Aussie Stem Cell Scientists Looking for Help From California

Life is not so good for Australian stem cell researchers, and they are hoping that the $3 billion California stem cell agency can make things better.

At least so says a news report from Down Under. According to The Australian newspaper, proposed government funding for stem cell research will be slashed by 50 percent next year.

However, the article said,

“The scientists are hoping negotiations for a potential joint funding deal between the National Health and Medical Research Council and the $3 billion California Institute for Regenerative Medicine will deliver extra cash.

“The California institute, run by Australian stem cell pioneer Alan Trounson, has a joint deal with the Victorian government.

“Speaking from San Francisco, Professor Trounson told The Australian he was hopeful an agreement could be reached.

"'We can fund research together or we can do it independently, but if you do it independently you have to resource these teams adequately,' he said.”

Trounson was director of the Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories at Monash University prior to joining CIRM in 2008.

It is not clear how California could legally provide meaningfiul financial assistance to Australian stem cell researchers. CIRM is barred from spending research funds out-of-state, which Trounson apparently refers to in his comment about “independently” funding research.

We are querying CIRM regarding The Australian article, including whether the writer, Andrew Trounson, is related to Alan Trounson.

A Commentary on Cobbling Together CIRM Numbers

An anonymous reader has left a cogent comment on the “$210,000 PR help” item. The reader says, in part,

“No one should have to 'cobble' together numbers in order to engage a public entity in thoughtful debate about the work of, for, and funded by, the citizens of the State of California.”

You can read the full comment by clicking on the word “comment” at the end of the PR item, which will take you as well to other related comments, including one from CIRM.

Move to Allow Stem Cell Agency More Staff Advances in Legislature

The magic number now for CIRM in the California state legislature is 56.

That's the number of votes required in the 80-member state Assembly for passage of legislation that would remove the 50-person cap on the size of the staff at the $3 billion agency.

The bill, SB1064 by Sen. Elaine Kontominas Alquist, D-San Jose, cleared the Senate on a 33-0 vote on Thursday. The vote was pretty much a foregone conclusion, given that the bill has the support of Senate leadership. It now goes to the Assembly where it faces two committee hearings before reaching the floor. Approval is likely in the committees, but it is a bit trickier on the Assembly floor.

It only takes 15 lawmakers, either not voting or voting no on the measure, to block the bill. That's because Prop. 71, which created CIRM, enshrined in state law a requirement for a 70 percent vote to change the law concerning the stem cell agency. The rare and ill-considered super, super-majority provision gives a handful of persons extraordinary control over the fate of the bill. It would take only a couple of loopy lawmakers to reject the legislation, given the customary voting patterns in the Assembly.

CIRM dearly wants the employee cap removed. CIRM President Alan Trounson has warned that the quality of the agency's work will suffer without its removal. The limit was written into the 10,000-word initiative by CIRM Chairman Robert Klein.

Klein and 29-member CIRM board of directors have endorsed the Alquist bill, the first time they have given the nod to legislation that would affect the agency.

Here is a link to the analysis provided to lawmakers for the vote on the Senate floor.

CIRM Directors Judge Klein's Performance This Week

Directors of the California stem cell agency on Thursday will formally evaluate the performance of its chairman, Robert Klein, for the first time in five years.

Klein has headed the $3 billion agency since its inception, on a vote of its 29-member board of directors in December 2004. Initially, Klein, a wealthy Palo Alto real estate investment banker, took no salary and testified in court that he did not consider himself a state employee. However, he asked for compensation in 2008. The board agreed to give him $150,000 annually for what it defined as a half-time job.

Earlier this year, the directors' Evaluation Subcommittee held its first meeting to come up with procedures for evaluating Klein, the two vice chairmen,(Art Torres and Duane Roth) and CIRM President Alan Trounson. The transcript of that session can be found here.

