In concert with professor Elena Cattaneo, Elisabetta Cerbai and Silvia Garagna, Luca Coscioni Association launched an appeal to raise funds aimed at covering part of the legal expenses of the three Italian scientists appealing against the Italian government’s decision to arbitrarily exclude human embryonic stem cells from an 8-million euro fund for stem-cell biology (read the chronology of the action). The legal expenses for the first degree of judgement were of around 6.000,00 euro. Since the beginning of the appeal (July 7) 7.604,79 euro (around 11.252 USD) have been raised. The three scientists have been promptly refunded (see attachments). The spare amount will help covering expenses for next step.
The lawsuit of the Italian researchers Elena Cattaneo (University of Milan), Elisabetta Cerbai (University of Florence) and Silvia Garagna (University of Pavia) against the Italian Minister of Health’s decision to illegally exclude research on human embryonic stem cells from an 8-million fund has been recently rejected by the Regional Administrative Court of Latium. The motivations of the writ are maybe worse than the Government’s act itself, since they do not recognize the right of individual researchers to sue against Governmental decisions that arbitrarily penalize fully legal researches. According to the writ, only the institutional recipients of the call may sue, though individual researchers themselves undergo unjustified and illegitimate discriminations against their research projects.
Nonetheless, the researchers decided to challenge the prohibitions. Some of them submitted a project proposal for research with human embryonic stem cells; meanwhile they appealed to a higher Court.
We believe that it is necessary to maintain the extraordinary support already shown by dozens of scientists and researchers from all over the world. Thanks to them, in a few days, we have been able to raise the sum needed for the legal expenses of the first judgment.
The World Congress for Freedom of Scientific Research and the Luca Coscioni Association – together with the researchers themselves – have therefore decided to re-launch the fund-raising effort so that the judicial action can go on against what we believe is an ideologically-based discrimination in the field of research funding.
Should you be willing to join the action, agreeing that a challenge to freedom of research, wherever it is, should be faced since it represents a challenge to all researchers and scientists, we kindly ask you to pledge your donation to help your colleagues to afford their legal expenses. You can donate on line with your credit card, or via bank transfer to Banca di Credito Cooperativo di Roma, ag. 21, Piazza Nicosia, 31 - 00186 Rome (Italy), full name of the account holder: Associazione Luca Coscioni, cause: “Legal expenses Cattaneo-Cerbai-Garagna”. IBAN: IT79E0832703221000000002549, BIC: ROMAITRR.
The following researchers, academicians and private citizens have promptly donated to this campaign:
1. Luisa Acerbi (Italy)
2. Giuseppe Ambrosio (Director, Dept. Cardiology, “Silvestrini” Hospital, Perugia, Italy)
3. Laura Arconti
4. Angelo Baracca (Professor of Physics, University of Florence)
5. Tullio Barni (University of Catanzaro, Italy)
6. Paolo Bazzicalupo (Professor Institute of Genetics and Biophysics)
7. Paolo Beck-Peccoz (University of Milan)
8. Amedeo Bellini
9. Umberto Bertazzoni
10. Maria Luisa Bianco (Director, Department of Social Research, University of Piedmont)
11. Elena Brambilla (Ordinary Professor of Modern History, University of Milan)
12. Giovanni Ciccotti (Ordinary Professor of Structure of Matter, University "La Sapienza", Rome)
13. Alberto Clivio (University of Milan, Italy)
14. Carlo Consiglio (University “La Sapienza” Rome)
15. Antonio Coppotelli (Psychiatrist)
16. Gilberto Corbellini (Ordinary Professor of History of Medicine, University "La Sapienza" Rome and Co-President Luca Coscioni Association)
17. Luisa Corradi (Retired)
18. Margherita D'Aprile (Associate Professor of Geometry, University of Calabria)
19. Roberto Defez (Professor Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, Naples)
20. Vittorio De Franciscis (Research Director CNR, Istituto per l’Endocrinologia e Oncologia Sperimentale "G. Salvatore", Neaples, Italy)
21. Giuseppe De Michele (University of Neaples)
22. Claudia Diamantini (Senigallia, Italy)
23. Umberto Di Porzio
24. Elia Di Schiavi (Researcher Institute of Genetics and Biophysics “A. Buzzati-Traverso”)
25. Gabriella Dodero (University of Genua, Italy)
