The Klein Donation: Top Stem Cell Agency Execs, Lawyers Aware of Gift but Fail to Report It

A number of top level executives, in addition to six lawyers, at the California stem cell agency knew of Robert Klein's $21,630 donation in May of last year although they failed to report it to the agency's board as required by agency regulations.

As a result, the 29 directors were not aware of the gift when Klein, former chairman of the agency, appeared before them two months later and successfully asked them to override a grant reviewer decision rejecting a $20 million award to StemCells, Inc., of  Newark, Ca. It was the first time in the eight year history of the agency that its board had approved an application rejected twice by its scientific reviewers. The proposal had been given a score of 61 out of 100. The board rejected higher scoring applications in that particular round.

According to a person familiar with the agency, members of its executive committee, some of whom are lawyers, were aware of the Klein donation in May. Other lawyers not on the executive committee knew as well. Previously, it was not known that the donation was known so widely among CIRM executives and lawyers. It also was not clear that they knew that Klein intended to appear before the board in July. At the time of his donation, reviewers had already rejected the StemCells, Inc., application but it was not supposed to be publicly known.

Most of the CIRM executives and lawyers aware of the gift were also present at a public meeting of the CIRM board in May as well as July but did not alert the board to board to the donation.

Last week, an agency spokesman said the failure to report the Klein gift was  “due to the lack of additional donations, a transition in CIRM’s finance office and an oversight."

The board will be formally told of the gift at next week's board meeting, more than a year after it was made.

The donation by Klein, a Palo Alto, Ca., real estate investment banker, financed a trip by six CIRM science officers to Japan for an international stem cell conference. CIRM President Alan Trounson subsequently directed the officers to give special access to Klein, among other favors Trounson granted Klein. Two of the officers were heavily involved in the grant round that included the StemCells, Inc., application. The science officers participate in the application of the closed-door review process but do not vote on proposals. Trounson excused himself from participation in public discussion of the StemCells, Inc., application because of his relationship with the company's founder, researcher Irv Weissman of Stanford University. 

The board vote approving the application was a narrow 7-5. It is not clear whether the vote would have changed if the board had been informed publicly about Klein's gift. But it would have heightened concerns that Klein was using his six-year service as chairman of the agency plus the donation to sway the board, which rarely overturns the decisions of its scientific reviewers. CIRM directors go along with reviewer decisions on 98 percent of applications, according to agency calculations.

One of the votes in favor of Klein's position came from Art Torres, one of two vice chairman of the agency. Torres' state-required economic disclosure statements show that he received at least $31,000 from firms controlled by Klein during 2012 and 2011. Torres works four days a week for the agency, earning an annual salary of $225,000. Torres told the California Stem Cell Report that his vote had no connection to the consulting work he did for Klein's real estate firms.

Klein has denied any impropriety in connection with his donation. He has not responded to questions involving Torres.

Patient Advocate Reed Defends Klein Donation to Stem Cell Agency

The California Stem Cell Report today received the following email from Don Reed, a patient advocate, who has long been involved in California stem cell agency affairs. Reed is vice president of public policy for Americans for Cures Foundation, a position he has held for some years. Americans for Cures is the personal lobbying organization created by Robert Klein, former chairman of the California stem cell agency. Reed said his opinions below are his own and may or may not reflect those of the foundation.

“I must take issue with your entry, 'Robert Klein Gives $21,630 to the California Stem Cell Agency,' May 05, 2013.

“When Bob Klein donated $21,630 to the California stem cell program (to allow scientists to attend a research conference in Japan) he was doing exactly what he always does: advancing research to ease suffering and save lives.  The scientists needed a way to attend a top-level conference. Believing in the benefits of researchers sharing thoughts, Bob paid for their trip.

“Unfortunately, your article appears to imply corrupt motivations.

“'A seemingly innocuous…gift…generated a wave of special favors for (Klein) that stretched out to include a gold mining multimillionaire from Canada.'.
A 'wave of special favors?'  The article states that 'Klein wanted to meet with the six science officers…'  and to get their impressions on the conference.

