One of the most vocal academic proponents for loosening Michigan’s stem cell law is leaving the state to do research elsewhere, officials announced today. Sean J. Morrison, director of the Center for Stem Cell Biology at University of Michigan, is departing the university to lead a new pediatric research initiative at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. Morrison — one of Michigan’s most prominent stem cell scientists and known internationally — was a leader in the successful 2008 campaign to amend the state constitution to allow for embryonic stem cell research, known as Proposal 2. Among his many arguments were that if the laws remained the same the best researchers wouldn’t come to the state, and others would leave.
