California Institute for Regenerative Medicine

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) was created by California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

's Proposition 71 (2004), which authorized it to issue $3 billion in grants, funded by bonds, over ten years for embryonic stem cell and other biomedical research. It is claimed to be the world's largest single backer of research in stem cell

Stem cell

This article is about the cell type. For the medical therapy, see Stem Cell TreatmentsStem cells are biological cells found in all multicellular organisms, that can divide and differentiate into diverse specialized cell types and can self-renew to produce more stem cells...

s. However, the U.S. Federal government is the largest sponsor of grant money in the world, although the Dickey Amendment

Dickey Amendment

The Dickey Amendment is the name of an appropriation bill rider attached to a bill passed by United States Congress in 1995, and signed by former President Bill Clinton, which prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services from using appropriated funds for the creation of human embryos for...

which was passed by Congress in 1995 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

(and later affirmed by President George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

in 2001), restricts the application of federal money to stem cell research for particular uses. CIRM awarded its first grants to train 169 stem cell researchers in April 2006. It funded its first research grants, totaling more than $100 million, in the first quarter of 2007.

Organization and leaders

The CIRM governing committee consists of representatives of groups and institutions who are likely to receive funding, including public universities, nonprofit research centers, private biotechnology companies, and disease-specific patient advocates. They were appointed (or, in the case of chair and vice-chair, nominated) by four elected officials and five UC

University of California

The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...

Chancellors.

The chair of the committee is Robert Klein

Robert N. Klein II

Robert Nicholas "Bob" Klein II, 61, is a stem cell advocate. He initiated California Proposition 71, which succeeded in establishing the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, of which Klein is now the head....

, a Palo Alto

Palo Alto, California

Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...

real estate developer who helped write and finance the initiative. He is hopeful stem cells will provide a cure for his son, who has diabetes. Robert Klein was previously the chair of the Yes on 71 campaign, a chief author of the initiative, and - at $3 million - its largest financial supporter. The campaign operated from the offices of the Klein Financial Corporation. After the vote, the "Yes on 71" campaign changed into the California Research and Cures Coalition, a stem cell advocacy organization, with Klein initially at the helm.

The vice-chair of the governing committee is Edward Penhoet, a biotech businessman. He was a co-founder and president of Chiron

Chiron Corporation

Chiron Corporation was a multinational biotechnology firm based in Emeryville, California that was acquired by Novartis International AG on April 20, 2006. It had offices and facilities in eighteen countries on five continents. Chiron's business and research was in three main areas:...

, and recently he co-founded Renovis. He is on the boards of directors of Chiron, Renovis, Zymogenetics, and BayBio; and recently on those of Eyetech and the Biotechnology Industry Association. He is a Director at Alta Partners

Alta Partners

Alta Partners is a venture capital firm based in San Francisco, CA. The company was founded in 1996 by Dr. Jean Deleage, Ph.D., who was also a founder of the venture capital firms Burr, Egan, Deleage & Co. and Sofinnova, together with Garrett Gruener, a former general partner at BEDCO.The company...

, a venture capital firm with a large biotechnology portfolio. Penhoet has also served on the UC Berkeley faculty and is currently President of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

CIRM was initially supported by the staff of the California Research and Cures Coalition from the offices of the Klein Financial Corporation. Early in 2005, Zach W. Hall, Ph.D., was named President and Chief Scientific Officer, and he began recruiting permanent staff for the Institute. (Under Proposition 71, CIRM's staff is capped at 50 full-time employees. It had 23 as of January 2007.) In May 2005 CIRM's board approved the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

for its permanent headquarters.

New president

On September 14, 2007, renowned Australian scientist

Scientist

A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...

Alan Trounson was appointed president

President

A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

's stem cell

Stem cell

agency

Government agency

A government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...

. Dr. George Daley, Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

researcher

Researcher

A researcher is somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in general any systematic investigation to establish facts. Researchers can work in academic, industrial, government, or private institutions.-Examples of research institutions:...

and president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research stated: "His own scientific work is going to take a secondary role." Trounson has launched

Launched

Launched is the second album from German hardcore punk band, Beatsteaks. It was released in March, 2000 on Epitaph Records and follows the band's debut release 48/49 in 1997 on XNO Records. The album contains an interesting half acoustic cover version of a song by heavy metal band, Manowar, "Kings...

eight biotechnology

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...

corporations, including Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

-based Embryonic Stem Cell International.

Prop 71 history

For more information on Prop 71, see California Proposition 71 (2004)

The campaign spent over $30 million and received contributions from entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates

Bill Gates

William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...

, venture capitalist John Doerr

John Doerr

L. John Doerr is an American venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in Menlo Park, California, in Silicon Valley. In February 2009, Doerr was appointed as a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board to provide the president and his administration with advice and...

, (an early backer of Internet search engine Google

Google

Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

), and eBay

EBay

eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...

founder Pierre Omidyar

Pierre Omidyar

Pierre Morad Omidyar is a French-Iranian American entrepreneur and philanthropist/economist, and the founder/chairman of the eBay auction site...

, as well as actors Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox

Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...

and Christopher Reeve

Christopher Reeve

Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...

. Its largest source of funding was from venture capitalists. It was also backed by the Republican California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....

and former U.S. First Lady, Nancy Reagan

Nancy Reagan

Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....

.

Opposition to the Prop 71 initiative came from a diverse range of groups, including both those who oppose abortion rights as well as those who are pro-choice supporters. The former are generally opposed to all embryonic stem cell research, while the latter emphasized potential conflicts of interest, alleged lack of transparency and accountability, and alleged inadequate safeguards to protect the health of egg providers and research subjects.

Implementation

Following the passage of the proposition, Robert Klein

Robert N. Klein II

, one of the CIRM Founders, said: "There is no doubt in my mind that the mission Californians accepted today is a critical first step in changing the face of human suffering forever." That first step was delayed by litigation filed by various organizations, challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 71. Constitutional challenges against Proposition 71 came to an end on May 16, 2007 when California Supreme Court declined to review two lower court decisions . In the meantime, CIRM has funded its grants and operations with loans -- $150 million from the California General Fund, authorized by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and $45 million from private philanthropists. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/opinion/14714194.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp On July 21, 2006, Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger

authorized $150 million in loans to the Institute in an attempt to jump start the process of funding research.

External links

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