CIRM Governing Board Endorses Federal Stem Cell Research Bills, Approves $1.6 Million in Funding

San Francisco, Calif., November 11, 2010 – The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state stem cell agency created by proposition 71, today endorsed proposed federal stem cell legislation and approved an additional $1.6 million in funding for one additional Early Translational II Award that had been held over from the previous meeting.

With this award, which went to Leif Havton at the University of California, Los Angeles, CIRM has funded 20 Early Translational II Awards to 12 institutions. A list of previously funded awards is available in the October 21 press release.

The Governing Board also passed a resolution supporting bills in the U.S. House by Representative DeGette and in the U.S. Senate by Senator Specter that would legislatively codify President Obama’s Executive Order from March 9, 2009 and the National Institutes of Health guidelines from July 7, 2009 on human embryonic stem cell research.

The resolution added, “The Governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine strongly encourages federal policy that supports all forms of stem cell research for the millions of Americans who suffer from disease and injury.”

At the same meeting, the Governing Board discussed the funding level of a previously approved Early Translational II Award TR2-01857. The board voted to support the original funding request of $5,199,767. These changes bring the total funding for Early Translational II Awards to $68,898,250.

For more information about CIRM funding, see our list of CIRM-funded institutions, and our searchable list of of all stem cell research grants.