Cell Divisions: A Rough Week for S.F.-Based Stem Cell Agency
By Peter Jamison in Local News, Science and Tech
Wednesday, Jul. 1 2009 @ 4:10PM
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| Tempest in a petri dish |
Last week, it was revealed that the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) -- created to fund stem-cell research through Proposition 71, the 2004 state ballot initiative -- was losing its highly respected chief scientist, Marie Csete. Since then, a state watchdog agency has suggested a number of drastic changes to how CIRM operates.
And to top it off, Csete, in an interview for a Nature magazine story that appeared yesterday, opted not to give the conventional "more-time-with-family" line on her resignation and instead ripped into the agency for ignoring her advice as a doctor and scientist.
Let's start with the reform proposals. The state's Little Hoover Commission, a good-government agency, found in a report last week that "improvements to CIRM's governance structure are needed to allow CIRM to move forward with the transparency and accountability Californians deserve."
Among its suggestions were a reduction of the governing board from 29 to 15 members, enhanced oversight of the agency, and more complete plans for the future direction of research grants. In the past, the stem-cell agency has been dogged by concerns over conflicts of interest among board members -- many of whom come from institutions that benefit from grant money.
Meanwhile, Csete apparently wasn't happy with how her advice was being received by her employer, as she revealed in Nature. "When it became clear to me that my considered clinical advice was not respected, I concluded that it made no sense for me to stay at CIRM," she told the magazine.
All this tumult comes as CIRM prepares to enter a vital new phase of funding designed to deliver on the promises of Prop. 71 through $210 million in grants intended specifically to produce medicines. That effort has itself prompted a backlash in the scientific community among many who say the effort is premature, as we reported in April. Developments over the past week aren't likely to make the job any easier.
Photo by kaibara87.
Among its suggestions were a reduction of the governing board from 29 to 15 members, enhanced oversight of the agency, and more complete plans for the future direction of research grants. In the past, the stem-cell agency has been dogged by concerns over conflicts of interest among board members -- many of whom come from institutions that benefit from grant money.
Meanwhile, Csete apparently wasn't happy with how her advice was being received by her employer, as she revealed in Nature. "When it became clear to me that my considered clinical advice was not respected, I concluded that it made no sense for me to stay at CIRM," she told the magazine.
All this tumult comes as CIRM prepares to enter a vital new phase of funding designed to deliver on the promises of Prop. 71 through $210 million in grants intended specifically to produce medicines. That effort has itself prompted a backlash in the scientific community among many who say the effort is premature, as we reported in April. Developments over the past week aren't likely to make the job any easier.
Photo by kaibara87.
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