“Is that not natural? First, would it not be helpful to hear from the scientists if the trip was worth the time and expense? Second, Bob Klein works in real estate, a full-time job. He does not have the scientist’s automatic involvement to keep him up to speed on everything new in regenerative research. But he wants to know the latest: what is working, what is not. He is always eager for a chance to speak one-on-one with an expert.

“He met with a Canadian millionaire? Why is this shocking? The millionaire supports stem cell research; so does Bob. California is working closely with Canada on several projects; they pay their scientists, we pay ours; more bang for the buck. If there is a person with the resources and will to advance Canadian research, it is natural that Bob would want to develop a deeper interest in the shared research.

“And why should Klein be criticized for supporting a research project attempting to alleviate Alzheimer’s? He saw his own mother die of the disease, after losing the ability  to recognize her own son.  I am familiar with that particular Alzheimer’s project, and it had some amazing results, restoring memory to laboratory rats. This was a water maze test, and the rats recovered the memory of a pathway out of the water, which they had forgotten. To the best of my knowledge, no one else in the world had achieved memory return, and the project deserved the most serious consideration.  Yes, the board of directors voted against the Grants Working Group; it is not only their right but their responsibility to exercise judgment, and not merely be a rubber stamp for the GWG.

“There is also the matter of free speech. Anybody else in California can come to the meetings of the program and voice their opinion—why should Klein be denied the right to voice his opinion?

“Bob Klein owns no stem cell stock, no biomedical enterprises. Financially, supporting stem cell research has cost him a great deal. This is the man who led the fight to build the California stem cell program, donating roughly six million dollars, taking out loans on his house to help finance Proposition 71. And, for six years (without salary) he worked full-time as Chair of the Board of the oversight committee. Physically and emotionally, it has been an exhausting decade for him. He has not profited in any way, except to see the advancement of research for cure.

“Passing a $3 billion stem cell program in the midst of a recession was like relocating Mount Everest—seemingly impossible, but he did it anyway. He moved the mountain. Thousands of people helped, but one man made it possible. Without Bob Klein, California would not have the greatest stem cell program in the world: challenging diseases considered incurable since the dawn of time. That he should continue to support it, with his dollars, time, energy and creativity, is commendable.

“Sometimes a good deed is just that: no sinister motivations, no secret agendas-- just a positive action which benefits all.”  

Cash and Favors: Robert Klein Gives $21,630 to the California Stem Cell Agency

A seemingly innocuous $21,630 gift to the California stem cell agency has kicked up new questions about a controversial $20 million research award and generated a wave of special favors for the donor that stretched out to include a gold mining multimillionaire from Canada.

Robert Klein
Elie Dolgin/Nature photo

The gift was made last May by Robert Klein, chairman of the stem cell agency from 2004 to July 2011, but has never been publicly reported to the agency's governing board as required by its own regulations. 

In July, two months after he donated the cash, Klein made an unusual appearance before his old board and  pitched it to override rejection by scientific grant reviewers of a $20 million application by StemCells, Inc., of  Newark, Ca.  The board subsequently asked for a reevaluation of the proposal, which was again rejected by reviewers. Klein persisted at a September meeting, and the 29-member board decided, on a 7-5 vote,  to go along with him. It was the first time in its eight-year history that the board has approved an application that was rejected twice by its scientific reviewers, who scored the proposal at 61 out of 100. 

Klein's donation to the agency, formally known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), included more than the cash, which financed trips to a prestigious stem cell conference in Japan for six of the agency's science officers in June 2012. He also arranged the waiver of roughly $3000 to $4000 for their registration fees for the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. Nine agency executives and other staffers were already attending at taxpayer expense, but the six could not attend because of travel budget cuts at the $3 billion agency. (The total of 15 amounted nearly one-third of the agency's staff.)

