The Klein Donation: Text of Robert Klein’s Comments on Special Treatment by CIRM
May 12th, 2013 3:16 amHere is the text of comments from
Robert Klein, former chairman of the California stem cell agency,
concerning his $21,630 donation to the agency and subsequent actions
by the agency. Klein's comments May 1 came in response to questions
from the California Stem Cell Report(CSCR) on April 30. The text of
the inquiry from CSCR precedes Klein's response. Here is a link to the story on the matter.
"I have sent the following to CIRM
asking for their response and am offering the same opportunity to
you. Here is what I sent the agency:
'The documents that I have received so
far show that after Klein gave CIRM $21,000 the agency instructed six
of its science officers to give him special access to their
activities and apparently did not object to additional instructions
from another member of the public, Melissa King, to provide Klein and
her with written summaries about their activities at the ISSCR
convention and “details” about their work at CIRM. Email
addresses of the six were also provided to Klein, who may have
additionally received their cell phone numbers although that is not
entirely clear. The CIRM documents show that the six were told to
engage in one-on-one sessions with Klein, which actually included a
third person, a wealthy Canadian mining company executive. One
document indicates that the science officers should assist in
fundraising for CIRM by identifying areas of “special importance”
to Klein and 'other donors.'
"'Additionally, Alan Trounson, at
Klein's request, invited the mining executive to a closed door
session involving the agency's international partners, a session at
which presumably valuable, little known scientific information would
be discussed and future directions charted. Trounson specifically
told the executive that it was Klein who asked that executive be
invited to the session, adding to Klein's clout in any business or
other dealings that Klein might have with the executive.'
My questions to CIRM deal with the
special treatment that was provided in connection with your donation.
I would ask you if you think that state agencies should provide this
sort of extraordinary treatment for individuals who donate to the
agency. At the very least, doesn't this raise questions about the
integrity of the agency and doubts in the public mind about whether
it can be fair and even-handed in its activities?
"In April or May of 2012 I committed
to contribute a charitable donation to CIRM to cover the travel costs
for 5-7 additional science officers to attend the International Stem
Cell Conference in Japan. It is important to CIRM that their
science officers understand the cutting edge research being developed
around the world so that CIRM does not fund redundant research; but,
to the contrary, the science officers understand how to create
networks between California scientists and scientists in other
foreign countries who are doing complementary research that can
potentially accelerate the advancements of therapies for patients. I
do not hold any financial interest in biotech companies. I have
historically been involved in encouraging international collaboration
to advance medical therapies; for patients, every day of delay in the
development of a therapy is a delay they cannot afford. To
conceptually document the value of additional scientists traveling to
these meetings, it was discussed that there should be conceptual,
bullet point summaries about the value for CIRM obtained through the
scientists discussions at the international conference. The
idea was to create bullet points of information about a few of the
most meaningful scientific concepts and contacts the science officers
benefitted from each day of attendance at the conference. I did not
participate in the selection of the science officers who attended and
I did not play any part in determining what activities they
participated in. There were two fundamental goals to the very short
one-on-one sessions that were arranged at "down time" that
would not conflict with their other activities. The first goal was to
conceptually understand if each of the science officers believed that
the benefit to the agency was sufficient to justify the cost of their
attending, when considering the learning and contacts they had gained
which might accelerate research and therapies for patients. The
second goal was to assist universities and non-profits, principally
in Canada - a research partner of CIRM - in advancing their
contributions from an existing donor or donors."The Canadian mining executive had an
important history in contributing to the International Stem Cell
Society and to Canadian non-profit research institutions. This
individual has an expert background in mining and a passionate
personal commitment to medical research; but, he does not engage in
technical discussions of research. On a conceptual basis it was
important for him to understand the spectrum of medical advances
towards therapies. His additional contributions to Canadian
non-profits could assist Canada in collaborating with California on
more international research, with California only funding the
research done in California and the donor helping to fund the
research done in Canada. No specific grant applications were
discussed. Finally, the discussion with the international partners
focuses on the funding process and funding collaboration it does not
discuss any individual grants. The value of international
collaboration and the benefits of collaborating with new
international partners is discussed. Scientific theories and
individual grants are not discussed and new scientific information is
not presented. I attended this session of international partners to
support international collaboration; again, I do not hold any
financial interest in any biotech organizations. Additionally, I do
not have any business or financial relationship with the Canadian
mining executive. The Canadian executive, based upon family and
friends who have had chronic disease, is a significant donor to
non-profit research institutions in Canada. All of my activities, the
donation and the encouragement to develop information to validate the
future benefits of science officers traveling to international stem
cell conferences were focused on benefitting California patients with
chronic illness or injury and the agency formed through Proposition
71."
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