While Klein has not had a formal evaluation during his tenure, directors discussed his performance  during the closed-door session in which they set his salary. Publicly, directors are generally effusive in their praise of Klein. Privately, some are not entirely happy. But it is clear that Klein has been the dominant force – which is probably an understatement – at CIRM since 2004.

Thursday's two-hour Evaluation teleconference meeting will begin with a public session, but is expected to promptly go into a closed-door session to deal with personnel matters(Klein's evaluation), a normal procedure permitted under state law. Following the executive session, the subcommittee is expected to reconvene and report any action that may have been taken.

Klein is a member of the Evaluation Subcommittee but is expected to recused from deliberations involving him.

CIRM Seeking $210,000 in PR Help

If you are looking for a job in PR involving a cutting edge enterprise immersed in academia, science, business and government/politics, there is a possibility at the $3 billion California stem cell agency.

The agency has posted an RFP for a “communications outreach coordinator” along with an RFP for a “public communications services” contract.

The contracts are part of a communications effort at CIRM that runs in the neighborhood of $1 million a year.


The new coordinator position is for 11 months at $85,000. The job calls for the individual to promote “a deeper and more sophisticated public awareness of stem cell research and therapy and new funding paradigms for medical research.”

The $125,000-a-year services contract calls for the winning firm to work with CIRM PR staff to “build a foundation of support for the future by creating and cementing relationships with thought leaders and patient advocates, providing proof of the value of CIRM to the state, developing creative ways to demonstrate progress in a field while also setting realistic expectations.”

The contract has been held by Fleishman-Hilliard. CIRM communications chief Don Gibbons said in an email,

“It was always the plan to rebid this every two years. I have encouraged FH to apply for this round. I hope to receive a robust and interesting set of applications.”

Deadline for applications is June 14.

IOM Study of CIRM to Come Before Stem Cell Directors in August

Directors of the California stem cell agency are moving forward with a proposal to commission a blue-ribbon study of their $3 billion effort by the Institute of Medicine.

The directors' new Science Subcommittee on Tuesday voted to bring the proposal, which is now connected to legislation to remove the CIRM staff cap, to the full board in August, said a spokesman for CIRM.

In response to an email query, Don Gibbons, chief communications officer for CIRM, said the panel directed the staff to “work with the leadership of the committee to develop the full scope of work for any IOM(Institute of Medicine)study.”

Gibbons also said that CIRM is seeking to verify that “this scope of work could qualify for the audit required” by SB1064 by Sen. Elaine Kontominas Alquist, D-San Jose. The bill is now on the Senate floor, clearing the Appropriations Committee Thursday on a 10-0 vote.

CIRM and Alquist negotiated a compromise on the legislation that has won the approval of the CIRM board, the first time it has endorsed legislation that would alter the agency's activities. CIRM needs passage of the bill to remove the 50-person cap on CIRM staff.

During the negotiations, proposals for independent performance audits were stripped from the bill – ones that would be conducted under the auspices of the Citizens Financial Accountability Committee, a sister panel to CIRM. As it now stands, a performance audit would be required, but it would be commissioned and paid for by the agency itself. CIRM has made it clear that it is not interested in addressing the accountability concerns raised by the citizens committee.

The bill specifies that use of the state auditor would be acceptable. However, that agency might have difficulty with evaluating the science side of CIRM's performance. The state auditor could presumably hire a consultant to assist in that area. Instead of the state auditor, the stem cell agency could contract with a private firm, which is more likely to be susceptible to suggestions from CIRM about the conduct of the performance audit.

The Institute of Medicine may well tilt to the science side of CIRM's activities with a lesser focus on whether the people of California are getting a good return on their $6 billion (including interest) investment. The institute may also be less interested in CIRM's accountability and openness than would be the case with an audit done for the Citizens Financial Accountability Oversight Committee.

Still to be determined is the cost of the performance audit and timetable. Costs in the neighborhood of $400,000 have been mentioned for a performance audit. An IOM study could run more. To be useful, an audit should be done as quickly as possible. However, it is certain to take many months or more to complete.

