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

Marye D. Kellermann RN, President Educational Entities/Enterprises NECESSARY NP Reviews and NECESSARY Workshops (appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates)

Three individuals with experience in biotechnology
Margaret Conn Himelfarb (Chair), 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)

Dr. Curtis P. Van Tassell, Research Geneticist, USDA-ARS, Beltsville, MD (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. Sharon S. Krag , Professor Emerita Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health

Dr. Noel R. Rose, director of the Johns Hopkins Autoimmune Disease Research Center, MMI and Pathology, and is the director of the Pathobiology Training Program in the School of Medicine

Two bioethicists, one appointed by USM and one by JHU
Karen Rothenberg, Marjorie Cook Professor of Law, founding Director of the Law & Health Care Program, and served as Dean of the University of Maryland School of Law from 1999-2009. (appointed by USM)

Dr. Jeremy Sugarman, Harvey M. Meyerhoff Professor of Bioethics and Medicine, Berman Institute of Bioethics and Department of Medicine Johns Hopkins University (appointed by JHU)

Two individuals with expertise in the field of biomedical ethics as it relates to religion, appointed by the Governor
Rev. Dr. Kevin T. FitzGerald, Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology at Georgetown University Medical Center

Dr. Rabbi Avram I. Reisner, Rabbi of Congregation Chevrei Tzedek in Baltimore, MD