Stem Cell Research Training Program Terminated by California

The California stem cell agency today scuttled its first grant program, a $131 million effort to train stem cell scholars at time when researchers were backing away from the field.

The 29-member governing board voted, 14-5, to end the program that began in 2005 as an effort to demonstrate that the research effort was still kicking while legal challenges threatened its existence. The vote came on a recommendation by the agency's staff.

Arlene Chiu, who is now with the City of Hope, was the chief scientific officer for the agency when the program was launched. She told agency directors said it was time to rethink the program, which was aimed at bringing more scientists into the field. She said,

"Its success has removed its necessity."

Chiu said stem cell research is currently attracting a growing wave of interest among younger scientists. The agency said some training would be included in future research programs.

(Editor's note: The chart on the training program was added to this item after it was initially posted.)

$131 Million and 887 Papers: Demise of California's First Stem Cell Grant Program

The $3 billion California stem cell agency on Thursday is expected to put to rest its oldest grant program – an effort that was begun with bravado in 2005 but minus the cash to back it.

It was a matter -- at the time -- of showing the Golden State’s stem cell flag despite legal challenges that had stalled the progress of the agency.  The grants were the agency’s first and came on a late summer day in Sacramento during a governing board meeting marked by confusion and frustration.

David Baltimore
PasadenaNow photo

Board members complained they did not have enough information to make good judgments on the awards. 

Nobel Prize winner David Baltimore, a board member and president of Caltech, objected to what he considered loose standards in evaluating the applications for millions of dollars.

At one point, a crusty reporter from The Associated Press, Paul Elias, jumped up and demanded to know exactly what was going on.

The headline on the story the next day in the California Stem Cell Report said, 

“CIRM Hands Out $39 Million (sort of)….”

The awards created a training program for stem cell scientists. It was aimed at attracting more researchers into a field that was atrophying because of the Bush administration’s restrictions on stem cell research funding. 

Without adequate financial resources, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as the agency is formally known, appealed to the recipient institutions to advance the funds with the expectation they would be reimbursed later.

Zach Hall, who was appointed president of the agency the same day, called the awards “historic.” Robert Klein, the chairman of the CIRM board, said he was thrilled by the program.

One of the major goals of the board action was to show that the agency and that its tiny staff (something less than 20) was still kicking despite the legal dispute that blocked issuance of the bonds that provide funding for the agency. 

In that regard, CIRM was more than successful.  The meeting was well-covered by major newspapers in the state, a far cry from the situation today. The message in the stories was largely favorable. The California Stem Cell Report wrote on Sept.11, 2005,

“Subordinated was the reality that the agency does not yet have the money. Even more deeply subordinated were complaints about the grant process from critics.”

The initial awards ultimately grew into a nine-year, $131 million effort. In a Jan. 20 memo to the CIRM board, the agency’s current president, Randy Mills, said,

“The programs have trained 859 CIRM Scholars. These trainees have worked in 436 different laboratories on a broad range of research projects, with the majority focused on basic research. CIRM Scholars have been authors on 887 scientific publications.”

The average cost for each “scholar” was about $152,000, Mills reported. The California Stem Cell Report calculated an average expense of about $148,000 for each scientific article, although such articles usually have more than one author. Mills said 34 percent of the recipients were graduate students, 48 percent post-doctoral and 18 percent clinical fellows.

Not noted by Mills was the fact that nearly all the awards went to institutions linked to members of the agency’s governing board. Virtually no other institutions existed, however, in California that could provide the training.

In December 2013, the board asked the agency staff to prepare a new version of the training program, a task that was not completed before the board hired Mills last spring.

In his memo last week, Mills said that “the CIRM team determined that a new training grant program is no longer an optimal method of supporting the education and training of stem cell scientists.” He continued,

“CIRM believes that supporting the training of new stem cell scientists is best accomplished by bolstering funding for our research grants programs, particularly the earlier discovery and translational phases where each program can be individually evaluated for its merit and contribution to CIRM’s mission.”

Mills said he will present concept plans for new discovery and translation rounds, including training within them, during the next six months. And he asked the board to approve his recommendation to drop the plans continue the old, once-hailed training program.

A California Stem Cell Mystery is Solved

The California stem cell agency today cleared up one of the mysteries involving next Thursday’s meeting of its governing board and likely action on a training program.

The agency last Saturday posted the agenda for the meeting that included a cryptic description that appeared to involve the abolition of one of its several training program. The agency did not respond to a query last Monday about exactly what was meant by the agenda item, making it nearly impossible for affected parties to respond in an appropriate and timely fashion.

Following the posting yesterday on this blog of an item describing the situation -- "The California Stem Cell Agency and Its Unnecessary Mysteries" -- the agency added a memo early today from CIRM President Randy Mills to the Thursday agenda. The memo explained that what was involved was the CIRM Scholars Program.  

