlain agree.
"I think it's important to get people to care and speak out on behalf of loved ones," Walter said. "We need to keep putting the pressure on."
