Crossing the Two Million Mark: A Dozen Years of Readership on the California Stem Cell Report

Google's page view count for the California Stem Cell
Report as of 11:01 a.m. today 

The California Stem Cell Report this morning hit a readership milestone -- two million page views.

The count was recorded only about 18 months after chalking up one million page views, a number that took 10 years to reach. The blog began publication in January 2005, just as the Golden State's stem cell agency was getting underway. Since then 4,492 items have appeared. 

For those not familiar with Internet terms, a page view is recorded by Google each time a person opens his or her Internet browser on a particular page. It is an industry standard that it is used to help define readership, something akin to circulation numbers for newspaper.

The California Stem Cell Report (CSCR) is somewhat unique. It is the only independent web site devoted to the $3 billion ($6 billion if you count interest costs) California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as the agency is formally known. The report was created to dig deeply into the agency, focusing largely on public policy and economic issues and recording the agency's activities.

David Jensen, Mazatlan, Mexico

The blog is published and written by David Jensen, a retired editor and journalist who spent most of his career at The Sacramento Bee, but who also worked seven years for United Press International and two years as a press aide to Gov. Jerry Brown (1974-76). Over the last 12 years, Jensen has covered the agency while living on a sailboat as it navigated the west coasts of Mexico and Central America. He traveled back to California from time to time for meetings of the agency and interviews with its leaders.

As reported in 2015, the one-million figure then and the two-million figure now are both large and small. The figures are picayune compared to the readership for major news sites. But they are relatively large given the size of the potential audience.

The report's long-time estimate has been that only about 3,000 to 4,000 persons worldwide are deeply interested in stem cell matters. When Randy Mills, former president of the stem cell agency, heard the estimate last year, he said he thought the number was even less. 

The readership for the blog is mostly found in the United States, according to Google's statistics. But a significant component comes from Europe as well. Readers range from individuals seeking information about stem cell therapies to folks at such places as the National Institutes of Health, major research institutions in California and elsewhere including Harvard, Cedars-Sinai, Sanford-Burnham, Stanford, UC San Francisco, UC Irvine. 

The most highly read article during the past 12 years deals with the cost of a stem cell therapy. It has had 23,498 page views, far beyond the second best-read piece that counted 2,754 page views. Presumably the "cost" piece drew considerable attention from persons considering a stem cell treatment. The No. 2 article dealt with a call by the state controller for online posting of the economic interests of members of the CIRM governing board.

The blog has also served as a starting point or helpful reference for many journalists looking into the agency and has been described as "indispensable" by Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik. 

The blog began shortly after the passage of the 2004 ballot initiative that created the agency and provided the bond funding for the program. CIRM is unique in California history and is one of the largest, if not the largest, single source in the world of funding for stem cell research, especially involving human embryonic stem cells. CIRM has had a major impact on stem cell science in California and has helped to sustain research interest in the field at a time when others were wary of involvement.

Its birth was unusual, probably the only scientific research effort ever triggered by the use of petitions signed by more than one million voters and then placed on the ballot for further voter approval. It additionally represents a rare confluence of big science, big business, big academia, big government, big politics, religion, morality and life and death. 

The blog itself is financed personally by Jensen, who has no financial ties to biotech, academia or industry or the agency. Google does place ads on the site, which generate about $150 every six months or so based on the number of people who click on an ad. A crowd funding pitch awhile back was unsuccessful. However, the blog does spin off occasional freelance pieces to The Sacramento Bee and Capitol Weekly. 

Correction

Two items today and yesterday on the California Stem Cell Report incorrectly said that Carmen Puliafito was reappointed as a member of the stem cell agency's governing board in 2010 by Gov. Jerry Brown. The re-appointment was made by then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Brown was elected in 2010 but did not take office until 2011.

Check Out All the Breaking California Stem Cell News Tomorrow -- Right Here on This Web Site

The California Stem Cell Report will bring you on-site, gavel-to-gavel coverage of tomorrow's meeting of the governing board of the Golden State's $3 billion stem cell agency.

The board is slated to approve $64 million in new awards for research into afflictions ranging from strokes to liver disease. Also to be approved is the appointment of Maria Millan as the interim president of the stem cell program. The excitement is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. PDT.

