California Institute for Regenerative Medicine Identifies Interim Office Space In Emeryville Institute Also Announces Initial Staff Hires

Los Angeles, CA – The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (the “Institute”) today announced that it has selected interim office space in Emeryville, California and has hired initial, start-up staff.

The Institute will be taking interim office space at 5858 Horton Street, Emeryville, CA 94608 as of February 11, 2005. The property development, Emery Station, is owned by Wareham Development, which has more than four million square feet of space within its Bay Area portfolio. The Institute will utilize 7,416 square feet of office space during a one-year lease term. The first seven months of rent will be free and the Institute will have a 30-day termination notice to end the lease. The lessor does not have any interest in firms or agencies competing for grants to be awarded by the Institute. The Institute staff worked through the State Department of General Services (“DGS”) and the State Controller’s Office to audit available office space and ultimately select the Horton Street location. A lease is expected to be executed by DGS in the next week.

The Institute’s governing board, the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee (“ICOC”), is ultimately charged with identifying and selecting a long-term site for the Institute. A Request For Proposals for permanent space, including specific required criteria, is expected to be distributed to communities and facility owners in February.

The following full-time employees and interagency personnel loans were announced today:

Walter Barnes, 61, of Sacramento, will serve as interim Chief Administrative Officer and Comptroller, serving on loan via an inter-agency agreement with the Office of the State Controller. Mr. Barnes has 35 years of successful executive management and supervisory experience in the State Controller’s Office, currently serving as Chief Administrative Officer, and formerly in both the Departments of Social Services and Health Services. Mr. Barnes also recently concluded service with the California Performance Review as Team Leader for General Government.

Amy Daly, RN, 41, of Redwood City, will serve as Director of Patient and Medical Organization Relations and ICOC Board Liaison. Ms. Daly is a registered nurse, licensed by the California Board of Registered Nurses, and has held nursing positions at the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, Pacifica-Peninsula Pediatrics and a Bay Area secondary school. She previously served as the liaison between the Proposition 71 campaign and more than 70 national and statewide patient and medical organizations. Compensation is $110,000.

Amy DuRoss, 31, of San Francisco, will serve as Deputy to the Chair. Ms. DuRoss earned an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and previously served as a consultant for The World Bank Group, Washington, DC and as a business development manager for GovOne Solutions, Inc. In 2002, Ms. DuRoss assisted Robert Klein and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation on a $1.5 billion supplemental NIH research appropriation for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, including clinical treatment facilities for Native Americans. Ms. DuRoss, a one-time Coro Foundation Fellow, previously served as Vice-Chair and Executive Committee Director for the Proposition 71 campaign. Compensation to be determined.

Melissa King, 34, of San Francisco, will serve as Director of Academic and Life Science Relations and ICOC Board Liaison. Ms. King has more than 10 years experience in public relations, corporate communications and internal communications, serving in Vice President and Account/Communcations Director roles at Phase Two Strategies, Outcast Communications and Nextset Software. She previously served as the Program Director of Operations and Communications for the California Research and Cures Coalition where she was responsible for managing the creation of the newly formed non-profit education organization, including the sponsorship of the National Academies’ National Research Council conference on stem cell research in California last year. Compensation is $95,000.

Kirk Kleinschmidt, 41, of San Francisco, will serve as Director of Legislation and Research Policy. Over a 14-year span, Mr. Kleinschmidt previously served as Vice President of Advocacy and also Vice President of Communications for the American Heart Association/Western States Affiliate, Inc. He previously served as Program Director for Public Policy for the California Research and Cures Coalition and currently serves as Chair of the California Tobacco Education Research Oversight Committee and also Co-Chair of the San Francisco Tobacco-Free Coalition. Compensation is $98,000.

Sally Lee, of Burlingame, will serve as Director of Working Group Operations, serving on loan via an inter-agency agreement with the Judicial Council/Administrative Office of the Courts. Ms. Lee has 32 years experience working for California State agencies, including Judicial Council/Administrative Office of the Courts, Board of Equalization, State Department of Aging, State Department of Health Services, State Department of Personnel Administration, State Department of Finance and the State Personnel Board.

Amy Lewis, 30, of San Francisco, will serve as Chief of Staff to the Chairman. Ms. Lewis previously served as Development Associate at Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Coordinator of Event Planning for New Venture Center at the University of San Francisco. She earned her MBA from the University of San Francisco. She previously served as Program Director for Development and Finance for the California Research and Cures Coalition. Compensation is $125,000.

Mary Maxon, Ph.D., 42, of San Francisco, will serve as Deputy to the Vice Chair. She previously served as a project leader, coordinating teams of scientists, at both Cytokinetics, Inc. and Microbia, Inc. Ms. Maxon earned a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry from State University of New York at Albany and her Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley/Department of Molecular and Cell Biology. She is a member of the American Society of Microbiology and the American Society of Cell Biology. At the invitation of the National Academies of Science and Medicine, Ms. Maxon recently organized and chaired the Indo-American Neglected Diseases Drug Discovery Mini-Symposium in Hyderabad, India. Compensation is $155,000.

Katharine Shreve, 31, of Washington, DC, will serve as Senior Policy Analyst, Scientific and Medical Research Funding Working Group. Ms. Shreve previously served as Project Coordinator and Senior Research Assistant at Children’s National Medical Center – Children’s Research Institute, as well as positions at the Children’s Defense Fund and Columbia University Hospital for Physicians and Surgeons. Ms. Shreve earned an MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services and completed a fellowship at the National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health. She is a member of the American Public Health Association. Compensation is $90,000.

As required by Proposition 71, the ICOC will set Institute staff compensation comparable with the University of California system. Individuals interested in seeking employment with the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine can obtain an on-line application on the Institute’s web site at www.cirm.ca.gov.

The Institute 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 overwhelmingly 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.

 

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