CIRM Grant Appeal Rules to Receive More Scrutiny

Directors of the California stem cell agency plan to continue their review of key portions of the grant approval process, including the appeals that have been something of a bugaboo for both applicants and directors.

Don Gibbons, chief communications officer for CIRM, said in an email that the directors' Science Subcommittee on Tuesday concluded that “they need to devote a large chunk of a future committee meeting to just this issue.”

No further details were immediately known although a transcript of the meeting should be available in about 10 days. We will carry a fresh article on the subject at that point.

This is a matter that all California stem cell scientists should pay special attention to. It could have a significant impact on their livelihood.

For more details on the scope of the directors' concern, see this rundown on related documents.

Reading List on CIRM Grant Appeals

Here are links to items related to the CIRM grant appeal process and other pertinent issues. They include CIRM documents and items from the California Stem Cell Report.  


This list was revised and updated July 19, 2010.

Competing for California Stem Cell Cash: Rules of the Game Coming Under Scrutiny 5/18/2010

Stem Cell Grant Competition: Remove CIRM Directors From Appeals? 5/23/10

Sticky, Troubling Appeals by Rejected Researchers Targeted by Stem Cell Agency 7/18/10

CIRM Finally Discloses Grant Appeals Change Proposals 7/19/10

Pre-application review – Most recent CIRM report (Jan. 2010) on the process

Extraordinary petition policy – Version as of 5/25/10

Appeal policy – Version as of 5/25/2010

Transcript of 5/25/10 Science Subcommittee meeting dealing with appeals issue

CIRM Directors Okay Compromise Legislation

Directors of the California stem cell agency today endorsed legislation that would remove the 50-person cap on its staff and which is also aimed at ensuring affordable access to stem cell therapies financed by taxpayers.

In response to a question from the California Stem Cell Report, Don Gibbons, chief communications officer for CIRM, said the vote was unanimous. No further details were disclosed.

It is the first time that CIRM directors have endorsed legislation that would modify the agency's operations.

The legislation, SB1064 by Sen. Elaine Kontominas Alquist, D-San Jose, is now set for approval on Thursday by the Senate Appropriations Committee. Then it will go to the Senate floor.

Here is a link to an earlier item on the bill with more details on its current provisions.

CIRM Comments on New NIH Disclosure Rules

Don Gibbons, chief communications officer for the California stem cell agency, filed this comment today on our post, “Disclosure Proposal Likely to Affect CIRM.”

“Casual readers of your posts will take away the notion that NIH is now requiring scientist peer reviewers to post their financial conflicts on the web. That is not true. Existing NIH policy, which is mirrored by CIRM policy, as well as the revised NIH policy, pertains to recipients of NIH grants, not reviewers. Therefore, why does your headline assert the NIH policy change is "likely to affect CIRM." Yes, most of our grant reviewers have NIH grants and will need to post their financial forms on their home institution web sites, but that does not impact CIRM.”

Our point is that CIRM, whose chairman has repeatedly vowed to adhere to the highest standards of openness and transparency, cannot ignore a new standard for disclosure of industry ties by researchers. Currently CIRM scientific reviewers do not have to disclose publicly their financial interests. Under the new NIH rules, those reviewers will be disclosing their industry ties on their home institution Web sites. If CIRM does not disclose the same industry ties of its reviewers on its Web site, the agency will effectively be flouting what will be THE national standard for disclosure by researchers(albeit a weak one, based on what the Institute of Medicine has to say).

The financial interests of CIRM reviewers do have a potential impact on their grant application decisions, which CIRM acknowledges. As Francis Collins, director of the NIH, said, the rules are needed to preserve the “integrity of the scientific enterprise.”

IOM Proposal Not So Good, Says One CIRM Director

One director of the California stem cell agency is less than enamored of a proposal for a study of the agency by the prestigious Institute of Medicine.

