Directors
of the California stem cell agency are set to give away up to $80
million late this month as they pursue their efforts to turn research
into cures.
The
most attention-getting award round would create one or two stem cell-genome centers in California that the agency says will advance
medicine and make the Golden State a world leader in stem cell
genomics. Cost of the effort could run as high as $40 million.
The
initial review of the applications last year was marked by a
conflict of interest involving reviewer Lee Hood of Seattle, Wash.,
an internationally known genomics researcher, and Irv Weissman of
Stanford, who was involved in one of the applications. The
conflict was first reported by the California Stem Cell Report and
subsequently received attention in international scientific
publications.
The
other $40 million round (possibly 30 awards) is a continuation of the
agency's basic biology funding. CIRM, however, is increasingly
turning towards research that is either in a clinical trial or close
to one. It is seeking to fulfill the promises of the 2004 ballot
campaign that created the agency and also to create some excitement
that will lead to more funding of the agency, which is scheduled to
run out of cash in less than three years.
Also
on the
agenda for the Jan. 29 meeting in Berkeley is the search for
a new president and unspecified changes in CIRM
rules that deal with research involving human eggs. More
details are expected to appear on the agenda in the coming week along
with summaries of the grant review applications and scores.
The California
Stem Cell Report will have more on the genomics round also
in the coming week.
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