The formation of the stem cell research oversight commission
mandated by the passage of Proposition 71 began last week as the
University of California made six appointments to the Independent
Citizens Oversight Commission. Five of these appointments were made
Wednesday, including the dean of the David Geffen School of
Medicine at UCLA, Gerald S. Levey.
The 29-member commission will be responsible for governing the
new stem cell research institute through long-term financial plans,
research standards and regulations, and the selection of working
groups that will focus more intensively on the institute’s
day-to-day operations, said Brad Hayward, a spokesman for the UC
Office of the President.
Levey, an internist and endocrinologist known widely for his
research on the thyroid gland and heart, is the vice chancellor of
medical sciences as well as the dean of the School of Medicine.
“What you would like to have is a person on the board that
both has the big picture policy experience and outlook and secondly
knows something about our medical research,” said UCLA
Chancellor Albert Carnesale, regarding his appointment of
Levey.
With the passage of Proposition 71 on Nov. 2, $3 billion in
state funding will go toward stem cell research. This cutting-edge
measure is expected to significantly increase research on several
UC campuses, with many university researchers expected to submit
“strong, competitive grant proposals,” Hayward
said.
“This research will have a major impact on the life
sciences division of the college and the medical school,”
Levey said. “This is going to open up very productive areas
of research at UCLA.”
A majority of the state-funded grant money made available by
Proposition 71 over a 10-year span will likely go toward
researching human embryonic stem cells, a form of research made
ineligible for federal funding by the Bush administration in
2001.
“This is a very important area of medical research that
has been impeded by a lack of federal support,” Levey
said.
Though proponents of stem cell research are hoping that the
funding approved by 59 percent of California voters will create
significant progress in finding cures for such medical conditions
as cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, Levey was quick
to call for public patience.
“It’s going to take many years of research to see if
the results will meet expectations,” Levey said.
In addition to Levey, the deans of medical schools from three
other UC campuses were appointed to the commission Wednesday,
including Claire Pomeroy, an infectious diseases expert from UC
Davis, Edward Holmes, a molecular medicine expert from UC San
Diego, and David Kessler, who served as the commissioner of the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration for seven years before beginning
his tenure at UC San Francisco.
Susan Bryant, the dean of the School of Biological Sciences at
UC Irvine and an expert on limb regeneration, was the fifth member
appointed by the UC on Wednesday.
In addition to the five UC medical school appointments mandated
by Proposition 71, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante hand-picked UC Berkeley
Chancellor Robert Birgeneau to the stem cell oversight commission
last Monday.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and members of his cabinet are
expected to fill the remaining commission vacancies by
mid-December.