When one California public agency asks another California public agency for money, one would think that it would be something that taxpayers should be able to know.
But the California stem cell agency says the information is secret. And the University of California is only a bit more enlightened.
The case in point involves a $45 million effort by CIRM to create a cadre of stem cell researchers. Twenty seven universities and non-profit academic and research institutions have indicated an interest in the grants. But even the names of the applicants have been kept secret by the stem cell agency.
We can now tell you, however, that all 10 UC campuses have applied for grants. But very little more has been disclosed by our public servants. In response to a request from the California Stem Cell Report, UC officials said that the Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco campuses have applied for "type one" grants. The Merced, Riverside, Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara campuses have applied for "type three" grants for specialized training programs.
Type one grants, according to CIRM, cover proposals for comprehensive training programs at the pre-doctoral, post-doctoral and clinical levels. They could support up to 16 CIRM Scholars and operate on a total budget of up to $1.25 million per year. Type three grants offer training at "one or two levels of education." Each grant can support up to 6 trainees, with a budget of no more than $500,000 per year.
We can also tell you, thanks to reporter Carl Hall of the San Francisco Chronicle, that UC San Francisco is seeking $3.6 million from the grant program. The school is already recruiting applicants for its program. Hall reported that his information came from Arnold Kriegstein, who is head of a stem cell program at UC San Francisco.
CIRM's claim to secrecy is based on language in Prop. 71 that says CIRM "working group" records are not public. A working group is scheduled to make recommendations later this month to the Oversight Committee on which applicants should receive grants. Following approval, only the successful applications would become public.
UC was willing to disclose the basic information reported above, but refused to disclose anything further.
Maria Shanle, university counsel with the University of California, said "the university's position is that the CIRM applications contain detailed information that would weaken the competitive position of the grant applicant(s) in applying for additional or different grants, if the application were disclosed to the public.
"The concern is that if a grant application is not funded, disclosure of the details of the proposal could give away the applicant's ideas and plans to potential competitors for future grant opportunities. It is this future competitive disadvantage that constitutes the public interest in not disclosing the records. This rationale is parallel to a similar rationale that is commonly used to protect unfunded research proposals from public disclosure...."
We understand the university's reasoning as it applies to research grants. But the issue here is proposed educational programs, which are often discussed publicly and in detail through faculty hearings, the UC board of regents, the state Commission on Postsecondary Education or the Legislature. The grants do not seek to probe the mysteries of stem cells with goal of developing specific products; they are training efforts.
It is difficult to see where there is a give-away of something so valuable that it would damage any individual's likelihood of securing another grant to train stem cell researchers.
For more on the training grant effort, see "Is CIRM Truly Transparent" June 5 and "Stem Cell Cadre" June 2 on this blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment