Stem For Life Foundation

The Stem for Life Foundation (“SFLF” or the “Foundation”) is a nonsectarian, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code focused on creating a movement to accelerate development of cell therapies. We believe cell therapy holds the promise to cure many of the world’s most debilitating illnesses as opposed to merely treating their symptoms. It represents a fundamental shift away from traditional drug treatment in favor of looking inside ourselves to understand and then amplify our bodies’ natural repair mechanisms. SFLF is firmly committed to advancing cell therapy research and development and its applications to improve the everyday lives of everyday people. To further this end, SFLF raises awareness and supports research and development efforts. SFLF was established in 2007. Expanding the foundation’s original focus on adult stem cell therapy alone, the foundation’s board of trustees and staff are deeply committed to the considerable promise to improve human health, increase quality of life, and enhance patient care offered by the broader field of cell therapy.

To learn more about SFLF please visit: www.stemforlife.org

Pontifical Council for Culture

The Pontifical Council for Culture traces its origins to the Second Vatican Council and its opening up to that great, dynamic, worried and multiform world of contemporary culture. In its Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, the Council Fathers expressed the need for the Church to continually place itself before the needs of the cultures of the world. It was a new period of history where a new humanism was arising, and the Church, faithful to its own traditions, was aware of the universality of its mission, entering into communion with the different forms of culture, a communion that would enrich the Church as much as the cultures.The Pontifical Council for Culture is committed to the dialogue with many realities in their relation to culture and faith such Art, Music, Cultural Goods, Cultures in the World, Mysticism, Atheism, Economics, Language & Communication, International Cultural Bodies, Sport and Science.

The Science and Faith Department is the vehicle of the Pontifical Council for Culture’s engagement with contemporary science. This commitment is based on the firm belief that between science and faith not only is there no opposition, but there should also be beneficial serene dialogue. The Christian faith when properly understood is a creator of culture and an inspiring source of science. For this reason, the Department of Science and Faith seeks further understanding of the phenomena of scientific and technological development and their possible influence on theological and philosophical thought to achieve the following objectives:

1. Elaborate a cultural analysis of the development of natural sciences, enquiring after its impact on theological and philosophical reflection, and on the cultural and social dynamics over the short and long term;

2. Promote reciprocal cooperation in the sphere of the dialogue of science and faith with the various institutions beginning with other Dicasteries and bodies of the Holy See, also international Catholic organizations, ecclesial and secular institutions, universities and research institutes throughout the world, making common projects and sustaining initiatives of scientific research and cultural discovery;

3. Encourage a greater commitment for the ideal of dialogue between science and faith, and promote critical reflection on the frontier themes in the area of interdisciplinary research for a renewed anthropology, and for ethics, theology and philosophy of nature;

4. Offer collaboration as a service to Episcopal Conferences and their bodies on themes relating to science and faith; and

5. Promote initiatives to spread awareness through public conferences, congresses and study days, as well as publishing books and educational volumes to support the Church in its pastoral and educational tasks.

For more information on the Pontifical Council for Culture please visit: www.cultura.va

STOQ Foundation

The STOQ Foundation “Science and Faith” is a Foundation under Vatican law promoted by the Pontifical Council for Culture. The identity and mission of the Foundation have their main Magisterial references in the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes, in the talks of St John Paul II and Benedict XVI on the relations between science and faith, particularly in the Encyclical Fides et ratio. The Foundation aims to give continuity to the activities of Project STOQ, which emerged from the collaboration between the Pontifical Council for Culture and Pontifical Roman Universities following the Galileo Commission and the Jubilee of Scientists in the year 2000. Among the aims of the Foundation are research and study of the themes of dialogue between science, philosophy and theology; realization of conferences and other activities of high cultural and scientific value, even at the popular level; publication of works of merit on the main arguments of the science-faith dialogue.