CGS-authored
The panel of scientists reviewing grant requests at California's stem cell funding agency didn't like the proposal submitted by UC Irvine professor Frank LaFerla and his partner, a biotech company.
LaFerla and the company were asking for $20 million to further his work looking for a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. The scientific reviewers questioned whether the huge taxpayer investment had any chance of paying off. They explicitly said it lacked a scientific rationale. They also said the project's estimated cost appeared excessive.
The scientists discussed, and then turned down, La Ferla's request – twice.
That didn't matter, however, to the governing board of the stem cell agency, which is dominated by members from the UC system, including two professors from UC Irvine. In September, the board voted to reverse the decision of its panel of scientific experts and approve the proposal of LaFerla and his partner, StemCells Inc., a firm headquartered in northern California.
It wasn't the first time that questions have been raised about the grants awarded by the board of the agency officially known as the California Institute...
LaFerla and the company were asking for $20 million to further his work looking for a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. The scientific reviewers questioned whether the huge taxpayer investment had any chance of paying off. They explicitly said it lacked a scientific rationale. They also said the project's estimated cost appeared excessive.
The scientists discussed, and then turned down, La Ferla's request – twice.
That didn't matter, however, to the governing board of the stem cell agency, which is dominated by members from the UC system, including two professors from UC Irvine. In September, the board voted to reverse the decision of its panel of scientific experts and approve the proposal of LaFerla and his partner, StemCells Inc., a firm headquartered in northern California.
It wasn't the first time that questions have been raised about the grants awarded by the board of the agency officially known as the California Institute...