MEDIA ADVISORY ICOC TO ANNOUNCE CIRM TRAINING PROGRAM AT UPCOMING MEETING IN SACRAMENTO

EMERYVILLE, CA – On Friday (9/9/05), the Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee (ICOC) for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) will meet and award its first grants to establish the CIRM Training Program in Stem Cell Research. The program will support training in California institutions for pre-doctoral, post-doctoral and clinical fellows in stem cell research.

WHO: Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee

WHEN: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
             8:30 A.M. – 5:30 P.M. (Estimated)

WHERE: Sheraton Grand Sacramento
               Hendricks-Baker & Camellia Rooms
               1230 J Street
               Sacramento, CA 95814

WHAT: Members of the ICOC will consider recommendations from the Grants Working Group, discuss a potential second round of grant funding and consider a report from the Standards Working Group on CIRM interim guidelines for human embryonic stem cell research.

ICOC members will vote on individual applications for RFA 05-01: CIRM Training Program in Stem Cell Research, using the following protocol:

• Each applicant will be identified by a number, not by organization
• The ICOC will take a roll call vote on each application.
• ICOC members will not vote on any application for which they have a conflict of interest.

The CIRM Training Program in Stem Cell Research will be announced, along with participating institutions, at a press conference immediately following the closed session on the meeting agenda.

At the beginning of the meeting, the ICOC will hear a special presentation on patients living with Alzheimer’s disease by ICOC members Tina Nova, PhD, of GenOptix, Inc. and Leon Thal, MD, of the University of California San Diego; and Jackie Wynne McGrath of the California Council of the Alzheimer’s Association.

WHY: The ICOC is responsible for the oversight and management of the CIRM, which was established in 2004 with the passage of Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative. The statewide ballot measure, which provided $3 billion in funding for stem cell research at California universities and research institutions, was approved by California voters, and called for the establishment of an entity to make grants and provide loans for stem cell research, research facilities, and other vital research opportunities.

 

CIRM Contact:	Nicole Pagano
	(415) 396-9100