California Stem Cell Report: Former CEO of California Stem …

Alan Trounson, the former president of the $3 billion California stem cell agency, today was named to the board of a company that hasreceived $19.4 million from the agency, raising fresh and serious questions about conflicts of interest at the state-funded research program. Announcement of the appointment came only seven days after Trounson left state employment. Trounson has been dogged for some time with questions about his relationship to the company, StemCells, Inc., of Newark, Ca., and its co-founder, eminent Stanford researcher Irv Weissman, who sits on the companys six-man board and is chairman of its scientific advisory board. StemCells, Inc., announced Trounsons appointment in a press release this morning. The publicly traded firm said it was thrilled to have Trounson on its board. The first sentence of its press release noted that he had served as head of the largest scientific funding body for stem cell research in the world. Weissman is director of the Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford. He has received $34.7 million from the agency. Stanford overall has received $281 million from the stem cell agency, formally known as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). It is the No. 1 recipient of cash from the agency.

One California stem cell researcher, who asked to remain anonymous, said in an email,

StemCells, Inc., Weissman and the stem cell agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Trounson, who announced last fall he was leaving the agency to return to Australia, could not be reached. The California Stem Cell Report will carry the full text of their remarks when they are received.

As the California Stem Cell Report has previously noted,,

Under CIRM's procedures, Trounson does not vote on applications during the review process. But beginning last year the board gave him and his staff new authority to make recommendations on applications after they were acted on by reviewers.

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California Stem Cell Report: Former CEO of California Stem ...