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Stem Cell Research Gets a Boost

The School of Medicine in April received one of 16 grants funded by the new California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to train the next generation of stem cell researchers. The $1.2 million payment is the first of a three-year, $3.7 million grant that will support 16 scholars at Stanford.

Eleven days later, a state court judge found the CIRM and its progenitor, Proposition 71, constitutional. The CIRM was established after California voters approved Proposition 71 in 2004, enabling the state to sell $3 billion in bonds to fund stem cell research. Regulations prohibit the use of federal funds for any research involving embryonic stem cell lines that were not in existence before August 9, 2001.

Irving Weissman, MD ’65, director of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, was gratified by the court decision. “This should enable us to recruit the kind of personnel from around the world who are highly qualified yet are unable to work with stem cells in their home facilities,” he said.