03/10/2010
The UC-Davis Institute for Regenerative Medicine is scheduled to open today. The center will bring the university's stem cell research activities together in one location. The California Institute of Regenerative Medicine contributed $20 million to the center's development. Sacramento Bee et al.
03/01/2010
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine recently rolled out a Web-based stem cell curriculum for high school students. The project stems from a 2009 state law requiring CIRM to collaborate with the Department of Education on career development programs for biotechnology and stem cell science. San Francisco Business Times.
01/27/2010
On Tuesday, the California Financial Accountability Oversight Committee approved recommendations from the Little Hoover Commission that called for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to rework the process it uses to approve funding requests. The Little Hoover Commission has called for greater transparency at CIRM. Sacramento Bee's "Capitol Alert."
01/11/2010
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine has shifted the focus of its grants from projects aimed at developing a framework for stem cell research to research projects that are further along in the development process but are unlikely to receive federal funding because of their commercial nature. CIRM was formed after California voters approved Proposition 71 to fund stem cell research in 2004. Los Angeles Times.
01/06/2010
Last year, the Buck Institute for Age Research in Novato won a $20.5 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to build a new stem cell research center, but the recession has made it difficult for Buck to raise the required matching funds. Institute officials are hoping to secure money from the 2009 federal economic stimulus package. Marin Independent Journal.
12/11/2009
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Vice Chair Art Torres' annual pay will jump from $75,000 to $225,000 under a proposal that won unanimous approval from CIRM's Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee. Torres' workload also will increase. Sacramento Bee.
12/03/2009
NIH has authorized the first 13 lines of human embryonic stem cells for research under a shift in policy that President Obama announced in March. A spokesperson for California's stem cell research institute said NIH's move will help advance work under way in California. Washington Post et al.
11/12/2009
On Wednesday, stem cell researchers gathered in La Jolla to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the approval of the state's $3 billion stem cell initiative and to discuss upcoming challenges for the program. Larry Goldstein, director of the stem cell program at UC-San Diego, said that there are many promising ideas in the field but that it is unclear which will work and which will require years of testing to improve researchers' understanding of the science. San Diego Union-Tribune.
11/05/2009
To fulfill the goal of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to keep the state, its universities and biotechnology companies "on the forefront" of stem cell research, researchers "must create a significantly new approach that will greatly accelerate the timetable" for developing stem cell treatments, argues Art Torres, vice chair of CIRM. According to Torres, the new approach requires "cooperation and collaboration," including "involvement of the entire spectrum of participants from the beginning" and "funding, enough of it, and with a long-term vision." Sacramento Bee.
10/29/2009
Yesterday, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine announced that it will dole out $230 million to advance stem cell research on various diseases. CIRM said grant recipients should aim to conduct human clinical trials within four years. San Francisco Chronicle et al.
09/28/2009
Today, abortion-rights opponents will gather in Sacramento to announce an effort aimed at qualifying a ballot measure to amend the state constitution to state that a fertilized egg is a human being at the moment of conception. Similar efforts are under way in other states, and critics say the proposals could undermine in vitro fertilization, some kinds of birth control and stem cell research. Los Angeles Times.
09/22/2009
The California Institute of Regenerative Medicine and the Maryland Technology Development Corp. have signed an agreement aimed at making it easier for researchers in the two states to team up on research projects and qualify for joint funding. San Francisco Business Times, Baltimore Sun.
09/18/2009
On Thursday, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research signed an agreement to work together on joint stem cell research projects. Under the agreement, researchers from California and Germany would be encouraged to form research teams that jointly would apply for funding. This is CIRM's sixth international partnership. San Francisco Business Times.
07/15/2009
Most of the laboratories in the U.S. that create new stem cell lines are in California because state voters approved $3 billion to fund such research in 2004 when tighter restrictions on federal funding for stem cell research were in place. KQED's "The California Report."
07/09/2009
In an opinion piece, Daniel Hancock, chair of the Little Hoover Commission, highlights recommended changes to the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine that were included in a report the commission released last month. Hancock said the changes are needed to ensure the success of the agency. Sacramento Bee.