Donn Rubin
Chairman, Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures

As Chairman of the Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures, a group that includes over 60,000 citizens and over 100 leading patient and medical groups, Mr. Rubin led the successful effort to pass the Missouri Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, or “Amendment 2” to the Missouri Constitution, approved by voters in November 2006.   This hotly contested race was called the “emblematic election” of 2006 (Washington Post) and dubbed by some religious media as “the Gettysburg of America’s culture war.”  The New York Times called the victory a “key endorsement of the research even in states with deep religious roots.”  Mr. Rubin continues to lead the Coalition in its ongoing effort to protect and advance medical research in Missouri.

Mr. Rubin also serves as Executive Director of The Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences, working to position the St. Louis region as an international leader in biomedical and plant sciences research and industry.  Mr. Rubin was appointed in 2005 by Missouri Governor Matt Blunt to chair the Missouri Technology Corporation.

Mr. Rubin previously worked in international development, assisting the post-communist governments of Eastern Europe reform their legal and health care systems.   He coordinated U.S. legal assistance to the government of Albania, serving as advisor to the Minister of Justice and the Constitution Drafting Committee, and also established programs in nine Eastern European countries to help reform their post-communist health care systems.

Mr. Rubin received his BS in Economics, summa cum laude, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; and his JD, cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School.