Showing posts with label cirm compensation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cirm compensation. Show all posts

Monday, December 14, 2020

Need Work? California's Stem Cell Agency Looking to Hire Ten

Looking for a job with an exciting and unique $12 billion stem cell research funding organization in the Golden State of California.?

The state stem cell agency, which is now into everything from "aging as a pathology" to mental health, is looking to hire 10 persons to fill posts ranging vice president of science to administrative assistant.

While the positions are yet to be officially posted online, here is the list of expected openings, according to the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as the stem cell agency is officially known. 

(Update: On Jan. 2, applications for seven of these positions were available on the CIRM web site.)
  • Senior Executive Assistant
  • Senior Science Officer, Review
  • Project Manager, Review
  • Vice President of Science
  • General Counsel
  • Grants Management Specialist
  • Administrative Assistant
  • Director of Finance
  • Business Services Officer
  • Senior Science Officer
Here is a link to the pay schedule at CIRM. Here is a link to a document dealing with the agency's compensation program as of today.

Official postings for the positions could come as early as late this month. They will appear on this CIRM web page.

CIRM currently has 33 employees. Proposition 14 contains a nominal cap of 70 but also permits the number to grow substantially if the employees are compensated through cash that is not part of the agency's official state bond funding. 

CIRM is currently based in Oakland, Ca. 

Tuesday, December 08, 2015

Attacking Barriers to Stem Cell Cures: California to Put Official Stamp on New Strategy

Call it California’s $900-million road map to a stem cell cure. 

That’s what up for final action next week by the governing board of the state’s $3 billion stem cell agency, officially known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

The plan includes a $105 million lure to entice Big Pharma and other possible investors to join the Golden State’s regenerative medicine bandwagon and create an “industrial stem cell therapeutic powerhouse.” 

Randy Mills, president of the California stem cell agency, and his team are calling for “attacks” on barriers to clinical development of therapies. That includes the FDA which Mills and company say “appears to be literally lobbying against the very therapeutic modality they are responsible for promoting.” (See here and here.)

The key part of the $105 million stem surge would bring together next year the state of California and private investors in a joint enterprise. Under the plan, the private investors would have the pick of the best research from CIRM that has not already attracted partners.

The agency would pony up $75 million with another $75 million coming from investors.
(Here are links to the CIRM description of the three components of the $105 million effort: here, here and here.)

The agenda for the Dec. 17 meeting in Los Angeles includes other matters, such as action on a clinical research applications for millions of dollars. The review summaries of those applications are not yet available online, but most of the additional supporting material for the meeting has been posted. That is a healthy change from some recent past meetings where backup information has been missing until much too late.

(The morning of Wednesday Dec. 9, the agency posted a note on the agenda saying the applications were no longer under consideration. Often that means that the proposals have been withdrawn because of negative recommendations from reviewers.)

Also on tap is a major change in the scoring of applications in non-clinical programs. Here is how the change is described by a CIRM memo:

“For non-Clinical Program applications, therefore, we propose to revert to our former scoring system (1 to 100) with two tiers: (Tier 1) average score of 85 or above, recommended for funding, if funds are available, and (Tier 2) average score of 84 or below, not recommended for funding. In  addition, for those programs for which only one application is expected to be funded, we propose to specify that the application that receives the highest average scientific score shall be deemed to be the GWG’s recommendation for funding.”

These changes would be in effect for the three rounds involved in the $105 million surge.

The board is also being asked to raise the cap on payments to patient advocate members of the board from $15,000 to $30,000 annually. The move would be retroactive to the beginning of this year. 

A CIRM memo said that demands on patient advocate directors have increased dramatically both in terms of the numbers of meetings and their role. The memo said that prior to Mills’ arrival at CIRM patient advocates were involved in only three or four review sessions a year. In 2015, those sessions have already risen to close to a dozen.

While next week’s meeting will be based in Los Angeles, remote, telephonic locations where the public can participate will be located at Stanford and UC San Diego. Specific addresses can be found on the agenda.

