Aggregated News
A blue-ribbon study of the $3 billion California stem cell agency today said the program has “achieved many notable results,” but recommended sweeping changes to remove conflict of interest problems, clean up a troubling dual-executive arrangement and fundamentally change the nature of the governing board.
The recommendations from the 17-month study by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) would strip the board of its ability to approve individual grants, greatly strengthen the role of the agency's president, significantly alter the role of patient advocates on the governing board and engage the biotech industry more vigorously.
Harold Shapiro, former president of Princeton University and chairman of the IOM study panel, said,
“Overall, CIRM (the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine) has done a remarkably good job” in giving the state a prominent position in regenerative medicine. But he said the stem cell field has “evolved”and CIRM needs to change with it.
As for turning research into cures, the report said,
The recommendations from the 17-month study by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) would strip the board of its ability to approve individual grants, greatly strengthen the role of the agency's president, significantly alter the role of patient advocates on the governing board and engage the biotech industry more vigorously.
Harold Shapiro, former president of Princeton University and chairman of the IOM study panel, said,
“Overall, CIRM (the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine) has done a remarkably good job” in giving the state a prominent position in regenerative medicine. But he said the stem cell field has “evolved”and CIRM needs to change with it.
As for turning research into cures, the report said,
“The challenge of moving its research programs closer to the clinic and California’s large biotechnology sector is certainly on CIRM’s agenda...