Look for an item on this Web site early Monday on the expected end to the program.

The California Stem Cell Agency and Its Unnecessary Mysteries

For the second month in a row, the California stem cell agency, which sits on top of $3 billion in taxpayer cash, is playing a mystery game with the public.

Coming up next Thursday is a meeting of the 29-member board of the agency. These sessions are the most important public events involving the agency, which operates outside of normal state oversight. They deserve full transparency.

Without it, affected parties -- not to mention the people who pay the $6 billion total bill (including interest) for the stem cell research – do not have a genuine opportunity to comment and make suggestions about matters that involve their livelihoods and organizations.   

The latest problem primarily involves a cryptic agenda item for next week's board meeting that says only “consideration of the CIRM team’s determination not to present concept proposal for training program at this time.”

The agenda containing the item was posted last Saturday on the agency's Web site. The agency has not posted anything further on the matter and has not responded to a query five days ago seeking more information.

Training issues have been a subject of considerable concern and interest in the stem cell community, both at the state college level, which has received little of the agency’s cash, and universities and research institutions.

Backed by 11 top researchers, Jeanne Loring, head of the stem cell program at Scripps, has said the “Bridges” shared laboratory and training program has “provided the infrastructure upon which California’s reputation as the center of the stem cell universe was built.” (See also here.) 

Susan Baxter, executive director of the California State University’s system-wide program for biotechnology, said,

“Despite the Great Recession, Bridges graduates have succeeded in landing jobs and gaining admittance to graduate and medical schools at much higher rates than peer groups.” 

Does the training agenda item refer to the concerns of Baxter, Loring and the others? It could be a reference to the agency's high school training effort or something else entirely. It is totally unclear and unnecessarily so.

If the agency is fulfill its promise of maximum transparency, it should post ample background material on matters to be discussed when it posts the agenda 10 calendar days ahead of upcoming meetings. In the absence of that, however, it would have taken only five minutes or less to write a line specifying which training programs are up for consideration.

  

In addition to the mystery about the training programs, not to be found is information about proposed changes in the agency’s loan program. Those are scheduled to be approved next Thursday, only three business days from today. The changes likely will have a significant impact on businesses.  A board subcommittee was scheduled to consider them on Monday, but that meeting has been cancelled for unknown reasons. The agency has not responded to a query on when the session will be rescheduled, but presumably it will happen before the board meeting on Thursday.

Last month, the agency also created a similar mystery. It involved what turned out to be a $50 million program that deserved more timely attention from affected parties and the public.

In years past, the agency was infamous for failing to post material for its meetings in a timely fashion. Even board members sometimes complained about not having information. Sometimes meetings were postponed.

Since Jonathan Thomas became chairman in 2011, the situation has improved.  Randy Mills, the new president of the agency, is stressing "clarity" in what the agency does. However, the mysteries of the past two months do not auger well. The agency can and should do better. 

More than $9 Million Approved for California Stem Cell Training Programs

Directors of the California stem cell agency today approved $9 million to continue its state and community college training program after supporters  hailed it as “truly transformative” and a valuable addition to the research field.

The agency extended the "Bridges" effort for one year, which has cost the state $51 million already. The college program has trained 782 young people.

The agency also approved $550,000 for a one-year extension of its high school internship program, which has involved 200 persons over the years.

The actions came despite increasing financial sensitivity on the part of directors of the $3 billion research enterprise as the program nears its 10^th anniversary. It faces increasing expenses because of its desire to become more heavily involved in the costly clinical trials that are needed to actual put stem cell treatments into the clinic. Its cash is dwindling at the same time.

Susan Fisher, director of the human embryonic stem cell program at UC San Francisco, told the board in a letter that the state college training program  “offers unprecedented value in terms of the dollars that are spent.”

She said,

“It is very hard for me to put into words the transformative experience that the Bridges Program provides to trainees. They enter UCSF very uncertain of their place in a major research enterprise. To a person, they leave with boundless enthusiasm for a career dedicated to advancing the goals of the CIRM research agenda. Moreover, this life-changing experience is being offered to students who have traditionally not had these sorts of opportunities, making the program even more valuable.”

California Stem Cells, College Football and Success

The $3 billion California stem cell agency this week will deal with the sort of odds that often figure in the financial fate of college football players.

The issue at hand involves education, helping young people and setting priorities. Should the Golden State’s stem cell effort train a few hundred college students at $65,000 a pop or spend $9 million to give a piece of advanced research the critical lift to turn it into a cure?

At least that is one way to look at the issues coming up on Thursday at the Los Angeles meeting of the 29-member governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as the agency is formally known.

Up for decisions are two training programs on which CIRM has already spent $52.4 million. Costs per student average nearly $65,000 in one effort.

