CIRM as Regulator, Compliance Enforcer

In addition to handing out $3 billion in grants to California stem cell researchers, CIRM is also a regulator, monitoring the conduct of its grantees' research to ensure they adhere to the agency's stringent ethical standards.

The subject came up briefly at last week's board meeting in Los Angeles and is expected to come up again at the board meeting in December.

Geoff Lomax, senior officer for medical and ethical standards, had prepared a presentation to discuss, among other things, the agency's research standards monitoring program. But it was caught in the hurly-burly surrounding the disease team applications and was delayed until the next board meeting.

However, his slides are available and provide an introduction to the scope of what CIRM calls its compliance program.

The effort includes financial tracking, reporting on publications and IP and examination of institutions' own oversight programs along with site visits.

Lomax's slides also said,

“CIRM provided recommendations to two institutions regarding the need for more explicit procedures and policies to govern their oversight programs.

“CIRM identified one patent that had not been reported; grantee has now addressed.

“CIRM has worked with two grantee institutions to ensure compliance with AALAC (animal care accreditation) requirements.”

Lomax's slides start with number 25 in this file.