Commission Members

Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission: This independent Commission functions within TEDCO and consists of the following members:

The Attorney General or Designee
Ira Schwartz, Senior Assistant Attorney General and Counsel to the Maryland Technology Development Corporation

Three patient advocates
Bowen P. Weisheit, Jr., Board member of the Maryland Chapter of Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and lawyer with the Law Office of Bowen Weisheit, Jr. (appointed by the Governor)

Brenda Crabbs (Vice Chair), previous chairwoman of the Maryland chapter of the National Arthritis Foundation and member of the organization's Medical and Scientific Council (appointed by the President of the Senate)

John Kellermann, a Parkinson's sufferer who has advocated for the passage of the Stem Cell Research Act (appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates)

Three individuals with experience in biotechnology
Margaret Conn Himelfarb, Health Advisory Board and Institutional Review Board, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (appointed by the Governor)

Linda Powers, managing director of Toucan Capital, an early and active supporter of biotech companies (appointed by the President of the Senate)

Gloria Marrow, vice chair of the Board of Trustees of the Transplant Resource Center of Maryland and lecturer at Morgan State University (appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates)

Two individuals who work as scientists for the University System of Maryland (appointed by USM) and do not engage in stem cell research
Dr. Suzanne Ostrand-Rosenberg, professor of biological sciences and the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Chair of Biochemistry at UMBC's Department of Biological Sciences

Dr. Steven Salzberg, director of the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, and the Horvitz Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park's Department of Computer Science

Two individuals who work as scientists for the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and do not engage in stem cell research, appointed by JHU
Dr. Diane Griffin, professor and chairman of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Dr. Murray Sachs, professor and director of the Biomedical Engineering Department at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Two bioethicists, one appointed by USM and one by JHU
Karen Rothenberg (Chair), dean and Marjorie Cook Professor of Law at the University of Maryland School of Law (appointed by USM)

Dr. Jeremy Sugarman, professor at the Johns Hopkins Bioethics Institute (appointed by JHU)

Two individuals with expertise in the field of biomedical ethics as it relates to religion, appointed by the Governor
Dr. Joseph Capizzi, Professor at Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

Rabbi Joel Zaiman, Rabbi Emeritus of Chizuk Amuno Congregation, and Jewish scholar at the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies