Having a son who has juvenile diabetes and a mother who has advanced-stage Alzheimer's, attorney Robert Klein has become a tireless advocate for medical research that could help to reverse or cure these and other diseases.
In this audio lecture, sponsored by the Stanford Center for Social Innovation, Klein chronicles his work to help pass a federal bill mandating funding for juvenile diabetes, as well as efforts to promote stem cell research. In particular, he shares his struggles and triumphs in authoring and helping to push through Proposition 71 to fund such research in California. Klein outlines the new funding paradigm that the ballot initiative represents, international efforts to support stem cell research, and the opposition that proponents have faced.
Robert Klein is chairman of the Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). He is also president of Klein Financial Corporation, a real estate investment banking consulting company focused on affordable housing finance and development. Klein has been an instrumental figure in advocating for research and the development of cures for a variety of diseases including Alzheimer's and diabetes, and was honored by Time magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People of the Year" in 2005. He holds a BA in history from Stanford University and a JD from Stanford Law School. He is a member of both the California Bar Association and the American Bar Association.
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This free podcast is from our Stanford Discussions series.
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