Friday, July 29, 2011

$150,000 Buyout at Stem Cell Agency in Management Shuffle

Even minor reorganization of an enterprise can come at a price. At the California stem cell agency, rejiggering its financial management generated a $150,000 buyout for the vice president of operations.

The payment was made when the position was eliminated and a new financial management structure created, shifting more authority to the office of the chairman of the $3 billion agency and away from CIRM President Alan Trounson. All of which was done this spring, prior to the election of Jonathan Thomas as the new chairman of CIRM.

Earlier this month, we asked CIRM whether any severance or other payments had been made to John Robson when he left the agency after his job was done away with. Melissa King, executive director of the board, replied,
"When the board approved John's appointment in June 2008 (see June 27, 2008 transcript at (pages) 233-243), it included a separation payment of $150,000 if John were terminated without cause within 60 months of his appointment. This separation payment was intended to compensate John for forgoing pension benefits from his former employer to accept the position at CIRM, where his new pension benefits would not vest for 5 years (60 months) As you know, as part of CIRM's recent reorganization, the position of vice president for operations, which John held, was eliminated. Consistent with the terms of John's appointment, CIRM made a separation payment of $150,000 to John."
Under the new structure approved in early May, a chief financial officer/director of finance will report to both Thomas and Trounson. Previously, the vice president of operations reported directly to Trounson. The move adds to the controversial dual executive arrangement at CIRM, which State Controller John Chiang, the state's top fiscal officer, has said "severely compromises" oversight at the agency.

The reorganization plan said,
"The director of finance will be jointly appointed by the president and the chair and will support, and report jointly to, the president and the chair. The president and the chair will be jointly responsible for employment and compensation decisions relating to the director of finance."
The new structure also places 12 persons out of 53 paid staff at CIRM partly or totally in the office of the chair. The total includes both the chairman and one of the vice chairs, who are both on salary.

CIRM has not yet posted a job opening for the new position. At last report, the chairman and president have not yet been able to agree on a job description.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Whopping Pay Hike Proposed for CIRM Grant Reviewers

The California stem cell agency, which constantly stews about recruiting and keeping enough top notch scientists to review its grant applications, is now proposing to pay them $750 a day, which could total as much as $10,000 per reviewer for each grant round.

If the compensation reaches that level, it would be a 500 percent increase in the flat $2,000 that was previously provided.

The pay hike comes before the CIRM board later this week. In a memo, the CIRM staff said it was needed in order for the agency to be “competitive” in securing reviewers, who are usually well-known and respected scientists.

CIRM offered no figures for the overall estimated cost of the increase in what it calls "honorarium." But at $750-a-day, which amounts to $195,000 if it were applied on annual basis, the amount is pay – not honorarium.

We based our cost estimates on information provided in 2007 by Richard Murphy, then interim president of CIRM. Murphy also had served as head of the Salk Institute and as a member of CIRM board.

Murphy told the California Stem Cell Report that when he did grant reviews it took him one to two weeks to review the grants and write them up, including meeting time and travel. Based on that, the proposed pay for reviewers – which covers days of service, not just actual meetings -- could run from $3,750 to $10,000 per grant ground for each reviewer. Of course, the amount depends on how fast a reviewer works and could be less or more.

The number of grant reviewers actually used varies, depending on the need for specialists. However, 13 sit as regular members of the grant review group and many, many more as alternates or ad hoc members.

Murphy spoke to us at a CIRM board meeting during which the compensation was boosted from $500 a day to the flat $2,000. The $500 only applied to meeting days. The compensation does not include travel expenses, which are also reimbursed by CIRM.

As CIRM indicated, retaining skilled reviewers appears to be getting tougher. Lifting of the federal ban on hESC grants would certainly would seem to create more demand from the NIH for scientific reviewers who might also be recruited by CIRM. And the stem field generally is much more active than it was in 2005, when CIRM got started, generating more demand for reviewers. All of those reviewers also have their own personal research projects to attend.

