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Turning 10 years old may not quite mark adolescence for a human child, but for a major government research effort such as California's stem cell program, it's well past middle age.
So it's a little strange to hear C. Randal Mills, the new president and chief executive of the program known formally as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, say it's time to instill in CIRM "a clear sense of mission."
But that's what Mills is planning for the coming year, as he launches CIRM 2.0, a comprehensive reboot of the program.
Mills, a former biotech company chief executive, took over as CIRM's president last May. His first task, he told me, was to "take a step back and look broadly at how we do our business." He reached the conclusion that "there was a lot of room for improvement."
That's a striking admission for a program that already has allocated roughly two-thirds of its original $3-billion endowment.
Biomedical researchers are sure to find a lot to like about CIRM 2.0, especially Mills' commitment to streamline the program's...