Klein's donation triggered a number of special favors from the agency, according to documents provided by CIRM to the California Stem Cell Report under a state Public Records Act request.  Klein wanted to meet with the six science officers, who have a wide range of responsibilities, including managing and developing grant and loan programs, participating in reviews of applications and evaluating research progress. CIRM President Alan Trounson obliged. At the meeting in Japan, the six science officers received a memo approved by Trounson instructing them to meet privately “one-on-one” with their benefactor and to give him special access to their activities. The meetings were actually scheduled to also include a third person, Rob McEwen,  who is one of the 100 richest persons in Canada, a $20 million donor to a stem cell center in Toronto and CEO of the gold mining company bearing his name.

The memo indicated that the science officers – all California state employees – should be helpful by identifying areas of “special importance” to Klein and “other donors.” The CIRM documents show no objection from the agency to instructions from another member of the public -- Klein aide Melissa King -- to provide her and Klein with written summaries about the science officers' activities at the convention along with “details” about their work at CIRM. Email addresses of the six were also provided to Klein, who may have additionally received their cell phone numbers although that is not entirely clear.

At Klein's request, Trounson also invited McEwen to a closed-door session in Japan involving the agency's international partners, a session at which presumably valuable, little known scientific information might be mentioned and future directions charted. Trounson specifically told McEwen in an email that it was Klein who asked that the executive be invited to the session.

Both the agency and Klein deny any wrongdoing in connection with the donation, which was the only private contribution to CIRM in the 2011-12 fiscal year. Both say there was no connection between the donation last May 16 and the StemCells, Inc., application, which was rejected by reviewers one month earlier during closed-door meetings April 18-20, 2012.

CIRM's gift regulations bar donations from persons who have applied for funding or who intend to apply for funding, but the rules do not speak to gifts from persons who lobby on behalf of funding for others. The rules require that the governing board of the agency be informed at a public meeting of gifts accepted by Trounson on behalf of CIRM. Trounson is required to identify the donor and conditions imposed by acceptance of the gift. Trounson did neither prior to Klein's appearance last July on behalf of StemCells, Inc.

At the July meeting, Trounson recused himself from public discussions of the StemCells, Inc., application, although he did not offer an explanation. However, his action was connected to his relationship with stem cell scientist Irv Weissman of Stanford University, who founded the publicly traded company, currently sits on its board and holds 124,608 shares of the firm. Trounson was a guest once at Weissman's ranch for four days in July 2011, CIRM said in response to a question this week.

In the wake of the California Stem Cell Report's inquiries, Kevin McCormack, the agency's senior director for public communications, said last week that the agency plans to report the donation to the governing board at its meeting in the San Francisco Bay Area later this month.

McCormack said the failure to report the donation prior to the board's consideration of StemCells, Inc.'s, application was “due to the lack of additional donations, a transition in CIRM’s finance office and an oversight."(See thefull text of McCormack's statement here.) 

Asked whether the agency is concerned about the appearance of Klein's donation and the subsequent board action, McCormack replied,

“No, the two items are entirely separate with no connection. Item 1  involved Bob Klein making a donation to allow science officers to attend a critically important scientific meeting on stem cell research.  The science officers had originally planned on attending but then were told they could not because of cuts in our out-of-state travel budget – Bob Klein’s donation, without using state funds, enabled the science officers to attend.  Item 2 is an ICOC (board) decision to fund a research project that they felt had promise and was important for the people of California.”

As for the special treatment of Klein in the wake of his donation, the agency did not respond to inquiries asking for an explanation.

Klein said in an email that his donation was not connected to StemCells, Inc. He said that as late as June he had “no idea” that the its application had been rejected by reviewers. Klein said that he committed to the donation in “April or May.”  (The full text of Klein's comments re the application can be found here and here.)

Prior to leaving CIRM in 2011, Klein was a non-voting  member of the CIRM grant review committee, which consists of out-of-state scientists and seven CIRM board members. His service on the committee included the period when it approved a planning grant for StemCells, Inc., to prepare its application for the $20 million.

Klein noted that he did not pick the six science officers for the Japan trip. One of them was the lead science officer on the award round involving StemCells, Inc. A second was also heavily involved, according to  the transcript of the July 2012 board meeting. Science officers, however, do not vote on or score applications. Klein characterized the CIRM staff as recommending against approval of the grant so “they were clearly not influenced” by his donation.