Jonathan Shestack, co-founder of Cure Autism Now and a Hollywood producer, said in an email,

“We may have complaints about CIRM, but they are not of the sort we expect IOM, its cultural and ideological doppelganger, to point out.

“Unless there is a glaring problem, having CIRM pay for an IOM report with its own money is the height of folly and a parody of good government.”

The director's Science Subcommittee is scheduled to take up the proposal at a meeting tomorrow(Tuesday).

State's Top Fiscal Officer Lauds Disclosure Proposal Likely to Affect CIRM

State Controller John Chiang, chairman of a key panel overseeing the California stem cell agency, today praised proposed NIH financial disclosure rules that are almost certain to have an impact on CIRM, one that the agency has avoided so far.

Chiang, the state's top fiscal officer, is head of the Citizens Financial Accountability Oversight Committee(CFAOC), a sister group to CIRM and one that was also created by Prop. 71.

Chiang was commenting on the NIH's new, proposed regulations that are likely to lead to the public disclosure of the financial interests of the reviewers who make de facto decisions on $3 billion in CIRM grants. The stem cell agency has adamantly refused to release the conflict-of-interest information.

In remarks made in response to a query from the California Stem Cell Report, Chiang said,

"I applaud the NIH's proposal to improve transparency and accountability by publicly posting financial disclosure reports of scientists and researchers who receive NIH funding. In January, the Citizens Financial Accountability Oversight Committee, which I chair, voted to post our members' statements of economic interest on our website, and to urge CIRM's governing board members and staff to post the same information on the CIRM website.

"As I said at the time, Californians voted to provide billions of public dollars to find cures for chronic, debilitating and deadly diseases that affect millions of Americans each year. To ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent lawfully, wisely and successfully - and to maintain the public's confidence in their investment - CIRM must pursue the highest standards of transparency."

Although the CFAOC is a creature of the legal draftsmanship of CIRM Chairman Robert Klein and others, the agency has moved away from the panel after facing its questions. In recent legislative negotiations, CIRM representatives were successful in removing a provision that would require the Chiang panel to conduct the first-ever performance audit of the CIRM and its board of directors. Now, the bill, SB1064 by Sen. Elaine Kontominas Alquist, D-San Jose, instead contains a provision for a performance audit that would be commissioned by CIRM itself rather than by an outside group.

The CFOAC recommendations for more accountability and transparency at CIRM triggered a smattering of negative newspaper articles. Michael Hiltzik, a business columnist for the Los Angeles Times, the state's largest newspaper, said CIRM should exemplify not only good science, but good government. A scathing San Diego Union-Tribune editorial carried the headline, “Stem-cell shenanigans / Lawmakers should force state institute to shape up.”

Both Chiang and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger post online the statements of their top officials along with their expense claims. Chiang's listing of the material is much more user friendly than the governor's, which are harder to find and harder to navigate.

Stem Cell Grant Competition: Remove CIRM Directors From Appeals?

An individual connected to an institution with a substantial number of CIRM grants sent along a note concerning this Tuesday's examination of the appeal process for grants rejected by scientific reviewers.

The person, who must remain anonymous, said,

“All appeals of grants working group decisions should return to the grants working group. The ICOC (the CIRM board of directors) should NOT be in the business of hearing appeals to scientific reviews. The ICOC is not qualified to render an opinion on such appeals, and the forum is inappropriate for such discussions.”

“In order to legitimize the review process, the scientific review group needs the leading international experts in the field. CIRM should raise the stipend of scientific reviewers in order to attract the participation of the most knowledgeable and respected scientists in stem cell biology and research.”

Complaints about the appeal process for CIRM applications have rumbled around for several years now. Both the board and applicants do not seem pleased with the situation. We should note that rejected applicants would be expected to be unhappy. But for the few applicants who go public with complaints about the process, we hear grumblings from many others. They decline to speak out because of the possibility that they could incur the wrath of an organization that could severely damage their livelihood.

