He and his wife, Portia Iversen, founded Cure Autism Now in 1995. They
have 3 children together, and one of whom is affected by Autism. Was
critical in getting both the Children's Health Act of 2000 and
Combating Autism Act of 2006 passed.
Shestack serves on the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee (ICOC)
of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and two
bio-ethics task forces--a Department of Energy group on issues of
ethics and gene patenting and the Stanford University Center on
Integrating Ethics and Genetic Research.
Shestack continues to be a successful film producer while advocating
for Autism.
Son of celebrity Philadelphians: his mother, Marciarose Shestack - who's appeared
in two of his films - is a former local TV-show host; his father,
Jerome, is a prestigious corporate lawyer prominent in the American Bar
Assn.
Major trivia alert: Jerome Shestack's name can be seen twice, listed
among fictional lawyers' names on the lobby directory in The Young Philadelphians (1959).