The need for increased CIRM incentives is also likely linked to the absence of a chief scientific officer (CSO) at CIRM. One of the “the most important and least appreciated aspects of the CSO's role has been to personally beg, harangue and plead” with other scientists to serve as reviewers, as one person told us.

The post is now vacant after the resignation of Marie Csete earlier this year. Csete had served as CIRM reviewer and was well-respected and well-known in her field, giving her the heft to bring in reviewers.

It is likely to be some months before her post is filled.

CIRM also cited as justification for the pay increase an increasing future workload as grant rounds become more complex.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

CIRM Alleges Misrepresentation of Salary Proposal

The California stem cell agency says we have "misrepresented the issue on the salaries" in our post below, an allegation with which we do not agree.

Here is the statement this afternoon from Ellen Rose, interim communications officer for CIRM:
"You have misrepresented the issue on the salaries in your post. As I stated over the weekend, we are changing the ranges. This does not translate into a salary increase for anyone. We’ve done this to be in line with what we learned from the Mercer survey. Your post makes it seem like salaries are being automatically increased, which is not the case."
Here is our response to her:
"I repeatedly referred to salary ranges, including in the headline. But I will be glad to carry your comments verbatim. Meanwhile, do you want explain the rationale, such as why salary ranges should be increased. If they should be increased, why the 75th percentile? Why increase salary ranges in a year when the state is facing a budget crisis? And why increase the ranges unless there is the intent to pay someone at the level in the not too distant future? There is no point increasing salary ranges if there is no intent to pay at that level.

"Again, I will carry responses to those questions verbatim or to other comments in support of the pay range increase. Thanks."
The boosts in the salary ranges may be warranted, but CIRM has not made a case, particularly for such an ill-timed effort.

Monday, February 18, 2008

CIRM Proposes 50 Percent Pay Range Hikes; Watchdog Says They are Unjustified

The California stem cell agency is set to boost the maximum salary ranges of its top executives by 50 percent, a move that one watchdog group says flies in the face of California's budget crisis.

Under the proposal to be considered Wednesday by a subcommittee of the CIRM board of directors, the top salary range for the president would skyrocket more than $200,000 -- from $412,500 to $618,750. The salary range would also apply in the case of the chairman of the agency, Robert Klein, a multimillionaire real estate investment banker. However, Klein has declined to accept a salary.

Other proposed salary increases would see the top of the range climb from $270,000 to $405,000 for vice chairman, chief scientific officer and chief operating officer, a new position that is currently unfilled. The top of the salary range for general counsel and intellectual property attorney (another new, unfilled position) would jump from $225,000 to $337,500.

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights said the increases "are unjustified in the face of a state budget crisis."

In a statement prepared for release Tuesday, John M. Simpson, stem cell project director for the group, said CIRM was "tone-deaf" in proposing the pay hikes. He said,
"CIRM doesn’t operate with some financier’s private stash of cash. CIRM is a state agency funded by taxpayer dollars. It needs to act like one.”
Simpson also said that CIRM's general counsel already received a 41 percent pay increase in December after only 10 months on the job, boosting her salary from $160,000 to $225,000.

The CIRM document proposing the other executive salary range increases did not offer a rationale nor did an accompanying salary survey paid for by CIRM. We asked Ellen Rose, spokeswoman for CIRM, what the justification was for the increase, She said,
"We are re-aligning the maximum of the ranges to be slightly above the 75th percentile data Mercer provided to be consistent with our Compensation Philosophy."
No further rationale was provided by CIRM for the top pay increases, which amount to more than an average of 16 percent a year since 2005 when the first salary schedule was approved by CIRM directors. At that time, CIRM salaries generated considerable heat because of what critics called their extravagance.

CIRM is a tiny agency with only 26 employees, although it hands out grant money at a rate exceeding $20,000 an hour. It is limited by law to only 50 employees. Its operating budget this year is running about $8 million, about $5.5 million of which is salaries.