CIRM will never be able to satisfy all parties with the way it handles appeals. That is the nature of such a process. Somebody is going to have to lose out. But most of the affected parties should be able to perceive the process as fair. That means doing more than burying a notice about an examination of the issue in the CIRM Web site. Tuesday's review of the matter was not noticed on the home page of the CIRM Web site. It was not the subject of a press release. Nor was it even brought up as an "announcement."

CIRM has many constituencies, one of which is the research community. It would behoove the organization to listen carefully and AGGRESSIVELY seek out critical analysis of the grant appeal process from scientists -- in both business and academia -- along with constructive suggestions for improvements.

CIRM Takes a Crack at Stem Cell Banking

Stem cell banking is the subject of a day-long CIRM meeting on Wednesday as the stem cell agency wrestles with the costs, distribution and collection of stem cells.

Panels of leading researchers will be taking part in the public session at the Marriot Union Square Hotel in San Francisco. While the workshop will cover a great deal of ground, CIRM singled out one particular area of interest. In a briefing memo, the agency said,

“It would be valuable for the (CIRM) Standards Working Group to give special attention to the segment on privacy, provenance and safety regulation.”

Bee Carries Article on Stem Cell Agency and the State's Financial Crisis

The Sacramento Bee today carried an op-ed piece by yours truly dealing with the California stem cell agency and ballot-box budgeting.

It is a slightly altered version of the item – “Folly of Ballot-Box Budgeting” – that appeared last week on the California Stem Cell Report.

Players in the Negotiations on the CIRM Cap Removal Legislation

Art Torres, co-vice chairman of the California stem cell agency, sent along the following regarding the negotiations on the legislation to remove the 50-person cap on CIRM staff.

Torres, who was a key figure in the process, said,

"Please credit our chief counsel James Harrison and counsel Scott Tocher as our chief negotiators and Duane Roth and Bob Klein, who all played significant roles in our efforts with Senator Alquist and her staff, and Senators Steinberg, Florez and Senator Kehoe and their staffs, who were all very helpful in these negotiations and the input of our president, Alan Trounson, and our scientific staff."

Compromise on Legislation Removing CIRM Staff Cap

Legislation to remove the 50-person cap on staff at the California stem cell agency and ensure affordable access to taxpayer-funded therapies was modified Thursday with the intent of winning the support of the CIRM board of directors.

CIRM Co-Vice Chairman Art Torres and others negotiated the changes in SB1064 by state Sen. Elaine Kontominas Alquist, D-San Jose. Torres is expected to seek the endorsement of the full CIRM board at a special telephonic meeting Tuesday. The measure is expected to come before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday.

CIRM dearly wants the 50-person cap removed. CIRM President Alan Trounson has warned that the quality of CIRM work could suffer if it doesn't have more help. The agency has awarded more than $1 billion in grants and loans to more than 300 researchers. Another $2 billion will be handed out over the next several years. The cap is a bit of redundancy in Prop. 71 since the measure also includes a limit on CIRM's operational budget.

Eliminating the provision, however, is not a trivial legislative matter, also because of Prop. 71. The ballot initiative wrote into law a stipulation that the legislature can only make changes in CIRM with a rare, super, super-majority vote (70 percent) of both houses. As a result, both Alquist and CIRM have compromised on the legislation.

As the legislation now stands, in addition to removing the staff cap, the bill would:

• Write into law provisions aimed at ensuring affordable access to CIRM-financed therapies. Some flexibility for exceptions would be permitted for CIRM under controlled and public processes.
• Assure that potential profits from the taxpayer-funded therapies would go to the state's general fund. Prop. 71 was vague on where such cash would go, raising the possibility it would go to CIRM directly. Any such revenue is far, far down the road given the slow nature of research and federal approval of new therapies.
• Require performance audits of CIRM every three years, beginning in 2010-11, at CIRM's expense
• Permit the expansion of the grant review committee beyond 23 members and 15 scientists
• Require leadership succession planning at the agency. Its first and only chairman, Robert Klein, has said he will be leaving his post in December. Klein has been the dominant and driving force at the agency, even leading the electoral campaign that won approval of Prop. 71 in 2004.
• Require creation of a financial transition plan to address issues that CIRM faces when its current bond funding expires several years from now.

