funding

Please take a couple minutes now to help fund future of CIRM

CIRM-California-stem-cell-agency

The California Stem Cell Agency, better known by the acronym CIRM, has done a vast amount of good over the past decade and a half, and today it needs your help for the future. CIRM, which stands for the “California Institute for Regenerative Medicine”, has funded a huge array of stem cell and other research …

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Upbeat poll results on the future of CIRM funding

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I recently started 2 polls on the future of CIRM. The polls are focused on the effort led by Robert Klein to get more funding from the State of California for the stem cell agency. They asked readers about whether Californians will refund CIRM and whether Californians should refund CIRM. Basically, the polls are asking …

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Stem cell cha-ching! CIRM has economic impact in billions, 56K+ jobs

CIRM-impact

We here in California have been fortunate to have our own stem cell and regenerative medicine agency called CIRM, standing for the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. How much has CIRM helped the California economy and has it had broader economic impacts outside of California? How will that impact its future? CIRM has been around …

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TGIF Science: funding, CRISPR v. NgAgo, secrets, Zika, & more

TGIF-science-dart-board

Some stuff on my mind for our TGIF Science this week. Research Funding Ups: NIH. Is it my imagination or is NIH funding slightly improving? This is the overall vibe I’m hearing from the trenches. Research Funding Ups and Downs: CIRM.  CIRM funded some basic research to the tune of a total of $4 million, …

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CIRM 2.0 Should Include Bridges Training Program

CIRM-2.0

The California Stem Cell Agency CIRM seems to be in budget cutting mode these days, which from a general perspective makes sense as CIRM seeks to continue operating on its remaining funding through a longer period of time as far out as to 2020. However, not all cuts are necessarily positive. For example, CIRM reportedly (note: many …

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Multi-Billion Dollar NIH Brain Initiative A Stroke of Genius or Madness?

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Is the new multi-billion dollar NIH Brain Initiative a stroke of madness or genius? For some non-brain researchers scrambling for funding from NIH, it could well just give them a stroke. At the same time as the NIH and Obama are asking for $4.5 billion (yes, with a b) for the new “big science” Brain …

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Jeremy Berg interview part II: the future of NIH funding

Berg-Heat-Shot

Yesterday I had part I of my interview with NIGMS former Director, Dr. Jeremy Berg. Today we have part II of the interview, which I found very interesting and helpful in providing a glimpse into NIH. I appreciate Dr. Berg doing the interview and his frankness. Given the budgetary issues facing NIH in terms of …

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Interview with NIGMS Director, Jeremy Berg, part 1: grant advice, meritocracy

Berg-Heat-Shot

Obtaining research grant funding is a critical part of science, but the process seems to be getting more challenging each year. Funding rates are decreasing. Applicant frustration is increasing and many grant applicants tell me they feel confused about the differences between funded and unfunded proposals. The largest funder of biomedical research in the U.S. …

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Vote “Yes” on Prop 29 to help find a cure for cancer

What’s the deal with California Prop. 29? Every so often a proposition comes along that just flat out makes complete sense. Arguing against it is sort of like saying the Earth is flat. Just such a proposition is California Prop. 29, which will be voted on on Tuesday, June 5 as part of the presidential …

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California pays its sports coaches alone more than the entire payroll of CIRM

CIRM-

There has been a largely media-fed hullabaloo about the salary for the new Chair of CIRM, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, $400,000. Now don’t get me wrong, that sounds like a lot of money to me personally, but we need to put it in perspective and when we do, the salary is reasonable and …

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