About Us
Bernard Siegel, JD
Executive Director and Founding Board Member
Florida attorney Bernard Siegel is the Executive Director of the nonprofit Regenerative Medicine Foundation (RMF) and founder of the newly formed Healthspan Action Coalition (HSAC). As a connector and influencer, his projects have sparked valuable collaborations worldwide.
RMF’s mission is to accelerate regenerative medicine to improve health and deliver cures. Cancer survivor and patient advocate, Bernie helped forge a visionary advocacy movement- the foundation of the stem cell and regenerative medicine ecosystem. He conceptualized, created and co-chaired twenty (20) World Stem Cell Summits, World Stem Cell Summit-Shanghai (2019), Equine World Stem Cell Summit (2016), three (3) Regenerative Medicine Capital Conferences and “Human Cloning in all its aspects” at UN Headquarters (2004) and dozens of regional events. To celebrate inspiration, advocacy, leadership and philanthropy, he created and hosted at the Summits the annual Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine “Action” Awards. For most of these events, he invited 100’s of speakers individually, either by personal email or phone call.
He was one of the leaders of the original grassroots Stem Cell Action Network and the Stem Cell Action Coalition, a 100+ member international alliance of nonprofits and research institutions representing the global “Pro-Cures Movement.” He served as a founding director of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) industry group, board member of the DC-based Coalition for Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR). He served on the board of the massively successful California 2020 Proposition 14 ballot measure that authorized an additional $5.5 BILLION for research and clinical trial efforts. He presently co-chairs the advisory board of the DC-based Alliance for Cell Therapy NOW, promoting public policy efforts in Washington.
Way back In 2002, he filed the first court case relating to reproductive cloning and is widely credited for debunking the claim of the group claiming that they cloned the first baby. Bernie played a pivotal role in galvanizing a global movement that lobbied the UN to reject a treaty that called for a prohibition of SCNT- a form of stem cell research. His many media appearances include CBS Evening News, CNN, Fox & Friends, Canada AM, CNBC, CBS Morning Show, NPR’s “All Things Considered”.
Representative speeches and public addresses include: Society for Brain Mapping Therapeutics (2021), ACT NOW Congressional Briefing (US Senate, 2019), NSF Adv. Tech. Education Conference (DC, 2019), NSF Workforce Summit- Adv. Manufacturing Cell Products (Madison, 2019), Health Summit (Nassau, Bahamas, 2018), 4th & 5th Int. Vatican Conferences “Unite to Cure” (Vatican City, 2018 & 2021), Regenerative Medicine Essentials Course (Co-Chair & Speaker, Wake Forest, 2015-22), Int. Fed. of Adipose Therapeutics & Science (2017), Mayo Clinic Symposium on Regenerative Medicine (Scottsdale, 2017), Stem Cell & Reg Med Global Congress (CHA Bio Complex, Seoul, 2016), New Policy Framework for Regenerative Cell Therapy (Bipartisan Policy Center, D.C., 2016), Hogan Lovells Global Partners’ Conf. (Miami Beach, 2016), Organ Bioengineering & Banking Roadmap Workshop (DC, 2015), White House Office of Science & Technology Policy Roundtable- Ending Organ Shortage (The White House, 2015),German National Academy of Science-The Leopoldina (Halle), Int. Stem Cell Forum (Beijing), ILSI BioMed (Tel Aviv), Celulas Madre En La Republica Argentina (Congress, Buenos Aires), Human Cloning in All Its Aspects for the United Nations(UN Headquarters), World Congress for Freedom for Scientific Research (Rome), TEDx, BioFlorida, James Baker Inst. of Public Policy, Salk Inst., Seoul National University,Stem Cells Europe (Edinburgh & Amsterdam), SENS (Cambridge, U.K.), World Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine Congress (London), World Congress Regenerative Medicine (Leipzig), World Parkinson Congress (Washington D.C.), The Commonwealth Club (San Francisco,) IHEU Center of Bioethics (United Nations),Am. Society for Bioethics & Humanities; Assn. of Am. Law Schools; Am. College of Trial Lawyers, Host , Co-Chair & Speaker at 20 annual World Stem Cell Summits. Lectured 60+ universities.
Bernie’s singular focus on patient advocacy is showcased in a book chapter he co-authored: The Role of Patient Advocacy in the Clinical Translation of Regenerative Medicine in “Stem Cells in Regenerative Medicine: Science, Regulation and Business Strategies” WILEY Blackwell (2015)
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernardsiegel/
ESSAY
Reflections on the Cloning Case
This paper explores the events surrounding the Raëlian Cloning Claim and the first and only legal case ever filed to protect the rights of a cloned human being.
I was the lawyer who filed that case.
