The son of a Baptist minister, Sherley is vocal in his opposition to research using human embryonic stem cells because he thinks this amounts to sacrificing human lives. This stand puts him at odds with most of his scientific colleagues -- and once prompted a shouting match with another scientist at a faculty dinner at the Blue Room, a Cambridge restaurant, he said. [snip]After a faculty dinner devolved into a shouting match about the relative merits of embryonic and adult stem cells, he said he was no longer invited to the dinners. Slowly, he said, he became more and more ostracized, and the atmosphere become more poisonous. .
Two MIT scientists win 2006 Pioneer Awards Elizabeth A. Thomson, News Office September 19, 2006
Two MIT faculty are among 13 scientists nationwide to receive 2006 Pioneer Awards today from the National Institutes of Health for their "highly innovative research."Professors Arup K. Chakraborty and James L. Sherley will each receive $2.5 million over five years. [snip]
Sherley, an associate professor of biological engineering affiliated with the Center for Cancer Research, is working "to develop routine methods for the production of human adult stem cells from liver, pancreas, hair follicles and bone marrow."