[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 85 (Thursday, May 22, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1037]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING DR. JAMES THOMSON

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. TAMMY BALDWIN

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 21, 2008

  Ms. BALDWIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Dr. James Thomson, 
a professor of anatomy in the University of Wisconsin's School of 
Medicine and Public Health, for the most recent accomplishments in his 
extraordinary scientific career.
  Dr. Thomson is a world-renowned developmental biologist whose 
discoveries, in the words of Time Magazine, ``have a potential that 
could be unlimited.'' Time recently named Dr. Thomson to its Top 100 
list of the ``World's Most Influential People.'' The honor is well 
deserved. A decade ago Dr. Thomson became the first person to isolate 
human embryonic stem cells and maintain them indefinitely in culture. 
As recognition for his discovery, he appeared on the cover of Time on 
August 20, 2001. Last year, in another breakthrough, Dr. Thomson 
developed a method for converting human skin cells to stem cells that 
appear to share similar properties to embryonic stem cells. At the same 
time, a professor at Japan's Kyoto University independently shared in 
the breakthrough. Over the past decade, Dr. Thomson's work has opened 
new horizons in medicine and sparked new hopes for curing a vast 
spectrum of diseases.
  Dr. Thomson's colleagues honored him last month by electing him a 
Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences--one of America's most 
prestigious associations--which was founded in 1863 and charged by 
Abraham Lincoln with advising the country on scientific and 
technological issues. In this capacity he will continue to serve not 
only the scientific community, but the country as well.
  This year, Dr. Thomson accepted an additional appointment as Director 
of Regenerative Biology at the Morgridge Institute for Research, the 
nonprofit side of the new Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. He is the 
first member of the Morgridge Institute's multidisciplinary scientific 
leadership team and will continue his pioneering research at the 
Institute. In addition, Dr. Thomson is an Adjunct Professor in the 
Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at the 
University of California, Santa Barbara.
  Dr. Thomson's latest achievements are in a long line of accolades, 
which include his receipt of the 2003 Frank Annunzio Award from the 
Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation, an independent Federal 
agency that gives the award to individuals who have improved the world 
through ingenuity and innovation. In 2005, Dr. Thomson was instrumental 
in the selection of the WiCell Research Institute--a private, nonprofit 
supporting organization of the University of Wisconsin-Madison--as the 
first National Stem Cell Bank. I was proud to join him in celebrating 
the announcement of that selection. As noted by the managing director 
of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), Dr. Carl 
Gulbrandsen, Dr. Thomson ``is really the reason why UW-Madison is the 
center of the universe for stem cell research.''
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and congratulate Dr. James 
Thomson for his extraordinary achievements. With a long career ahead, I 
wish him years of continued success, and I invite the Congress to join 
me in applauding him for his enormous contributions to developmental 
biology, which will shape the world and alleviate human suffering in 
the years to come.

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