Abstract
Objectives: The primary purpose of this questionnaire study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of the staff members, health professionals, and students in King Abdulaziz university (KAU) about stem cells and their potential therapeutic applications. The secondary purpose was to evaluate their knowledge and attitude about the importance of the ethical aspects of scientific research.
Results: There was a significant relationship (p < 0.05) among the three domains of the study (knowledge, attitude, and ethics); with highest correlation between attitude and knowledge (R = 0.294). Female respondents knew more about stem cells and had more positive attitudes towards stem cell research, and they rated the importance of ethical research more highly than male respondents (P≤0.05 and P≤0.0001, respectively). There was a significant association between knowledge about stem cells and education level (p = 0.016) and between knowledge and rating of the importance of ethics (p = 0.036). Surprisingly, about 75% of respondents believed that patients could have the right to use unapproved stem cells therapies.
Conclusion: Most participants had adequate knowledge about stem cells, positive attitudes towards both stem cell researches, and importance of ethics in scientific researches with higher scores in female respondents. Religious beliefs and age had no effect on respondents’ knowledge of our attitudes towards stem cells, nor on their views regarding research ethics. However, more supervisory oversight and professional action are essential to protect the society from unproven stem cell therapies without sufficient clinical trials.

Key words: Stem cells, Unproven stem cell therapies, Clinical trials, Stem cell therapy, Ethics of stem cells