Boiling the Ocean:' California Wrestles with Billion-Dollar Decisions and Stem Cell Research

What Does 'Unlikely' Mean?

Photo: License Dashboard

The talk at the California stem cell agency this week was of ”boiling the ocean,” the meaning of “unlikely” and “DEI.” All of which involves how $5.5 billion in taxpayer dollars will be used over the next decade or so....

Read all about it on the new platform for the California Stem Cell Report. And please subscribe on the new site to keep seeing the most complete and independent source of information on the doings at the state's $12 billion therapy development enterprise. 

The Latest: Deciding who Decides Who Gets California's Stem Cell Billions

CIRM directors tomorrow take up the matter of how the agency chooses the judges of applications for billions of California stem cell research dollars. You can read more about what's in store on the new platform of the California Stem Cell Report. 

You can also make sure you don't miss any of the news by subscribing free.  It's easy. Just click on the subscribe button when you go to the link below. 

Who Should be a Stem Cell Judge for California's $12 Billion Research Agency?

Looking at how scientists are chosen to score grant applications

The California stem cell agency has released its plans to revise the process of choosing the folks who make the de facto decisions on billions of dollars in research awards.

The revisions grew out of a meeting last month of the governing board of the $12 billion agency, officially called the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

Some directors sought more diversity among as many as 300 scientists who are tapped to review applications for awards. One director sought assurances that the process would lead to the selection of the most talented scientists, ones who also could be counted on work positively with others during the review process....

Subscribe Today to the Leading Source of Information on a $12 Billion Source of Stem Cell Research Funding

 It's time to subscribe -- free! -- to the California Stem Cell Report, which has moved to a new platform. 

Don't miss news and information concerning critical developments at the $12 billion California stem cell agency. It is the leading, independent and reliable source for all that happens at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). 

With more than 3 million page views and more than 5,000 items during the last 16 years, the Report's readers range from researchers throughout California to across the nation. Not to mention policymakers and entrepreneurs in the burgeoning stem cell field. "Indispensable" is how the Los Angeles Times described the California Stem Cell Report.

You can subscribe on the blog's new platform while reading the latest CIRM news. Please do it today. Here are recent links and excerpts that will take you to the location where you can subscribe with just one click.  

Telling the California Stem Cell Story: A Matter of Billions of Dollars

Building a Base of Voter Support

David Jensen 23 hr ago Edit post Exclude from Top

Can the stork be relied on to bring stem cell cash?

The respected California news service Capitol Weekly this week brought the exploits of the state’s $12 billion stem cell agency to a much wider audience than normal -- one that includes policymakers, lobbyists, lawmakers and even some information-hungry folks in the general public. 

The case in point involves the $17 million provided by the stem cell agency to help finance the world’s first clinical trial to treat spina bifida in the womb. ....

Bulldogs and Babies: World's First Trial to Treat Spina Bifida in the Womb

UC Davis Research Began More than 10 Years Ago

David Jensen Mar 10 Edit post Exclude from Top

Bulldog pups were tested earlier in the spina bifida research and came out lively. UCD video

Backed by $17 million in cash from California’s stem cell agency, researchers at UC Davis this month are launching “the world’s first clinical trial using stem cells to treat spina bifida before the child is born.”...

 

California Stem Cell Flashback: When CIRM Was Homeless and Without an HQ

CIRM is now based in Oakland. Here is what it looked like prior to a CIRM board
 meeting in 2019. The view from the 16th floor includes the San Francisco Bay. 
Photo: California Stem Cell Report

Editor’s note: Sixteen years ago California’s stem cell program was basically homeless. It had barely come into being. It had no way to pay its bills or even employees. This link will take you to an item from Jan. 25, 2005, on the California Stem Cell Report that captures a slice of what it was like back then.  It also comments on today's situation at the agency's headquarters in Oakland, where space needs appear to be changing. 

Speaking of changes, the California Stem Cell Report has moved to a new platform. Be sure to subscribe free on the new site so that you don't miss out on information that goes to researchers and policy makers throughout the state.