Klein said his meetings with the six science officers were aimed at determining whether they believed the cost of attending the stem cell convention justified what they learned at the meeting. He said a second goal was to aid universities and other researchers, mainly in Canada, “in advancing their contributions from an existing donor or donors.” Canada is one of CIRM's research partners.

Klein defended the involvement of McEwen, who Klein said has contributed to the stem cell group conducting the meeting. Klein said McEwen does not engage in technical discussions and added,

“On a conceptual basis it was important for him to understand the spectrum of medical advances towards therapies. His additional contributions to Canadian non-profits could assist Canada in collaborating with California on more international research, with California only funding the research done in California and the donor helping to fund the research done in Canada. No specific grant applications were discussed. Finally, the discussion with the international partners focuses on the funding process and funding collaboration it does not discuss any individual.”

Private funding of activities by state employees has stirred up controversy over the years in California. The most recent example was Gov. Jerry Brown's much-reported trip to China this spring, which was financed by private donations. Articles in the Los Angeles Times and The Sacramento Bee both noted that private funding arrangements have plenty of critics.

Columnist George Skelton of the Times wrote,

 “It just looks unseemly — a pack of lobbyists and other favor-seekers paying big bucks to traipse after the governor, schmoozing and gaining invaluable access.”

Reporter David Siders carried a quote in The Bee from Jock O'Connell, international trade adviser for the economics consulting firm Beacon Economics, who said,

“They're donating because they want to curry favor with the incumbent administration."

Asked whether CIRM planned to accept donations for trips in the future, McCormack replied that the agency is “always open to donations from generous supporters” provided they meet the state's legal requirements.

The Klein Donation: Text of Stem Cell Agency's Key Responses

Here is the text of the key comments from the California stem cell agency in response to questions from the California Stem Cell Report (CSCR) concerning the $21,630 contribution by Robert Klein. Here is a link to the full story on the matter.

CSCR to CIRM:

“Is CIRM concerned about the appearance created by the donation from Bob Klein to enable scientific staff to attend the ISSCR meeting in Yokohoma, coming one month after the GWG (the review group) rejected StemCells Inc's Alzheimer's application and one month before the July Board meeting that led to the approval of the award?”(Editor's note: It was actually two months before the board meeting.)

CIRM's response:

“No, the two items are entirely separate with no connection. Item 1  involved Bob Klein making a donation to allow science officers to attend a critically important scientific meeting on stem cell research.  The science officers  had originally planned on attending but then were told they could not because of cuts in our out-of-state travel budget – Bob Klein’s donation, without using state funds, enabled the science officers to attend.  Item 2 is an ICOC decision to fund a research project that they felt had promise and was important for the people of California.”

CSCR to CIRM:

"Please explain why the agency could not finance the trip itself ."

CIRM's response:

"During the financial year 2011/12  the Governor's Office issued an Executive Order requiring state agencies, under the Governor's direct authority, to reduce out-of-state travel.  Although CIRM was not required to participate, we nevertheless imposed restrictions on out-of-state travel to meet the intent/spirit of the Governor's request.  Accordingly, we made a decision to reduce the number of our science staff who would be attending the  conference.  Bob Klein's donation made it possible for those staff to go." 

CSCR asked several questions re the failure to report the Klein donation to the board as required by agency rules.

CIRM's response:

“Under the Gift Policy, the President had the authority to accept Mr. Klein’s generous offer as a 'Direct payment or reimbursement by third parties for the costs of general operation or grant management administrative activities.' (Gift Policy, Sec. III(A)(2).)  Because CIRM receives gifts only infrequently, CIRM staff determined that it would be more efficient to report gifts to the Board on a semi-annual basis.  Mr. Klein’s donation was the first gift CIRM had received in some years.  Due to the lack of additional donations, a transition in CIRM’s finance office, and an oversight, CIRM staff has not yet presented a report including Mr. Klein’s gift.  Staff plans to report Mr. Klein’s gift as part of the finance report at the May Board meeting.  Because the President had the authority to accept the gift pursuant to section III(A)(2) of the Gift Policy, it did not require a commitment letter.  (See Gift Policy, Sec. III(C)(1) ['A Commitment Letter is not required for gifts described under III.A.2., 3. and 4.'].)  However, consistent with the policy, Dr. Trounson sent Mr. Klein a letter of appreciation, a copy of which we have already provided you.”

The Klein Donation: Text of Robert Klein's Response re StemCells, Inc.

Here is the text of the initial response from Robert Klein, chairman of the California stem cell agency until July 2011, to questions from the California Stem Cell Report (CSCR) concerning his $21,630 donation to the agency. The questions posed by CSCR on precede the response by Klein. Here is a link to a story on the matter.

CSCR to Klein:

“Why did you give the agency the money?
“Did you place on conditions on its use?
“Did anyone connected with the agency indicate in advance  that your donation would be desired? If so who? Who did you deal with primarily on the donation -- Trounson, Thomas or...?
“The donation came one month after grant reviewers rejected StemCells Inc.'s Alzheimer's application. Do you think it was appropriate to make the donation and then ask the board twice to override its reviewers?
“Do you think the donation and subsequent action on StemCells, Inc.'s Alzheimer's application will negatively color the perception of future efforts by CIRM at private fundraising?”

Klein's response:

“In April or May of 2012 I committed approximately $20,000 as a contribution to CIRM to cover the travel expenses of staff to the International Stem Cell Society meeting in Japan. My commitment to ensure scientific staff can participate in international meetings dates back many years. In 2011 I wrote the following explanation of its importance in obtaining the knowledge to accelerate the drive of scientific research to reach patients with chronic disease.

            Leverage Leading Edge Science

            “Travel by CIRM staff members and leadership permits CIRM to stay in contact with, and understand, the leading edge advances of scientists all over the world, and to leverage those advances by creating a platform for collaborations between these leading scientists and their peers in California. Currently, CIRM has collaboration agreements with 15 foreign governments pursuant to which these governments have pledged $134,380,000 in commitments to fund the work of their scientists on join teams with California scientists to develop therapy candidates and to advance therapies to human trials. Although a significant amount of this commitment is currently pending scientific peer review and not all of it will be awarded as part of a successful application, every dollar in funding by a foreign government magnifies the scientific impact of California’s taxpayer dollars. If just $40 million is awarded each year over ten years, it would provide California with $400 million of scientific leverage.

•     It is critical to understand that there are unpublished scientific discoveries in progress in each of these nations. Often, publication may trail a scientific discovery by nine months or more.
•     The travel requested by CIRM provides a critical link for the timely transmission of valuable new information. California cannot afford to lose the opportunity to harness discoveries in other countries to advance the development of therapies in California and to capture the opportunity to advance therapies for patients instead of using California taxpayer dollars to duplicate discoveries already mastered in other countries.
•      While CIRM’s scientific staff works with scientists in other countries to capture the scientific knowledge for the benefit of California’s therapy development teams, the Chairman’s Office works with international finance ministers, the premiers of international states, and foreign funding agencies to ensure funding allocations for these bilateral funding agreements. These discussions often involve face-to-face negotiations in foreign nations and states, in addition to meetings at international conferences, all of which are supported by extensive staff work in California.
•      CIRM issued its first co-funding awards early in 2009. Over the last two years, these agreements have yielded $57 million in international funds actually approved through peer review. This $57 million represents participation by only the first five countries and one international state with which CIRM established a collaboration. Now, CIRM has agreements with nine countries and two international states and an additional three countries will be added in the near future.
•     Even if CIRM were only to obtain $30 million per year in international matching funds, the ratio of return on CIRM’s $206,920 travel expenditures would be approximately 145 to 1.
•    Proposition 71 specifically anticipated and directs CIRM to develop leverage and global leadership to capture the benefit for patients.

