Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight Committees
The National Academies called for the establishment of Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight (ESCRO) Committees in its 2005 "Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research" to manage the ethical and legal concerns in human embryonic stem cell research. Because of the complexity and novelty of many of the issues involved in that research, the Guidelines committee believes that all research institutions engaged in human embryonic stem cell research should create and maintain these committees at the local level.
James Sherley
In 2010, Sherley was the named plaintiff in "Sherley v. Sebelius" against Kathleen Sebelius, director of HHS, and Francis Collins, director of the NIH, a case challenging federal (NIH) funding of embryonic stem cell research that resulted in a suspension of much of the NIH funded research on embryonic stem cells. He fought to ban the NIH from funding any research related to embryonic stem cells, and claimed that the decision of the federal government to pay for research on embryonic stem cells was "essentially robbing him of grant money by increasing the competition for funding". After three years of legal effort, the supreme court refused to overturn a lower judge's ruling against Sherley, allowing research to proceed.