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Some of the world’s top stem cell researchers gathered on the University of Wisconsin campus Sunday to preview this week’s World Stem Cell Summit and highlight the need for greater public understanding of the field.

UW anatomy professor James Thomson, who was the first researcher to isolate embryonic stem cells in 1998, was critical of President George W. Bush’s embryonic stem cell policies for the effect it had on research.

“I think one of the biggest damages of the Bush policy was not the direct effect, but the perception — the perception that it’s a controversial field,” Thomson said.

The panel enforced two main points with the crowd of more than 100: People must have patience, and even after that, stem cells will not “cure” everything.

Clive Svendsen, a UW neurology professor who studies stem cells’ effects on the brain, said he never uses the word “cure” when it comes to stem cells, but “treatment.”

One of the diseases he works with is Parkinson’s, and even with recent stem cell discoveries, he doesn’t believe the field is “close to a cure.”

“We could replace all of your dopamine neurons with Parkinson’s disease, perfectly,” Svendsen said. “You would feel a hell of a lot better, but it wouldn’t cure the disease, because other systems in the brain also contribute to Parkinson’s later on.”

The hype surrounding stem cells has caused many people to think they’re a cure, including politicians and other policy makers who control funding.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama have said they would end the embryonic stem cell restrictions put in place by Bush.

But there are many who have struggled to have patience in the research process, said Jim Leonhart, executive vice president of the Wisconsin Biotechnology Association.

“This idea about patience is always stressed to public policy makers, because the nature of their life is to solve something in a year or in their term of office,” Leonhart said.

But Linda Hogle, associate professor of bioethics, was quick to point out the need for awareness goes both ways.

“Scientists who are very excited about their research need to be clear about the workings of politics and policy and regulatory affairs and all those kind of things,” Hogle said.

UW senior Sasha Rackman, a member of the Student Society for Stem Cell Research, called the researchers “well-spoken.”

“I think something to take out of this entire day and weekend and all the sound bytes is that misinformation is a problem,” Rackman said. “We have to make sure everyone knows what this research is, what these researchers are doing.”

The panel was the public opening to the World Stem Cell Summit, which formally began today at the Alliant Energy Center.

The convention will host a series of talks and panels about the future of the field, including some discussion about induced pluripotent stem cells, or IPS cells, which were invented in Thomson’s lab last fall.

Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, a strong supporter of stem cell research, will be the keynote speaker at the convention tonight.