The proposed pay raises would have no impact on the state budget. CIRM operates outside of the normal realm of state budget matters. CIRM's budget cannot be cut by the governor or the legislature. CIRM spending (which is financed by state bonds) is untouchable because of constitutional changes approved in Prop. 71. That fact is not likely to be understood by the public. Beyond that, the increases are a symbol of governmental profligacy that will not sit well with many persons, regardless of their position on stem cell research. The pay hikes additionally will hand another cudgel to foes of human embryonic stem cell research.

The chair of the CIRM subcommitteee considering the pay increases on Wednesday is Sherry Lansing, a former Hollywood film studio executive and currently a member of the University of California regents. Several years ago, as a regent she went through a major flap concerning excessive compensation for top executives at many UC campuses.

That episode reflected poorly on UC, and CIRM is likely to suffer the same fate.

(The subcommittee meeting begins at 3 p.m. The public may participate in the sessions at locations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Carlsbad and Irvine. You can find the specific addresses here.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

No Stem Cell Sinecure at CIRM

The California stem cell agency is planning to make some pay changes for its staff and seems to be setting the stage with an interesting document that is now up on its web site.

In some ways, the three-page statement of "compensation philosophy" could be considered a list of the reasons not to work for CIRM. On the other hand, it is a realistic portrayal of work-life at the agency. The staff is tiny – now only 26 and limited to 50 by state law. The work is intense and demanding.

CIRM directors have repeatedly expressed concern about burnout. Seven persons, including some high level officials, have left since October.

Nonetheless CIRM offers some extraordinary opportunities to work at the cutting edge of science, government and business. It is doing pioneering work and is watched globally. It currently has a "wow" factor that has even enticed its new President, Alan Trounson, away from Australia.

Here is the segment of the compensation philosophy that might give pause to some who may be looking for a sinecure:
"CIRM recognizes recruiting and retention challenges that are unique to CIRM and that reduce the pool of talent available to the Institute. These include:

CIRM’s inability to offer tenured positions to any of its employees. All CIRM staff are at-will employees and can be terminated at the discretion of the President, which is a strength of the Institute but a liability for individual employees.

CIRM’s anticipated life-span is 10-14 years, which rules out the possibility of a longterm career track that is available for many civil service positions in the UC system.

"Due to CIRM’s projected limited life span, the Defined Benefit Plan (a traditional pension plan) is not perceived to be of significant value by staff members who will presumably have left the organization by the time they reach retirement age.

"The Defined Benefit Plan dictates a five-year vesting schedule, which is unattractive if the employee is with CIRM for a limited time period.

"CIRM has a defined contribution plan (e.g. 401K & 457) not supplemented with employer contributions.

"CIRM’s Conflict of Interest policy limits an employee’s ability to engage in outside opportunities to earn additional income through consulting and/or holding investments in organizations that can benefit from CIRM’s programs, including a requirement that employees divest themselves of any investment in a company that devotes more than 5% of its research budget to stem cell research.

"CIRM, unlike many of CIRM’s academic competitors, does not offer housing allowances, which is a significant challenge when relocating prospective staff to the Bay Area with its high cost of real estate and living.

"CIRM does not provide a long-term career path or advancement for staff within CIRM due to the limited number of positions defined by law to be within CIRM’s structure. Promotion can come only when existing staff members leave.

"Given our statutory inability to recruit a large number of new staff, CIRM employees need to be flexible and willing to transfer skills to support CIRM’s overall operating goals, which may go beyond bench-marked job descriptors gained from larger established institutions.

"Staff members need to be willing to be cross-trained as CIRM’s needs develop.

"As part of their job descriptions, CIRM employees need to be able to work “out of the box” in that they are to interact with institutions arround the world to ensure positive international relations."
The proposed changes in pay come up at next week's Oversight Committee meeting. No information on the specifics is yet available on the CIRM web site.

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