Creighton University is re-evaluating its relationship with a University of Nebraska Medical Center research center after learning that part of the center's work involves human fetal cells. Dr. M. Roy Wilson, Creighton's interim vice president for health sciences, said Wednesday that Creighton faculty members have had no involvement in the fetal-cell work and were not aware of it until it was reported by The World-Herald. In another development Wednesday, State Attorney General Don Stenberg raised the issue of whether tissue used in the research may have come from the controversial late-term procedure its opponents call "partial-birth" abortion. Stenberg called on the NU Medical Center to stop using brain cells from aborted fetuses. Medical Center officials have said that the research could lead to advances against Alzheimer's disease, other forms of dementia and other nerve-related disorders. The one Creighton faculty member who had been working on a sabbatical project at the NU research center planned to end his work there Wednesday, Wilson said. He said it is better not to have a faculty member at a center that is involved in such a controversy. As a Catholic, Jesuit university, Creighton supports the Catholic stance on the sanctity of human life, Wilson said. Creighton will help its faculty member find another site to continue his sabbatical work, officials said. He has been learning how to develop cell cultures based on rat nerve cells. Creighton is requesting that its name be taken off the Web page for the Center for Neurovirology and Neurodegenerative Diseases, said Lori Elliott-Bartle, a Creighton University spokeswoman. The center, headed by Dr. Howard Gendelman, was originally envisioned as a collaborative effort involving the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Creighton, as well as the NU Medical Center. Wilson said the original emphasis was on AIDS-related research. "But no one ever mentioned they were going to be involved in human fetal-cell research," Wilson said. Creighton's involvement has turned out to be largely peripheral, Wilson said. Creighton has not given any financial support to the NU center. Individual Creighton faculty members will decide whether they will have a relationship with researchers at the NU center, Creighton officials said. There are common areas of scientific interest, not involving human fetal cells, in which the exchange of scientific information could be helpful, Wilson said. Two Creighton faculty members, Dr. Roderick Narin and Dr. Richard Bessen, are listed as faculty for the NU center's Web site. Wilson said Narin has not had any conversations with Gendelman for nearly two years. Bessen has met periodically with some other center faculty to discuss research trends, Wilson said. Their listing as faculty members is a result of the long-standing practice of some Creighton and NU faculty members holding appointments in both schools, he said. Stenberg Wednesday called the fetal-cell research "morally wrong" and said the Medical Center should stop using brain cells from aborted fetuses. A 1997 Nebraska law banned the procedure called "partial-birth" abortion, which is known medically as "intact dilation and extraction," but the ban was struck down as unconstitutional in September by a federal appeals court. Stenberg has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up Nebraska's case. The original court challenge was filed by attorneys representing Dr. LeRoy Carhart, who operates an abortion clinic in Bellevue. Carhart has supplied the tissue from aborted fetuses that is used for the brain-cell research at the NU Medical Center. "Although the law is currently enjoined, the Legislature intended to make it illegal to perform partial-birth abortions," Stenberg said. Stenberg said the university should support the state's ban by refusing to use fetal cells because they could have come from the contested procedure. Stenberg, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, said he does not have evidence that the fetal tissue used in the university's research is coming from that procedure. "But a partial-birth abortion would give them an uninfected, uncontaminated brain tissue," he said. Other abortion procedures, such as suctioning, would result in a mix of all kinds of tissue and fluids, he said. "I think the university needs to make a complete disclosure on exactly how the fetal materials were obtained, the ages of the fetuses and whether all or part come from partial-birth abortions," Stenberg said. "At a minimum, the public has a right to know the facts." Earlier this week Gov. Mike Johanns asked NU to stop using tissue from aborted human fetuses for research. NU President L. Dennis Smith said that the research will continue. Stopping the research would have a "chilling effect" on the university, he said. A spokesman for the governor said the research issue now moves to the Legislature and to the NU Board of Regents. Speaker of the Legislature Doug Kristensen of Minden said Wednesday that it is premature to predict what the Legislature might do. "I would cringe if there were more abortions in order to do this (research)," he said. "But I'm not sure that's true." Kristensen said he intends to wait for more information. Sens. George Coordsen of Hebron and Dwite Pedersen of Elkhorn said they oppose research involving fetal tissue and will support reduced funding for the NU system if they can't get the fetal-tissue research stopped any other way. If NU officials won't stop the research, "I won't support the university, period," Pedersen said. Sen. Pat Engel of South Sioux City said that while he opposes fetal-tissue research, the Legislature needs to be careful about cutting NU's funding because that could harm the university's other research. A bill might be introduced banning fetal-tissue research at the university, Coordsen, Pedersen and Engel said. Such a bill would provide a platform for extensive discussion of the issue, they said. Sen. Pam Brown of Omaha said the Medical Center should continue its research. Future funding for NU should be based on the merit of the university's requests, not on the issue of the federally funded fetal-tissue research, she said. Three NU regents - Chuck Hassebrook of Walthill, Robert Allen of Hastings and Drew Miller of Papillion - said they have no problems with the research. "The key question is, 'Does this promote abortions?' There is absolutely no evidence that it does," Miller said Wednesday. "And so much good can result from this research." Other regents have said they need more information or couldn't be reached for comment. Brown and Miller said university officials made a mistake in not being more forthcoming when the research began. Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., said he is disappointed that the NU Medical Center is engaged in fetal-tissue research. He predicted that as a result of disclosures about that type of research at NU and elsewhere, a bill will be introduced in Congress to prevent such research. Terry said he is unsure whether enough support exists in the House to pass such a bill.
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