Frustrated with politicking,
“arm-twisting,” lobbying and “emotionally charged
presentations,” the governing board of the $3 billion California
stem cell agency today approved short-term changes in its grant
appeal process and ordered up a study to prepare long-term reforms.
setting records for the number of appeals and generating hours of
sometimes tearful and emotion-laden presentations from members of the
public.
free-wheeling nature and making it more understandable to the public
and applicants. The board also directed creation of a panel to make
recommendations by the end of the year for more wide-ranging reforms.
not happy with the appeal process this summer. However, it has been a
problem since 2008 when Bert Lubin, now a director of the stem cell
agency and CEO of Childrens Hospital of Oakland, Ca., was the first applicant to make a public pitch before the board to overturn
reviewer rejection of his application.
Gerald Levey, said at the time,
"I don't think we can run a board
this way. If we do, it would be chaos."
dean of the USC School of Medicine, said that “lots of lobbying”
was going over the last couple of months. He predicted there will
more lobbying and “more politicking.” Puliafito said,
“On big money grants, people will be
calling their friends.”
Robert Klein, was not mentioned during this afternoon's discussion.
But Klein vigorously and successfully backed an appeal (see here,
here and here) by StemCells, Inc., of Newark, Ca., for a $20 million
application that had been rejected twice by reviewers. Last night the
board approved the award on a 7-5 vote. It was the first time the
board has approved an award that was rejected twice by its reviewers.
of the review group and a communications manager at UC San Francisco,
said the agency is dealing with “big money grants” that are
“incredibly complex.” He also referred to “certain arm-twisting
by certain individuals.”
to appearances by persons who have diseases or conditions that might
be affected by CIRM-financed research. Director Duane Roth, head of
CONNECT, a San Diego business development organization, said the
board is making decisions in “an emotionally charged setting.”
the integrity of review process, fairness, consistency, shifting
appeals procedures, transparency and board discipline on appeals.
James Harrison, outside counsel to the board, said the board's action today includes "eliminating the reference to unpublished data in the discussion of 'material new information," imposing a 3-page limit on other correspondence, explaining that applicants should have seven business days from the time the (grants review group) recommendation is made available to them to file an (extraordinary petition), and posting all of the information regarding these policies in one place on CIRM’s website."
documents dealing with the appeal process, see here.
Source:
http://californiastemcellreport.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith