California's $12 billion stem cell program is entering a new phase that will affect patients and researchers alike, and it is planning a show-and-tell this Thursday for the curious.
"With the voter approval of Proposition 14 CIRM is about to start a new chapter in its life. Because we are always trying to improve the way we operate, always trying to be better, there are going to be changes in the way we do things. Some of those changes are in the way we fund research, and the kinds of projects we are going to fund," the agency said in an announcement last week.
 |
| Gil Sambrano, CIRM photo |
vice president of portfolio and review. Sambrano has been at CIRM (the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine) for years. He is in charge of the application review process, among other things. (Update: Here is a link to a video of the presentation.)
The CIRM session is aimed primarily at researchers and is expected to deal with some changes dealing with making CIRM-funded data more open along with the new diversity requirements in applications dealing with both potential patient populations and lab/research staffing.
CIRM plans to award $182 million in the next six months. Based on discussions and action last month by the CIRM board, it would behoove applicants to be well-informed about the details of the new requirements and how they will affect the scoring of grant applications.
Here are links to the specifics on the changes: discovery/basic research, translational and clinical.
Here are CIRM instructions for joining the webinar that begins at noon PST on Thursday. The Zoom address is https://cirm-ca.zoom.us/s/
Other methods: Phone one-tap, US: +16699006833,,92287515387# or +13462487799,,92287515387#, or join by telephone (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location) US : +1 669 900 6833 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 929 205 6099; Webinar ID 922 8751 5387, passcode 210107.
