Bernard Siegel | Genetics Policy Institute

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Leadership: Bernard Siegel, J.D.

Home > About GPI > Leadership > Bernard Siegel, J.D.

Bernard Siegel, J.D., Founder and Executive Director

bernard@genpol.org

Bernard Siegel is the founder and full-time executive director of the nonprofit Genetics Policy Institute (GPI) based in Wellington, (Palm Beach County) Florida. He is the founder and the co-chair of the World Stem Cell Summit series of global conferences and editor-in-chief of the World Stem Cell Report. A native of Richmond, Virginia, he received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Miami (BA 1972, JD 1975). He is a member of the Florida Bar since 1975.

In 2002, Mr. Siegel filed the landmark case seeking a guardian for the alleged clone, "Baby Eve." The case was widely credited for exposing Clonaid, the so-called "human cloning company" as a sham.

In 2003, he traded his 30-year courtroom career to found GPI, which leads the global "Pro-Cures Movement" and Stem Cell Action Coalition. As a recognized policy expert relating to stem cell research, regenerative medicine and cloning, Mr. Siegel works with the world's leading stem cell researchers and advocates. He played a pivotal role in galvanizing a global movement that successfully lobbied the United Nations to reject a treaty that called for a prohibition of nuclear transfer (therapeutic cloning).

He works with grassroots activists throughout the United States, raising public awareness and educating lawmakers, the media and public on stem cells and regenerative medicine.

Mr. Siegel is a frequent panelist and keynote speaker on the subject of stem cells, public policy and the societal implications of longevity. Among his many presentations, he has spoken at the United Nations, the Salk Institute, James Baker Institute of Public Policy at Rice University, New York Biotechnology Association, Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, Seoul National University, International Stem Cell Forum (Beijing), World Congress for Freedom of Scientific Research (Rome), Stem Cells European Business Summit (Edinburgh), Stem Cells Europe (Amsterdam), ILSI BioMed (Tel Aviv), World Parkinson Congress, Association of American Law Schools and American College of Trial Lawyers. He has lectured at 35 colleges and universities around the globe.

Mr. Siegel has created and chaired a series of influential events impacting the field of stem cells:

June 2004. "Human Cloning Issues in all its aspects for the United Nations" at UN headquarters, New York.

June 2004. "First International Stem Cell Action Conference" at the University of California, Berkeley, co-organized with the Stem Cell Action Network.

August 2004. "Stem Cell Awareness Day with Janet Reno" at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami.

October 2004. "Patients Press Conference for the United Nations" at UN headquarters, New York, co-sponsored by the Coalition for Advancement of Medical Research, featuring a video appeal from Christopher Reeve.

June 2005. "Stem Cell Policy & Advocacy Summit: Sustaining the Mandate for Cures" in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

June 2006. "Stem Cell Policy & Advocacy Summit II: Empowering the Pro-Cures Coalition" co-sponsored with the Center for Biomedical Ethics, Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

October 2006. "Stem Cell Town Hall Meeting with Governor Jennifer Granholm" at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

October 2007. "The Stem Cell Summit" co- sponsored with the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Burrill Life Sciences Media Group at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

September 2008. "World Stem Cell Summit" hosted by the University of Wisconsin Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine Center and WiCell Research Institute, Madison, Wisconsin.

September 2009. "World Stem Cell Summit" hosted by Johns Hopkins University and the University System of Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland.

October 2010. “World Stem Cell Summit” hosted by the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University, University Research Corridor and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in Detroit, Michigan.

In October 2011, he will co-chair the “World Stem Cell Summit” in Pasadena, California.

Mr. Siegel has appeared as a policy expert on the CBS Evening News, the CBS Early Show, CNN, CNN International, MSNBC, Fox and Friends, CNBC and network news shows throughout the U.S. and the world. He was profiled on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. His interviews appear in the journals Rejuvenation Research, Cell Stem Cell, Regenerative Medicine and Pharmaceutical Technology Europe. He has been quoted in the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Wired, The Scientist, New Scientist, The London Times, Le Monde, Pravda, The Peoples Daily and many other publications.

Mr. Siegel serves on the board of directors of the Coalition for Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR) and Americans for Cures Foundation. He also serves on the executive committee of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) and chaired that group’s nominating committee. He is a past co-chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR).

At the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Mr. Siegel serves on the Governance Advisory Board of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute and as a member the Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight (ESCRO) Committee.

He is a member of the advisory boards of the New England Regional Spinal Cord Injury Center at Boston Medical Center, Sabrina Cohen Foundation for Stem Cell Research, The Brooke Ellison Project and Genomics Education Institute. He is a member of the American Society for Bioethics + Humanities and the International Society for Cell Therapy.

Mr. Siegel is a member of the Editorial Board of the award-winning, Medline-indexed journal, Regenerative Medicine.

He has published articles for the journals Cloning and Stem Cells, Burrill Stem Cell Report and the World Stem Cell Report. His OPED’s have appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Tallahassee Democrat, Detroit News and Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.

His honors include the 2005 Advocacy Award from the Stem Cell Action Network. In 2006, Mr. Siegel was voted one of the "dLife Top 10" individuals who made the greatest contribution to the lives of people with diabetes. In 2009, the City of Palm Springs, California; Miami-Dade County, Florida and Baltimore, Maryland issued public proclamations applauding Bernard Siegel's efforts on behalf of the global stem cell community.

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