California Application Shutdown: Text of Comments by Steve Peckman

Here is the full text of comments by Steve Peckman on the shutdown of applications by the California stem cell agency. Peckman was responding to questions from the California Stem Cell Report. 

"The inevitable announcement by CIRM serves to highlight the impressive success of Proposition 71 as a catalyst for scientific discovery and the clinical application of stem cell research and regenerative medicine.  Since 2005, CIRM’s trailblazing initiatives from science and ethics training to basic scientific research, biomedical tool development, infrastructure, pre-clinical testing, and clinical trials have made California an international leader in the field.  The pool of scientific knowledge is constantly growing because of the public’s trust and investment in the future.  The forward thinking of California voters through the passage of Proposition 71 has gifted the world with critical biomedical breakthroughs, such as a cure for ADA-SCID (developed by UCLA physician-scientist Dr. Donald Kohn and his team), whose broad impact will inform science and medicine for generations to come.

"As you noted, talk of CIRM’s death is a bit premature as it will still be awarding pre-clinical and clinical research grants in the near term and overseeing research grants and clinical trials for at least four more years."