Earlier provisions were removed from the measure that would have changed the selection of chairman and vice chairman of the agency and altered the roles of the chairman and president. The role of the chairman is likely to redefined by the board as it deals with Klein's departure.

Much of the original measure had its origins in the findings of the Little Hoover Commission study of the stem cell agency. The commission recommended a wide range of changes at CIRM, some of which remain in the Alquist bill.

Alquist's bill declared,

“Since its inception, questions and concerns have been raised about the institute's practices, its governing board, and how the state directly and financially benefits through this sizeable investment. These criticisms divert the attention and focus of the institute to drive transformational scientific research and find cures.

“It is the intent of the Legislature to further enhance the ability of the institute to manage this investment made with public funds by addressing public concerns regarding oversight and transparency.”

The bill also said that it was intended to maximize state revenues that might result through CIRM grants.

The public may attend the CIRM board meeting on Tuesday at a number of locations throughout the state. Individuals may also comment on the bill and any action by the board. Specific addresses can be found on the agenda.

New NIH Conflict Rules and Their Impact on CIRM

The NIH today unveiled proposed new conflict-of-interest rules that will reach deep into stem cell research circles in California, touching the state's stem cell agency and affecting 40,000 scientists nationwide.

Francis Collins, director of the NIH, said the rules are aimed at preserving public trust in research ethics and the “integrity of the scientific enterprise.”

According to a report on GenomeWeb News, Collins said,

"As the NIH director, I think I can say with great sincerity that the public trust in what we do is just essential, and we cannot afford to take any chances with the integrity of the research process."

Rob Stein of the Washington Post wrote,

“Among other changes, the new guidelines will reduce from $10,000 to $5,000 the minimum payment that researchers will be required to report and mandate that universities, colleges, research institutes, businesses and other entities that employ researchers who receive NIH funding monitor compliance with the new reporting requirement. Funding information would have to be posted on a publicly accessible Web site. Violators could be subject to losing their funding.”

The rules would require recipient institutions to create a Web site that would display the statements of economic interests filed by their faculty. Some institutions, such as Stanford, already do that. Stanford labels the pages as “industry relationships.”

The NIH announcement focuses new attention on a recommendation last January that CIRM post on the Internet the statements of economic interest filed by members of its board of directors. A sister organization to CIRM, the Citizens Financial Accountability Oversight Committee, said that CIRM should follow the example of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He requires his appointees to file their economic interests online along with their monthly expense claims. State Controller John Chiang, the state's top fiscal officer and chairman of the oversight committee, said the postings and other changes were needed to improve transparency and accountability at CIRM.

Last Friday, the California Stem Cell Report asked Don Gibbons, CIRM's chief communications officer,  whether the agency intended to act on the recommendation for online postings. We have received no response.

The NIH requirement is also likely to raise questions about CIRM's policy of secrecy concerning the economic interests of the scientists who make the de facto decisions on CIRM grants. Currently grant reviewers only have to disclose their interests to a select group within CIRM. Applicants (and the public) have no way of knowing the economic or professional interests of scientists who review their applications. However, with the new NIH rule, virtually all of those scientific reviewers, given the likelihood they hold an NIH grant, will have to post their economic interests at their home institutions but not at CIRM.

Some influential groups have taken positions indicating the proposed NIH rules are not strict enough. Jocelyn Kaiser of Science magazine wrote,

“Although these are big changes, they fall short of advice from an Institute of Medicine panel and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). Both think that researchers should report all potential financial conflicts to their institutions, with no minimum dollar threshold.”

