Run down on CIRM’s quest for the next chair

The purpose of this blog is to talk about the advances in stem cell science, and the progress being made by CIRM grantees. However, sometimes CIRM itself is a focus of  news that warrants us updating readers about our own activities.

There has been much speculation in the news about the person who will become the new chair of the agency’s 29-member governing board. Our current chair, Robert Klein, was elected to a six-year term on December 17, 2004. On December 15, the governing board will vote on the person who will hold the next term.

We’ve posted a statement on our website about that process, including our answer to the most common question about who nominates candidates:

A: Under Proposition 71, four Constitutional Officers (the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Treasurer and the Controller) are responsible for nominating candidates for Chair and Vice Chair of CIRM’s Governing Board, which is composed of 29 members (27 members appointed by the constitutional officers, the Speaker of the Assembly and the Senate President Pro Tem, in addition to the Chair and Vice Chair.) The Governing Board elects a Chair and a Vice Chair from among the nominees.

As of posting, here is the run-down of nominations:

• Governor – Chair: Robert Klein
• Lieutenant Governor – Chair: Robert Klein
• Treasurer – Vice-Chair: Art Torres
• Controller – Chair: Art Torres; Vice-Chair: Jeff Sheehy

Stay tuned for the December 15 vote. We’ll issue a press release as soon as that happens, and will be posting to our twitter feed (CIRMnews) and Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaInstituteForRegenerativeMedicine). You will also be able to listen in to that meeting live. When the agenda is posted to our list of upcoming meetings it will include a URL for that audio webcast.

Here’s some more information about our current board members.

A.A.