Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Journal photo / Bob Thayer
Brock Reeve, left, the half-brother of the late actor and stem-cell advocate Christopher Reeve, and U.S. Rep. James Langevin talk about the future of embryonic stem-cell research at the VA Medical Center in Providence Friday afternoon.

By Felice J. Freyer
Journal medical writer

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- It was a "surreal" experience for U.S. Rep. James Langevin when President Obama signed an executive order on Monday reversing the Bush administration's ban on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, the congressman said Friday afternoon.

"I had to pinch myself," Rhode Island Democrat Langevin, a long-time advocate for stem-cell research who was paralyzed as a teenager in a shooting accident, told a gathering at the Providence VA Medical Center. "I was in this room making history."

Photos of Obama bending toward Langevin's motorized wheelchair to shake his hand appeared around the country.

Langevin came to the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital today -- along with Brock Reeve, executive director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and brother of the late actor Christopher Reeve -- to celebrate the Obama's change of direction for stem-cell science and the future of research that will result.

Christopher Reeve, famous for his role as Superman, became paralyzed after a fall form a horse. Before his death, he became known worldwide as an advocate for those with spinal cord injuries.

Langevin said the VA Medical Center, which is building a new research center, is one of the places where stem-cell work may take place in the future. In the room were representatives of advocacy groups for diseases that stem-cell research may someday cure, including diabetes, arthritis and Lou Gehrig's disease.

Langevin said that as important as the stem-cell policy change is "the paradigm shift in making sure that research in this country is based on sound science and not any kind of political ideology."

 Tags  Langevin Providence RI

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