Keeping on the Cutting Edge of Stem Cell Science

"CIRM’s over 20 MDs and/or PhDs science officers on the grant review staff at CIRM reach out nationally and internationally through conferences that may include 10-20 meetings per day and workshops of 8-12 hours per day to grasp the leading edge of this pre-publication, dynamic revolution in medical knowledge. In order to ensure that the every research dollar is optimally deployed to advance therapies to save lives or rescue the quality of life for patients, it is critical that CIRM staff remain on the cutting edge of new discoveries. International conferences and workshops provide a critical opportunity for massive and decisive transfers of information, which ensures that California is funding the right research.

“I principally corresponded with Dr. Trounson on the issue covering the travel expenses for the staff for the reasons stated above. I had no input into the selection of scientific staff. In May and even in June when the conference occurred I had no idea that there would be any disagreement on the Alzheimer’s application of Stem Cells Inc. in August. At the Board meeting I asked that there be consideration for the fact that three other peer reviews had found the work leading up to this application to be outstanding and they had ranked it highly. In addition, the current peer review had not been briefed on the fact that they downgraded the applicant for following the directions on material points by the prior peer reviews. Finally, the standard deviation on the 2012 peer review was extremely high and the re-review by the three member committee resulted in a split decision. It is particularly appropriate with a huge standard deviation, demonstrating both strong support and opposition within the peer review group, for the Board to make its own independent decision.  Please recall that the staff recommended against approval so that they clearly were not influenced by my commitment to a contribution to the Agency, months before, for the benefit of scientific staff to be able to attend an international science conference. Additionally, Dr. Trounson, I believe, recused himself from the review of the Stem Cells Inc. application, for unrelated reasons, so he was not involved. I personally had served on the three prior peer reviews, including one in the prior year that recommended this application for a Disease Team approval. I know how strongly the scientists on those three prior peer reviews supported funding this scientific research, with the 2011 review specifically recommending this Disease Team for approval. I believe it was extremely important for me to provide a voice to those three scientific panels who disagreed with a portion of the scientists on the 2012 scientific panel. Supporting the scientific movement to human trials for Alzheimer’s has to be eventually approved by the FDA; but, this loan will move the science and the potential for clinical trials forward significantly and hopefully obtain FDA approval. I believe all three of the Board’s overrides of the peer review recommendations on the Disease Team round in 2008 are leading directly to human trials in the United States and/or United Kingdom. 92% of the all of the funds awarded by CIRM have followed the recommendations of the peer review committee; but, in those significant cases where the Board has made an independent decision, there has been an extremely high success rate particularly when there has been a high level of disagreement within the Peer Review Board that was overridden and prior peer reviews recommended and/or approved the scientific approach and concepts of the applicant.”

(Editor's note:  The applications in this round were reviewed once in April 2012 by CIRM's full grant review group. StemCells, Inc.'s application was subject to a reevaluation after Klein's appeal in July 2012 and rejected again, but it was not a full review.  Klein may be referring also an earlier round that provided grants for planning to apply for the full $20 million.) 

The Klein Donation: Text of Robert Klein's Comments on Special Treatment by CIRM

Here is the text of comments from Robert Klein, former chairman of the California stem cell agency, concerning his $21,630 donation to the agency and subsequent actions by the agency. Klein's comments May 1 came in response to questions from the California Stem Cell Report(CSCR) on April 30. The text of the inquiry from CSCR precedes Klein's response. Here is a link to the story on the matter.

CSCR to Klein:

"I have sent the following to CIRM asking for their response and am offering the same opportunity to you. Here is what I sent the agency:
'The documents that I have received so far show that after Klein gave CIRM $21,000 the agency instructed six of its science officers to give him special access to their activities and apparently did not object to additional instructions from another member of the public, Melissa King, to provide Klein and her with written summaries about their activities at the ISSCR convention and “details” about their work at CIRM. Email addresses of the six were also provided to Klein, who may have additionally received their cell phone numbers although that is not entirely clear. The CIRM documents show that the six were told to engage in one-on-one sessions with Klein, which actually included a third person, a wealthy Canadian mining company executive. One document indicates that the science officers should assist in fundraising for CIRM by identifying areas of “special importance” to Klein and 'other donors.'
"'Additionally, Alan Trounson, at Klein's request, invited the mining executive to a closed door session involving the agency's international partners, a session at which presumably valuable, little known scientific information would be discussed and future directions charted. Trounson specifically told the executive that it was Klein who asked that executive be invited to the session, adding to Klein's clout in any business or other dealings that Klein might have with the executive.'

My questions to CIRM deal with the special treatment that was provided in connection with your donation. I would ask you if you think that state agencies should provide this sort of extraordinary treatment for individuals who donate to the agency. At the very least, doesn't this raise questions about the integrity of the agency and doubts in the public mind about whether it can be fair and even-handed in its activities?

Klein's response:

"In April or May of 2012 I committed to contribute a charitable donation to CIRM to cover the travel costs for 5-7 additional science officers to attend the International Stem Cell Conference in Japan.  It is important to CIRM that their science officers understand the cutting edge research being developed around the world so that CIRM does not fund redundant research; but, to the contrary, the science officers understand how to create networks between California scientists and scientists in other foreign countries who are doing complementary research that can potentially accelerate the advancements of therapies for patients. I do not hold any financial interest in biotech companies. I have historically been involved in encouraging international collaboration to advance medical therapies; for patients, every day of delay in the development of a therapy is a delay they cannot afford. To conceptually document the value of additional scientists traveling to these meetings, it was discussed that there should be conceptual, bullet point summaries about the value for CIRM obtained through the scientists discussions at the international conference.  The idea was to create bullet points of information about a few of the most meaningful scientific concepts and contacts the science officers benefitted from each day of attendance at the conference. I did not participate in the selection of the science officers who attended and I did not play any part in determining what activities they participated in. There were two fundamental goals to the very short one-on-one sessions that were arranged at "down time" that would not conflict with their other activities. The first goal was to conceptually understand if each of the science officers believed that the benefit to the agency was sufficient to justify the cost of their attending, when considering the learning and contacts they had gained which might accelerate research and therapies for patients. The second goal was to assist universities and non-profits, principally in Canada - a research partner of CIRM - in advancing their contributions from an existing donor or donors.

"The Canadian mining executive had an important history in contributing to the International Stem Cell Society and to Canadian non-profit research institutions. This individual has an expert background in mining and a passionate personal commitment to medical research; but, he does not engage in technical discussions of research. On a conceptual basis it was important for him to understand the spectrum of medical advances towards therapies. His additional contributions to Canadian non-profits could assist Canada in collaborating with California on more international research, with California only funding the research done in California and the donor helping to fund the research done in Canada. No specific grant applications were discussed. Finally, the discussion with the international partners focuses on the funding process and funding collaboration it does not discuss any individual grants. The value of international collaboration and the benefits of collaborating with new international partners is discussed. Scientific theories and individual grants are not discussed and new scientific information is not presented. I attended this session of international partners to support international collaboration; again, I do not hold any financial interest in any biotech organizations. Additionally, I do not have any business or financial relationship with the Canadian mining executive. The Canadian executive, based upon family and friends who have had chronic disease, is a significant donor to non-profit research institutions in Canada. All of my activities, the donation and the encouragement to develop information to validate the future benefits of science officers traveling to international stem cell conferences were focused on benefitting California patients with chronic illness or injury and the agency formed through Proposition 71."

The Klein Donation: Trounson's Memo Instructing Six Staffers to Meet with Klein and Canadian Gold Mining Executive

Here is a copy of the memo that CIRM President Alan Trounson sent to six stem cell agency science officers after Robert Klein gave the agency $21,630.  The SO abbreviation refers to science officers.
CFP refers to collaborative funding partner, which are international partners with CIRM. Here is a link to a story on the matter.

The Klein Donation: Memo from Klein Aide to Six Stem Cell Agency Science Officers

Here is the email that Melissa King, an aide to Robert Klein, sent to the six science officers from the California stem cell agency. King was executive director of the CIRM governing board when Klein was chairman of the agency from 2004 to July 2011. Here is link to the story involving Klein's $21,630 gift to the agency.