Opinion: Stem cell snafu
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At least four California universities applying for stem cell research grants from the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee might be knocked out of the running due to conflicts of interest. But instead of being your humdrum tale of conspiracies and backroom deals, the whole thing is starting to reek of multiple administrative brain farts. From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Although the grant application called for letters of support from the deans or department chairmen, the conflict-of-interest policy for the stem cell institute also specifies that its board members ‘shall not make, participate in making, or in any way attempt to use their official position to influence a decision regarding a grant ...’ [...] The apparent contradiction in the rulebook is the kind of problem that critics say was built into the stem cell initiative passed by voters in 2004. [...] It remains unclear what will happen if the grant applications are rejected. One option, according to sources, is to simply have the four universities reapply at a later date - a delay of at least six months. Another option would be to reject all of the grants and have everyone update their applications because of the confusion regarding the letter-of-recommendation rules.
If the punishment doesn’t seem to fit the crime, there may be a reason. The ICOC is still recovering from a conflict-of-interest controversy sparked this summer, according to The Scientist blog:
The conflict of interest occurred in August, when John Reed, a member of the CIRM’s governing board, wrote a letter to Arlene Chiu, then CIRM’s chief scientific officer, opposing the denial of a CIRM grant to a researcher at the San Diego-area Burnham Institute for Medical Research. Reed, who is president and CEO of the Burnham Institute, wrote the seven page letter lobbying CIRM to reconsider its denial of a $638,000 SEED grant to David Smotrich, a researcher affiliated with the Burnham Institute but also the founder and president of a San Diego-area infertility clinic.... CIRM’s conflict of interest rules prohibit board members from participating in any grant award discussions that involve their home institutions.
A state audit soon followed, along with calls for Reed and committee chair Robert Klein (who prompted him to send the letter) to resign. So in all likehood, the committee was a little twitchier than usual.
All the same, the four offending administrators are committee members and must have known about Reed’s royal muck-up. At the very least, they should be familiar with the regulations — especially one so basic.
Which raises the question: Do we really want these guys in charge of millions of dollars of research money, anyway?