No Research Funding Cancellation for the Golden State; $100 Million Went Out the Door This Week

CIRM board members remain concerned about impact of Trump's moves

The CIRM governing board met yesterday in Burlingame, Calif. The Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee is the CIRM board. The Application Review Subcommittee is a subset of the board created to help somewhat with avoiding conflict of interest problems in the approval of grants. A number of board members are linked to institutions involved in the applications. CSCR photo

BURLINGAME, CA. -- While fear of massive research funding cuts roiled the national biomedical community this week, California scientists saw $100 million coming their way from the state’s voter-approved stem cell and gene therapy program.

“We are excited to support these groundbreaking projects, advancing research from discovery to clinical impact across neurological, psychiatric, cardiovascular, blood, and cancer-related diseases, as well as chronic pain,” said Rosa Canet-Avilés, chief scientific officer at the agency, officially known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM).

“CIRM remains deeply committed to accelerating stem cell and gene therapies for patients in need,” she said.

It is unusual for CIRM to approve $100 million in awards in a single day, but the amount