Extension of the high school training program would cost only $550,000 for one year. However, training at community and state colleges would cost $9 million for one year. That is the program that has schooled 782 students at a cost of about $65,000 each.

Extending both programs for one year would mean nearly $10 million less for basic research or support of clinical trials that could lead to actual stem cell treatments. Keep in mind that board has turned its focus sharply towards aiding clinical trials – which are very expensive -- in hopes of fulfilling the promises of the 2004 ballot campaign that led to the creation of the stem cell agency.

Strong cases have been made for continuation of the programs, most recently by Susan Baxter, executive director of the California State University’s system-wide program for biotechnology, who appeared before the board and asked for a review of the college program.

She said,

“The number one workforce need in this industry is hands-on practice and participation in multi-disciplinary, team-based research projects.  Research experience is baked into the Bridges (college training) program; as a result, graduates have many career options.  Despite the Great Recession, Bridges graduates have succeeded in landing jobs and gaining admittance to graduate and medical schools at much higher rates than peer groups.”

Jeanne Loring, director the Scripps stem cell program, also supported the college training program.  She said recently,

“I think it's a tragic loss to mothball the equipment and shut down the training labs just when work in those labs is leading to the cures that are CIRM's mission. Some of our best-trained stem cell researchers are losing their jobs, just when they are most needed."

One of the arguments made by backers is that one of those relatively few college or high school students could become the next Jamie Thomson, the scientist who is widely credited with starting what may be the stem cell revolution.  It is an appealing vision with strong emotional impact.

And it is also where college football comes in. Many persons support such athletic programs, contending that they provide a way for young persons to train and become a high profile athlete who earns tens of millions of dollars annually, possibly leading a pro team to the Super Bowl year after year.

The odds of that happening for an individual college student are supremely low. Only 1.6 percent of college players ever join pro teams – 254 out of 70,174 college players, according to the latest NCAA figures. Even fewer achieve stardom.

The odds of professional success resulting from the college football and CIRM training programs are not too different, this writer suggests.

Does that mean that the agency should not continue the training efforts. Of course not. But directors should be very clear about the message they deliver about their priorities and their limited resources. Funds likely run out in 2020, according the agency’s latest estimate, and it is years away from producing all the cures promised by the 2004 campaign – something that, in fact, may never happen.

Some might ask whether these programs – if they are so valuable – should not be funded by the state or community colleges themselves. The answer is that those systems have been starved for state funding for years and that situation is not likely to change dramatically any time soon. Of course, those institutions can change their own priorities if they truly believe that stem cell training is more valuable than some of their other offerings.

CIRM’s new president, Randy Mills, has not taken a public position on the training efforts. But he has offered four criteria to evaluate funding decisions by the agency.  They are:

“1. Will it speed up the development of treatments for patients?
“2. Will it increase the likelihood of developing a successful treatment for patients?
“3. Will it meet an unmet medical need?
“4. Is it efficient?” 

Come Thursday, California’s stem cell agency will apply those criteria and maybe some others to decide the fate of the two training programs.

California's 'Bridges' Stem Cell Effort Hailed Again

CIRM video

California’s $18 million “Bridges” stem cell training program this week received another endorsement as a “spectacularly successful” effort that is key to supporting stem cell research in California.

UC Davis stem cell scientist Paul Knoepfler said on his blog that it would be “counterproductive” to end the program, which is facing competition for funds as the state’s $3 billion stem cell agency focuses more on pushing research into the clinic instead of training efforts.

The Bridges program involves students from 11 of California’s two-year community colleges and four-year state colleges not associated with the University of California. The idea was to offer an opportunity for persons in those schools to be involved in stem cell research, learn skills and find jobs in the business.

Knoepfler said,

“As a faculty member at UC Davis, I have seen first hand just how powerful the Bridges program has been and continues to be. I have trained and continue to train Bridges students. I have been incredibly impressed with their intellect, energy, and the sheer overall amount they have to contribute to stem cell research in California. The sky is the limit with these young scientists.”

Jeanne Loring, head of the stem cell program at Scripps, also endorsed the program in a comment at the end of this item on the California Stem Cell Report and on Knoepfler’s blog. She said,

“I think it's a tragic loss to mothball the equipment and shut down the training labs just when work in those labs is leading to the cures that are CIRM's mission. Some of our best-trained stem cell researchers are losing their jobs, just when they are most needed.”

One person, Li You Hu, who filed a comment on Knoepfler’s item posted this question,

“Perhaps this can be justified as a continuing effort to train more people for stem cell research, but where is the quantitative justification based on those who have already been trained?”

Loring replied,

“Every one of the more than 20 Bridges interns that have worked in my lab are either in graduate school or have jobs as technicians.”

California Stem Cell Researchers Fight for Shared Labs

Twenty California stem cell scientists are seeking to save the state's heralded, $72 million “shared” stem cell lab program, arguing that it is vital to research and necessary for the continued training of scientists.

