The nominations are in. Voting has
begun, with about 1,000 ballots cast so far. But only one vote truly
counts. That belongs to Paul Knoepfler, who is running the The Stem
Cell Person of the Year contest and will pony up $1,000 of his
hard-earned cash to honor the winner.

On Monday, Knoepfler announced 16 finalists out of 30 nominees. They range from scientists to patients
to advocates. Voting began instantly and will continue until Dec. 31
at 11:59 p.m. Votes will count for something, but Knoepfler makes it clear that they are only advisory. He makes the decision.

This is Knoepfler's first year at the
contest. The UC Davis stem cell researcher, patient advocate and
blogger wants to recognize someone who made a difference and took
some risks in doing so.

You can find the entire list of
candidates on Knoepfler's blog, but we wanted to note that they have
a father and son competing against each other – Don Reed and his
son, Roman. (Could be tense around the holiday tables in the
Reeds' households.) Also on the list is Jeanne Loring of Scripps,
whose nominator said engages the wider community with great
effectiveness. I once heard Loring say that every stem cell
researcher should have a spiel that could be delivered in five
minutes in a taxi and that would not only explain stem cell research,
but persuade the cab driver of its virtues.

All of the nominees have much to
recommend them. Knoepfler will be chewing his fingernails before this
is all over.