For those who prefer to monitor online the nearly day-long meeting themselves, instructions can be found on the agenda. If you would like to attend, the meeting is in Burlingame at the San Francisco Airport Marriott Hotel. Two other public, telephonic locations can be found in Los Angeles and one each in Beverly Hills, Sacramento and La Jolla.

Specific addresses and more information can be found on the agenda.

California Stem Cell Report Going Dark for a Few Days

The California Stem Cell Report expects to be offline for perhaps the next five to seven days.

The moving home of this web site, the sailing vessel Hopalong, will be making a passage north from Mazatlan into the Sea of Cortez, formally known as the Gulf of California. We will not have access to cellular or Internet coverage during that time.

A Look at the California Stem Cell Agency: Its Origins, Its Accomplishments and Its Future

The Capitol Weekly online news and information service this afternoon posted a major overview of the $3 billion California stem cell agency.

The piece covered the agency's origins, recent high water marks and discussed its future. Here is the beginning of the freelance article by yours truly.

"C. Randal Mills, the 45-year-old CEO of California’s $3 billion stem cell research program, is a man who loves his milestones. 

"A private pilot, he charts his course in the air from one specific point to the next. Three years ago, Mills brought that same sort of navigation to the state stem cell agency. Miss one of the agency’s milestones, and — if you’re a stem cell scientist — you may not crash and burn, but you could lose millions of dollars in research funding from the state. 

"Mills has left an indelible stamp on the agency with his emphasis on concrete, measurable results. But he is resigning from the research program at the end of June in the midst of what some say is its “last stage.” His surprise departure to head the world’s largest bone marrow donor organization shocked many in California’s stem cell community. And it added to the unease about its future along with the future of possible stem cell therapies."  

(For those of you who read a brief item this morning about how this blog was going to go dark for a few days while it was on an ocean passage in the Sea of Cortez, we had a minor setback. Our floating home, the sailing vessel Hopalong, suffered a mechanical problem that we could not fix at sea, so we returned to port for repairs. The voyage begins anew tomorrow morning.)

Major Overview of California Stem Cell Upcoming This Afternoon

Look for a major overview of the $3 billion California stem cell agency later today on Capitol Weekly, a well-respected online news and information service that focuses on state government and politics.

The piece was written by yours truly on a freelance basis for Capitol Weekly and includes the latest developments at the agency, including what departing president Randy Mills leaves behind.

Given the vagaries of the Internet and news, publication of the article cannot be totally guaranteed this afternoon. So if it doesn't pop up today, try again later this week.

Meanwhile, the California Stem Cell Report is going dark for a number of days while it makes an ocean voyage in its maritime home, the sailing vessel Hopalong, in the Sea of Cortez.  Coverage of the agency is expected to resume perhaps by this weekend when an Internet connection can be found in Baja California.

Correction

An item yesterday on the meeting of the governing board of the stem cell agency incorrectly stated that the board approved $37 million in awards. The correct figure is about $33 million.

Update: Lengthier Look at CIRM Delayed

The lengthier look at the performance of the California stem cell agency that was promised earlier this week has been delayed for reasons beyond our control.

But it will be forthcoming, nonetheless. If you would like to add your thoughts to the piece, please direct them to djensen@californiastemcellreport.com.

Holiday Break for California Stem Cell Report

This web site will go dark for the holidays. If we are lucky, it will resume on Jan. 3. Best wishes to all and Happy New Year.

Upcoming: Full Coverage of California Stem Cell Agency Meeting Tomorrow

Check in here tomorrow with the California Stem Cell Report for gavel-to-gavel coverage of the meeting of the governing board of the $3 billion California stem cell agency -- a day-long session that will include a review of its performance this year and its path for 2017.

The meeting will be based in Oakland and will be covered live  by the California Stem Cell Report from Mexico via the agency's audiocast and online accessibility.

The session is expected to lay out upcoming rounds of awards of interest to both researchers and patients. Stories will be filed as warranted throughout the day.

For those interested in attending and participating in the session either in Oakland or at three teleconference locations in Los Angeles and the San Diego area, addresses can be found on the agenda. It also contains instructions for logging into the audiocast and Internet to see the slides being used.

Correction

The $20 million "bubble boy" item on Nov. 16, 2016, incorrectly reported that co-funding on the award totalled $8.9 million. The correct figure is $18.2 million.

