CIRM Application Shutdown: Text of Jeanne Loring's Comments

Here is the text of comments by Jeanne Loring on the application shutdown at the California stem cell agency. Loring was responding to questions by the California Stem Cell Report. She also filed a comment separately on the initial story. 

"CIRM has built an enormous resource of stem cell expertise in California over the last 14 years. They had a big impact on my lab; over the years I was awarded 10 grants on which I was PI or co-PI and several more as a co-investigator, we trained hundreds of researchers in pluripotent stem cell technology through CIRM’s Shared Labs and Training Center grants, I mentored 32 students through the Bridges program, and we published 71 scientific papers with CIRM support (so far). While I also obtained funding from the NIH and private donors, CIRM was by far the dominant supporter of my research.  When I obtained my first grant on human embryonic stem cells from the NIH in 2002, I could not have predicted that I would be able expand on that work so spectacularly. I was in the right place at the right time.

"While I am grateful for CIRM’’s support of my work, I have also been deeply troubled by some of  their decisions. This is not the time or place to dissect their judgments, but if they are rejuvenated by another bond measure, I hope they will call on some of us to share our experiences as they develop their strategy for the future of stem cell research and development in California."