Stem Cell Institute Official Addresses Policies
Two issues in an Oct. 12 story in the San Francisco Chronicle addressing the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine "warrant clarification," Dale Carson, chief communications officer for CIRM, writes in a San Francisco Chronicle letter to the editor (Carson, San Francisco Chronicle, 10/19).
State voters in 2004 approved Proposition 71 to provide $3 billion over 10 years to fund stem cell research. The initiative created CIRM, which the Independent Citizens' Oversight Committee oversees (California Healthline, 10/12).
Carson writes that CIRM's awarding of grants will be "defined by our scientific strategic plan," which CIRM's governing board is expected to approve on Dec. 7. He adds that the state Finance Committee, rather than CIRM, will determine the amount of bonds to be sold to fund stem cell research.
According to Carson, research institutions that receive CIRM grants for the construction of new facilities or renovation of existing facilities must provide matching funds and comply with other rules that will be determined "sometime in the future" (San Francisco Chronicle, 10/19).