David Prentice, Ph.D.

David A. Prentice is a guest contributor for the Charlotte Lozier Institute.  He is also Advisory Board Chair and a Founding Member for the Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center, a unique comprehensive stem cell center in Kansas that he was instrumental in creating.  In 2020, he was appointed by the Secretary of HHS to the federal Human Fetal Tissue Ethics Advisory Board.  Dr. Prentice has almost 50 years’ experience as a scientific researcher and professor, including previous service as senior fellow for life sciences at the Family Research Council, Professor of Life Sciences at Indiana State University, Adjunct Professor of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, and Adjunct Professor of Molecular Genetics at the John Paul II Institute, Catholic University of America.

He established Stem Cell Research Facts, an educational website providing scientific facts and patient-centered videos about adult stem cells, and is a founding member of Do No Harm: The Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics, and an advisory board member for the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity.  He has provided scientific advice for numerous medical and science professionals, legislators, policymakers and organizations at the state, federal, and international levels.

Dr. Prentice received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Kansas, and was at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Texas Medical School-Houston before joining Indiana State University where in addition to his research and teaching, he served as Acting Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences and Assistant Chair of Life Sciences. He was recognized with the University’s Caleb Mills Distinguished Teaching Award and Faculty Distinguished Service Award.  He has taught subjects ranging from non-majors biology to advanced and graduate courses including developmental biology, embryology, cell and tissue culture, history of biology, science and politics, pathophysiology, medical genetics, and medical biochemistry. Several of his courses were also taught on-line.

He received the 2007 Walter C. Randall Award in Biomedical Ethics from the American Physiological Society, given for promoting the honor and integrity of biomedical science through example and mentoring in the classroom and laboratory.  He was honored in 2018 with selection for the 31^st A. Kurt Weiss Lectureship on Biomedical Ethics, Oklahoma University Health Science Center. Dr. Prentice’s research interests encompass various aspects of cell growth control, cell and developmental biology; one major focus is adult stem cells.  He has reviewed for various professional publications including The Journal of the American Medical Association.

He is an internationally-recognized expert on stem cell research, cell biology and bioethics, and has provided scientific lectures and policy briefings in 40 states and 21 countries, including testimony before the U.S. Congress and numerous state legislatures, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. President’s Council on Bioethics, European Parliament, British Parliament, Canadian Parliament, Australian Parliament, German Bundestag, French Senate, Swedish Parliament, the United Nations, and the Vatican.  He was selected by President George W. Bush’s U.S. President’s Council on Bioethics to write the comprehensive review of adult stem cell research for the Council’s 2004 publication “Monitoring Stem Cell Research.”

Dr. Prentice has published numerous scientific and bioethics articles, including a review of stem cell science and adult stem cell treatments published in Circulation Research.  He has also published numerous commentaries and op-eds, and travels nationally and internationally to give invited lectures regarding stem cell research, fetal tissue research, gene editing, cloning, embryology, cell and developmental biology, cell culture and vaccines, bioethics, and public policy.  He has been interviewed in virtually all major electronic and print media outlets, including CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, CSPAN, Reuters, AP, NPR, USA Today, BBC, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times.