California Stem-Cell Organization Disburses $14M

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the agency formed when California's voters authorized the sale of some $3 billion in bonds to fund stem-cell research, today announced the allocation of some $12.1 million in its first disbursement of grants.

The money did not actually come from the sale of any of the bonds that voters approved in voting for Proposition 71 in November 2004. , but rather from the sale of bond anticipation notes to six California entities after the agency approved the sale of these financial instruments last week.

The institution plans to sell some $50 million of the notes to create a next round of funding and sidestep the roadblock of current litigation that is asking courts to determine the constitutionality of Proposition 71, and has held up the sale of the bonds.

The initial disbursement went to 16 universities and nonprofit research institutions led by the Keck School of Medicine – which in combination with the University of Southern California-affiliated Childrens Hospital Los Angeles – received funds totaling $1.38 million.

The grants will be used to prepare some 170 scientists and students in the basics of stem cell science, including ethics. The funds were parsed out to eight University of California campuses including the California Institute of Technology, Stanford, USC, and four nonprofit research institutes.

For more information, see The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine website.