IOM Study of California Stem Cell Agency Proposed

A directors subcommittee of the California stem cell agency next week will consider commissioning a blue-ribbon, outside study of its work, ranging from its organizational structure to its scientific performance.

The study would be conducted by the prestigious Institute of Medicine and be paid for by CIRM. The proposal comes as legislation is being considered in Sacramento that would require peformance audits of CIRM. The agency has also scheduled a three-day review in October of its strategic plan by a panel of outside experts.

The new Science Subcommittee of CIRM directors will take up the IOM proposal at its meeting on Tuesday. The agenda contains no detailed justification for the proposal. It simply says,

“Consideration of commissioning IOM study regarding CIRM, including organizational structure, financial structure, conflicts policies, operations, scientific performance, and best practices, to enhance operations and scientific performance and identify critical scientific opportunities in the near term.”

Jeff Sheehy, chairman of the subcommittee, supports the proposal. In an email, he said,

“If you look at what the IOM does (and I have seen a couple of IOM reports--they were spectacular in their rigor and thoroughness, along with being absolutely objective), and what we should be providing in the way of a progress report to the people of California, it makes a lot of sense to have the gold standard IOM look at us.”

The institute is extremely well-regarded in science circles and regularly studies scientific issues. More than 600 reports are listed on its Web site, mostly dealing with scientific as opposed to public policy matters, although there is considerable overlap on those concerns when public financing is involved.

One longtime observer of the California stem cell scene, who must remain anonymous, said,

“What is probably true is that the IOM would not be so concerned about closed reviews and public disclosure of financial information from reviewers, but will focus on whether the money has been given out in a fair way and what has resulted from it.”

The IOM did produce a report in 2009 on conflicts of interest in medical research and educational institutions. In the case of CIRM, Prop. 71 built into the agency a wide range of conflicts of interest. The IOM study did not examine CIRM or the NIH, but it said,

“(T)here is growing concern among lawmakers, government agencies, and the public that extensive con­flicts of interest in medicine require stronger measures. Responsible and reasonable conflict of interest policies and procedures will reduce the risk of bias and the loss of trust while avoiding undue burdens or harms and without damaging constructive collaborations with industry.”

An IOM study would not be the first involving CIRM. It asked the group to put together a one-day workshop in 2006 on the risks of human egg donation. CIRM approved a $124,185 contract with the IOM. The report from the workshop is now being sold on the Internet by the IOM for $26.78.

Another IOM study would be expensive and could take possibly as much as a year to complete, one source told us. The performance audits proposed in the state legislation are estimated to run about $400,000 each.

The IOM proposal is not being offered as alternative to the audits and was being discussed prior to the legislation, we understand. However, the possibility of such an evaluation could become part of the ongoing negotiations on SB1064 by state Sen. Elaine Kontominas, D-San Jose. A special telephonic meeting of the full CIRM board is also scheduled for next Tuesday if an agreement is reached on the measure, which includes removal of the 50-person cap on CIRM staff. CIRM is eager to see that limit revoked.

Earlier CIRM scheduled and then cancelled a meeting on the Alquist legislation. The one next week could also be cancelled if negotiations are not successful.

Members of the public can sit in on both the full board meeting and the Science Subcommittee session at a variety of locations around the state. Specific addresses can be found on the agendas.

CIRM Legislation Noted on HealthyCal

Legislation to remove the 50-person cap on the number of employees at the California stem cell agency drew a smidgen of notice on HealthyCal.org, a relatively new Web site that deals extensively with health policy issues.

Dan Weintraub, former columnist for The Sacramento Bee, posted a brief item linking to our piece last week on the measure. Among other things, he said,

“A lot of people have forgotten about California’s stem cell research agency, which is spending billions of public dollars with little scrutiny. But blogger David Jensen is one person who is keeping a close eye on the place.”