The researchers made their appeal in a letter (full text below) expected to be presented tomorrow to the governing board of the $3 billion stem cell agency, which funds the effort. The agency's new Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) has recommended the program be discontinued and more emphasis placed on a handful of clinically oriented projects.

In a very brief recommendation that has been accepted by CIRM staff,  the advisory board said that “the importance of these resources to the mission of CIRM and achieving sustainability of earlier investments is not as compelling (as when the program began).

The SAB continued,

“These resources should operate on a revenue-neutral basis through recharge mechanisms and gain other needed support from the host institutions.” 

The lab program began as a $50.5 million effort in 2007 and was given an additional $21.5 million in 2011 after CIRM staff cited its "exceptional" performance. Former CIRM Chairman Robert Klein praised the effort, citing its ability to leverage funding. He said,

“The $4 million awarded, for example, to Stanford for its shared lab have enabled its scientists to successfully compete for $35 million of grants from numerous sources, with another $15 million in process.”

Responding to the SAB recommendation, supporters of the labs said that without them, “development of protocols for generation of clinically needed cell types will not be possible.” Their letter said the 17 labs have been “vital to current and future CIRM-funded efforts.” There is “no alternative place' for the type of research underway at the labs, said the scientists.

The researchers signing the letter were from institutions throughout the state, including UCSF, Stanford, UC Berkeley, USC, UCLA, Salk, Scripps, Sanford Burnham, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara.

The letter, which was made available to the California Stem Cell Report,  said,

“In the worst case scenario, the loss of indirect cost support to the institutions will mean that the core lab space will be reallocated (a certainty for many independent research institutes), effectively dismantling the Shared Laboratories and putting CIRM equipment into storage. Shared Laboratory personnel provide support not only for the millions of dollars of CIRM purchased equipment, but often also the additional equipment that has been funded by other sources as a result of the CIRM infrastructure investment but often also the additional equipment that has been funded by other sources.... 

“Even in the best cases, there will be no means to support the staff and maintain the equipment. Some institutions may be able to provide space without indirect costs, but will not fund personnel and equipment maintenance. Thus, the original CIRM investment in infrastructure will be lost, and CIRM’s highly successful training programs for new workers (CIRM Bridges and Training Grants), will be left without homes.”

Here is the full text of the letter and a summary of survey of activity at the shared labs.

California Scientists Back Endangered Stem Cell Lab Program

Survey on California's Shared Stem Cell Lab Program posted by DavidJensen

CIRM Stem Cell Education Bill Signed into Law

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed legislation aimed at promoting stem cell science and training in the state's schools.

The legislation was backed by the California stem cell agency and requires, among other things, that the state Department of Education post a CIRM model curriculum on department's web site.

The measure (SB471) by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, originally would have required the state Board of Education “to incorporate stem cell science curriculum content and the science curriculum framework, evaluation, and instructional materials at its next curriculum revision and adoption and requested the U.C. Regents to consult with various entities in developing a curriculum for the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science. “

The bill goes into effect next year. You can find the latest legislative staff analysis here and the text here.

CIRM To Invest $66 Million in Intellectual Capital

The California stem cell agency will soon embark on a new, $66 million round of training grants, including some aimed at undergraduates and possibly community college students.

CIRM directors last week approved initiation of the programs, which were overshadowed by $271 million in lab construction grants. Only one news report surfaced on the training effort.

Bradley J. Fikes of the North County Times, which circulates in northern San Diego County, reported about the $18 million effort aimed at roughly 100 students below the doctoral level. He wrote:

"State universities and community colleges got an invitation last week to join California's stem cell research program."

The "Bridges to Stem Cell Research" grants aimed at undergraduates will total roughly $18 million. The program was foreshadowed by a $31 million proposal by the state college system last year, which had the effect of jump-starting the latest effort.

Also approved last week was a $48 million continuation of the training programs already underway for CIRM Scholars. Those grants were the first ever approved by CIRM.

While the training dollars are smaller than those in the lab program, they represent an important investment in intellectual capital. And they come at a time when the state is otherwise scrimping on higher education.

The "Bridges" program triggered a light moment last week at the directors meeting chaired by Robert Klein, a multimillionaire, real estate investment banker.

John M. Simpson, stem cell project director for Consumer Watchdog, reported that Ted Love(see photo), a member of the board of directors and CEO of Nuvelo, Inc., said CIRM should not judge the success of the program by only counting the number of participants that get laboratory jobs.

"Who knows?" asked Love. "Maybe one of these students will end up being a multimillion dollar real estate mogul who supports stem cell research."

"It brought the house down," Simpson said.

Requests for applications for the training program are expected to be posted on the CIRM website in June. Cash should start flowing in 2009.