Americans for Cures

Americans for Cures is the non-profit 501(c)3 stem cell advocacy organization behind California’s Proposition 71, the 2004 ballot initiative approved by 59% of California voters more than 7 million people—to authorize a $3 billion investment in stem cell research. Today, that investment has supported 65 FDA-approved cell-based human clinical trials--and counting--for diseases such as Type 1 diabetes, breast cancer, blindness, sickle cell disease, and heart failure. In the past decade, media coverage of science has seen a dramatic decline. This has created a vacuum of reliable, legitimate information about stem cell research; instead, this journalistic gap has been filled with misinformation and rhetoric. At a time when support for scientific research is in jeopardy and trust in media is low, it is vital to science and society that leaders arise to educate the American public about critical scientific progress that is underway. Americans for Cures is driving public awareness of stem cell research through a broad-scale, California-wide, patient advocate-led Report Back to the Public program. We translate difficult-to-understand science into clear-cut, easily-digestible formats that can be widely shared across all audiences. At the core of the Report Back to the Public is Americans for Cures’ Patient Advocate Ambassador Program, through which we engage, empower and equip patient advocates with the tools they need to organize and conduct outreach to their networks and within their communities.