CGS-authored

Stem cell grant advisers must disclose ties

The 29 people who oversee California's $3 billion stem-cell program face a big decision tomorrow. The choice they make could determine whether this oversight committee retains any shred of credibility, or becomes the target of a burgeoning legislative effort to amend Proposition 71, the voter-approved law that created the stem-cell program.
The decision in question involves the program's advisory scientists, who will exert enormous influence on how the new Institute for Regenerative Medicine spends $3 billion in public money over 10 years.


These soon-to-be appointed advisers - members of the Grants Review Working Group - will have the responsibility of reviewing hundreds of applications for stem-cell research funds. Their recommendations could launch or sink scientific careers. They could enrich the reputations and financial standings of universities and biotech companies, including some for which they have previously worked.
For these reasons, it is essential that members of the Grants Review Working Group publicly disclose their potential conflicts of interest, as do other public officials in California. Unfortunately, institute leaders have proposed a deeply flawed...