26. Mirella Dottori (University of Melbourne, Australia)
27. Melania Dovizio
28. Marco Favara (Director, Assisted Fertilisation Centre, Hospital of Cittadella)
29. Maria Cristina Feltri
30. Marco Ferraguti (Professor of Biological Evolution, University of Milan)
31. Guido Filacchioni
32. Pierangelo Geppetti (University of Florence, Italy)
33. Franco Graziani (Cnr)
34. Fulvio Gualtieri (University of Florence)
35. Giuseppe Impallomeni (Ph.D. Institute of Polymers Chemistry and Technology, Catania)
36. Ivan Innocenti (Businessman)
37. Giancarlo Lancini (Associate Professor, University of Siena)
38. Lupo Macolino (Psychiatrist)
39. Giuseppe Macino (Professor of Applied Biology, University “La Sapienza”, Rome)
40. Elena Maestri (Department Environmental Science, University of Parma)
41. Stefano Marchiafava (Ordinary Professor of Geometry, "La Sapienza" University, Rome)
42. Giancarlo Mariotti (University of Milan, Italy)
43. Nicola Migone
44. Giuseppe Molteni (researcher)
45. Giancarlo Nobile (Gobetti Committee)
46. Gabriella Palmieri (University “La Sapienza”, Rome)
47. Paola Patrignani (Ordinary Professor of Pharmacology, University of Chieti-Pescara)
48. Luca Peliti (Naples, Italy)
49. Paolo Pellizzari (Associate Professor of Applied Mathematics, "CĂ Foscari" University, Venice)
50. Fabio Privileggi (Researcher of Mathematics for the Economics, University of Piedmont)
51. Luciano Provini (Milan, Italy)
52. Leonard Robbins (Ordinary Professor of Genetics, University of Siena)
53. Ferdinando Rossi (Torino, Italy)
54. Laura Savoy
55. Paolo Spinicci (Associate Professor of Theoretical Philosophy, University of Milan)
56. Piergiorgio Strata (Ordinary Professor of Physiology, Co-President of the Luca Coscioni Association)
57. Gianluca Vago (University of Milan, Italy)
58. Paolo Villani (Researcher)
59. Mauro Visentin
along with five donors who asked to remain anonymous.
To the transnational appeal have promptly replied and donated:
1. Inga Andersson
2. Neil Aronin (University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA)
3. Katharine Barald (University of Michigan Medical School, United States)
4. Gillian Bates (King’s College, London)
5. Ilya Bezprozvanny (Professor UT Southwestern Medical Center, United States)
6. Anders Bjorklund (Professor Wallenberg Neuroscience Center, Lund University, Sweden)
7. Daniela Brunner (Vice-President of Behavioral Research and Development, Psycho-Genics Inc. & Research Scientist, Dept. of Psychiatry, Columbia University, United States)
8. Jang-Ho Cha
9. Juan Carlos De Martin
10. Marion DiFiglia (Harvard, USA)
11. Stephen Dunnett (Professor, Cardiff University, United Kingdom)
12. René Frydman (Professor, University of Paris XI, France)
13. Lawrence Goldstein (Professor, San Diego University, United States)
14. Miriam Hickey (PhD, Department of Neurology, Los Angeles, United States)
15. Marisa Jaconi (Researcher, Department of Patology and Immunology, Geneva University, Switzerland)
16. Paul Janiaud (Research Director, Inserm, France)
17. Alex Kazantsev (Associate Professor in Neurology, Harvard Medical School, United States)
18. Marcel Leist (Universitaet Konstanz)
19. Jamie Levey (European Huntington’s Disease Network, France)
20. Susan Lindquist (MIT, United States)
21. Stephen Minger (Director, King’s Stem Cell Biology Laboratory, United Kingdom)
22. James Olson (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, United States)
23. Marc Peschanski (Scientific Director I-Stem, France)
24. Jack Price (Director Centre for the Cellular Basis of Behaviour, United Kingdom)
25. Michel Puceat (INSERM, France)
26. Don Reed (Fremont, California)
27. Anne Rosser (Clinical Professor of Neurology, Cardiff University, United Kingdom)
28. Primoz Rozman (Medical Director Blood Transfusion, Centre of Slovenia, Slovenia)
29. David Scadden (Professor of Medicine and Co-Chair, Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, United States)
30. Austin Smith (direttore di Wellcome Trust, Regno Unito)
31. Aslihan Tolun (member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences)
32. Marco Traub (Transeuropean Stem Cell Therapy Consortium, Switzerland)
33. James Tretheway (Stati Uniti)
34. Nancy Wexler (Higgins Professor of Neuropsychology Columbia University and President, Hereditary Disease Foundation New York, United States)
35. Justo G. de Yebenes (University Complutense, Spain)
The President of the Health Commission of the German Parliament, Dr. Martina Bunge, has thanked us for our appeal that she has forwarded to her colleagues.
