CA stem cell agency gets interim chief

The former chairman of the California stem cell agency is back on the job with the $12 billion agency – this time as its interim president while a search proceeds for a permanent chief executive officer.

The 35-member board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as the agency is officially known, approved the appointment last Thursday of Jonathan Thomas to serve as a caretaker during the search, which could take many months. The action came with no debate.

Thomas will be paid at a rate of $240.39 an hour and will be capped at $500,000. That could cover a seven- to nine-month period depending on the number of hours worked. He is not expected to begin work officially until the beginning of the new year. Past searches have taken as long as 10 months.

The agency has about 65 employees but a portfolio that includes 96 clinical trials involving stem cell and genetic research among more than $1 billion in active awards. CIRM has nearly $4 billion left for funding research before its funding runs out in about nine years.

Thomas will fill the vacancy created when former CIRM President Maria T. Millan suddenly resigned on Nov. 7. No reason was given for her departure, but public comments by board members indicate that staff morale and employee retention were involved.  She was appointed to the post six years ago during Thomas’ tenure as chairman.

Thomas became the salaried chairman of the board in 2011. He left the post earlier this year, termed out by language in the ballot initiative that created CIRM that restricted chairs to two terms in office. He was replaced by Vito Imbasciani, the former head of the state Department of Veterans Affairs, who recruited Thomas for the interim position.

The CIRM board has indicated that it wants to move as quickly as possible to find a new president, but does not expect to hire a search firm until sometime in January. It has posted a request for proposals from search firms with a deadline of Dec. 31. Here is the latest (Dec. 12) version of “key selection criteria” for a new president as prepared by the board’s presidential search committee.

Jensen is a retired newsman and has covered CIRM for 18 years on his newsletter, the California Stem Cell Report. He authored the book, “California’s Great Stem Cell Experiment,” in 2020.