A noted U.S. fertility researcher is relocating to England in a move that some researchers say underscores the uncertainty created by the current debate over government funding of research involving embryonic stem cells (Science, 13 July, p. 186). University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), researcher Roger Pedersen said yesterday that he has accepted a job at the University of Cambridge.

Pedersen has been working with human embryonic stem cells for several years with support from Geron Corp. He will maintain ties to his laboratory at UCSF, but the lab will not move with him. "I was faced with an irresistible career opportunity and the possibility of carrying out my research ... with public support," Pedersen said in a statement.

UCSF also announced last week that Pedersen's work has been temporarily suspended until it can be moved to an off-campus building that houses no federally funded research. On 12 July, the National Institutes of Health issued a bulletin clarifying U.S. policy that derivation of embryonic stem cells, which NIH is not allowed to fund, cannot take place in a building that uses federal funds for maintenance or administration. A UCSF spokesperson said Pedersen's lab will resume its work in a new location on or before 1 August.

--GRETCHEN VOGEL

Related sites

Roger Pedersen's home page
Geron Corp.