Correction

The Semma-Melton diabetes item on Sept. 29, 2016, contained an inaccurate and incomplete description of the roles of institutions involved in the work being funded by the California stem cell agency. The item has been corrected. Here is the now accurate paragraph in question.

"Peter Butler, chief of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Hypertension at UCLA, will be dealing with patient selection. Dhruv Sareen of the Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Core Facility at Cedars-Sinai will direct derivation and analysis of pluripotent stem cells from each patient’s blood. The cells will be transferred to the City of Hope for manufacture of products for clinical trials."

California Stem Cell Report Dark This Week

Since the publisher of this report is making a passage aboard the sailing vessel Hopalong this week along the west coast of Mexico, don't expect any fresh items. Postings will resume next week.

Correction

The egg compensation item on April 18, 2016, incorrectly said that Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar bill last year. He actually vetoed the bill in 2013.

We'll Be Back Soon: The Lure of the Sea is Calling

The California Stem Cell Report will be going dark for a week or so while it takes a slow boat along the west coast of Mexico.

The passage is south from Mazatlan aboard the sailing vessel Hopalong, which has been the home of this writer and his spouse for nearly 18 years south of the border, from Mexico to Panama. For you cinematic types, Hopalong left Marina Mazatlan as another sailing vessel called Cassidy arrived. Hopalong is named after the TV cowboy, who famously admonished children not to call police officers coppers.

But when Cassidy gets into town, Hopalong has to get out. Much too confusing.

Read All About It! Gavel-to-gavel Coverage of Today's California's Stem Cell Agency Session, Researchers to Receive $44 Million

Check in right here all day-long on the California Stem Cell Report for all the news and information out of the meeting this morning of the governing board of the $3 billion California stem cell agency.

Directors are slated to give away $44 million for a variety of research projects, maybe more if two researchers are successful in overturning rejections of their proposals by the agency's reviewers.

Also on tap is examination of the agency's eye disease clinical portfolio, the first such thorough-going review. An ethics presentation is scheduled as well, dealing with public disclosure of  board member's financial interests and conflict-of-interest rules.

Taking Some Stem Cell Time Off

The California Stem Cell Report is going dark for the holidays and will resume during the first week of January 2016, a year that also will bring us the Chinese year of the red fire monkey.

We wish all of you fine readers out there a wonderful holiday and a happy new year!

Full Coverage Thursday of California's New Stem Cell Direction

For all the latest doings by the $3 billion California stem cell agency, follow the California Stem Cell Report on Thursday for on-the-scene reporting as the agency officially approves its new course for the next five years.

Directors of the agency are scheduled to meet in Los Angeles to ratify a spending plan for its last $900 million. Also on tap is a risky, $75 million venture aimed at pushing the best of CIRM's research into the marketplace. 

The California Stem Cell Report will provide gavel-to-gavel coverage, but avid followers of the agency can listen in on the Internet or from two telephonic locations in San Diego and at Stanford. Details are on the meeting agenda.  

Shameless Family Promotion: World's Best Leather iPhone Case

Looking for a terrific iPhone case with room for cash and cards as well? Look no further. 

The case comes in in different shades. Saddle black here.

You can find it at coveredplanet.com. The case is called The Traveler and is "the world's best leather iPhone wallet case." It provides "easy convenience and rugged protection" for people looking for more than the usual plastic. In other words, a perfect holiday gift.

But first a disclosure: Coveredplanet is an enterprise run by this writer's son out of Santa Barbara. He devised the case initially as a personal solution, inspired by the old days of cattle ranches, vaqueros and saddle-making on the California coast.

Coveredplanet says the case is "handcrafted here in the USA by some of world's best leather craftsmen, and we use only the highest quality materials - saddle grade leather, sturdy parachute thread, black matte finished polycarbonate cases and brass plated rivets - in our products. If you're not 100% satisfied, we also provide a 30-day return policy for your leather iPhone wallet case, but, we think, you'll never want to give it back."

Please check it out.  A 20 percent discount is available until Dec. 15. Type in FAF20 when ordering.

Coming Up

We expect to post a piece tomorrow on the impassioned presentation today by Randy Mills, CEO of the California stem cell agency, of his proposed strategic plan for the $3 billion research engterprise. He envisions a "great machine" that will set a new standard for the world stem cell community. Look for the article tomorrow.