About the center: Our Standards Working Group has developed research standards that make sure our grantees are following the highest standards in their research. We’ve worked closely with other state and federal agencies to align our standards and to protect patients.
Some therapies that come out of stem cell research involve transplanting the cells themselves. Others will be drugs that were discovered through modeling diseases in a petri dish. Still others will be diagnostics that allow doctors to diagnose and treat diseases more effectively—or through technologies that open up whole new fields of research. Our funding promotes all areas of stem cell research that show promise to accelerating treatments to patients in need.
Achievements: CIRM was established via California Proposition 71 (2004) however its implementation was delayed when opponents filed two lawsuits that challenged the proposition’s constitutionality. Opponents argued that the initiative created a taxpayer-funded entity not under state control, that the ICOC had a conflict of interest with representatives being eligible for grant money, and that the initiative violated the single-subject requirement of initiatives by funding areas beyond stem cell research. In May 2007, the Supreme Court of California declined to review the two lower court decisions, thereby upholding Proposition 71 as constitutional and permitting CIRM to fund stem cell research in California.
CIRM eventually got underway and began awarding grants. Specific examples of CIRM funding have included:
- In 2009, CIRM awarded $67 million in early translational grants that was allocated to 13 nonprofit organizations and two for-profit organizations, BioTime and Novocell.
- In 2013, Cellular Dynamics of Madison, Wisconsin was awarded $16 million from CIRM to create three iPSC lines using tissue samples from both healthy and diseased individuals CIRM also awarded the Coriell Institute for Medical Research $10 million to establish and manage a biobank in California for the iPSC lines created by Cellular Dynamics.
The $3 billion initially provided to CIRM through Proposition 71 was budged to last until 2017. In February 2014, Robert Klein, a leader in the initial campaign for Proposition 71 and former CIRM Board Chair, presented a proposal at the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center to extend CIRM funding. Another option discussed at that time, was for CIRM to become a private, non-profit organization that would rely solely on outside funding.
Address: 1999 Harrison Street, Suite 1650
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: (510) 340-9101
Web Site: https://www.cirm.ca.gov
Email: info@cirm.ca.gov
