Our Governing Board

About the Governing Board

CIRM is governed by a 35-member Governing Board, the Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee (ICOC), which is composed of Californians with expertise in: (1) managing large research grants and complex institutions and conducting cutting edge medical research; (2) understanding the critical path for the development of successful experimental medical treatments and directing the approval process through the Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory bodies and ethical committees; and (3) advocating on behalf of Californians who suffer from a variety of chronic diseases and injuries. Among other responsibilities, the Board is charged with: (1) adopting scientific, medical, ethical, and intellectual property policies; (2) making final decisions on all grant and loan awards; and (3) overseeing the operations of CIRM. The board is made up of:

  • Patient Advocates Our patient advocate members keep the agency’s focus where it belongs: on the people who need cures for chronic disease and injury. They represent a wide range of diseases including diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, HIV/AIDS, mental health and spinal cord injury.
  • Biotechnology Industry The biotechnology leaders on our board ensure that our policies and funding draw on California’s biotechnology expertise. With these board members guiding agency decisions we have confidence that the industry will be poised to work with CIRM to accelerate the process of getting these new therapies to the patients who need them.
  • Research Leaders Having leaders in biomedical research on our board provides the agency with scientific expertise needed to direct the agency’s funding initiatives. These members head nationally ranked medical schools and research institutes with track records of moving basic research to the clinic.

Board Appointments

Board members are appointed as follows:

  • UC Chancellors: the Chancellors of University of California San Francisco, Davis, Los Angeles, San Diego and Irvine, can each appoint a single executive officer from the campus.
  • Governor: An executive from a California University, an executive from a nonprofit research institution, an executive from a California life sciences company, a patient advocate for spinal cord injury, a patient advocate for Alzheimer’s disease.
  • Lieutenant Governor: An executive from a California University, an executive from a nonprofit research institution, an executive from a California life sciences company, a patient advocate for type 2 diabetes, a patient advocate for either multiple sclerosis or ALS.
  • Treasurer: An executive from a California University, an executive from a nonprofit research institution, an executive from a California life sciences company, a patient advocate for type 1 diabetes, a patient advocate for heart disease.
  • Controller: An executive from a California University, an executive from a nonprofit research institution, an executive from a California life sciences company, a patient advocate for cancer, a patient advocate for Parkinson’s disease.
  • Speaker of the Assembly: A patient advocate for mental health.
  • President pro Tempore: A patient advocate for HIV/AIDS.

In addition, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer and Controller each nominate one person for the position of Chair and Vice-chair. The appointed members of the governing board vote from among those nominees to select those two positions.

For a list of the current ICOC Board members, visit our Board Member page.

Board Subcommittees & Working Groups

Subcommittees of the Board advise the Board on specific issues within the subcommittee’s subject area.  Subcommittees help the Board work efficiently through various subject areas by creating subsets of Board members with specific expertise and interest in the given subject area.

Board Regulations

Upcoming Board Meetings

Please visit our public meetings page for upcoming Board meetings. The meeting agendas are generally posted ten days in advance of the Board meeting date. Please see our 2023 Board meeting schedule listed below.

  • January 26th, 2023 – In-person/Zoom
  • February 23rd, 2023 – Zoom
  • March 28th, 2023  – In-person/Zoom
  • April 27th, 2023  – Zoom
  • May 31st, 2023 – Zoom
  • June 29th, 2023 – In-person/Zoom
  • July 27th, 2023 – Zoom
  • September 28th, 2023 – In-person/Zoom
  • October 26th, 2023 – Zoom
  • November 28th, 2023 – Zoom
  • December 14th, 2023 – In-person/Zoom
  • 2023 ICOC meeting schedule*Meeting dates and locations are subject to change.

ICOC meeting agendas and transcripts are available in the meeting archives.

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