Funding Committee Meeting Minutes March 4, 2010
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Empire State Stem Cell Board Funding Committee Meeting Minutes March 4, 2010 The Empire State Stem Cell Board Funding Committee held a meeting on Thursday, March 4, 2010, at the Department of Health offices, 90 Church Street, New York, New York. Commissioner Richard F. Daines, M.D., presided as Chairperson. Funding Committee Members Present: Dr. Richard F. Daines, Chairperson Dr. David Hohn, Vice Chair* Mr. Kenneth Adams Dr. Bruce Holm* Dr. Bradford Berk* Dr. Allen Spiegel Dr. Richard Dutton Dr. Michael Stocker Dr. Gerald Fischbach Ms. Madelyn Wils *via videoconference Funding Committee Members Absent: Mr. Robin Elliott Dr. Hilda Hutcherson Department of Health Staff Present: Mr. Martin Algaze Dr. Matthew Kohn Ms. Bonnie Brautigam Ms. Beth Roxland Mr. Thomas Conway Ms. Lakia Rucker Ms. Judy Doesschate Dr. Lawrence Sturman Observers Present: Dr. Harold Brem Dr. Onyedika Chukwuemeka Ms. Elizabeth Misa Motion to Convene in Executive Session Dr. Daines advised members and the public that the Committee needed to go into executive session to discuss the evaluations of the applications submitted in response to the Request for Applications (RFA) for Investigator-Initiated Research Projects (IIRP) and Innovative, Developmental or Exploratory Activities (IDEA) in Stem Cell Research. Dr. Dutton made a motion to go into executive session. Mr. Adams seconded the motion. The motion passed. Dr. Daines then asked members of the public and non-essential staff to leave the room and advised them that the Committee was expected to reconvene in public session at approximately 11:15 a.m. Executive Session Dr. Daines noted that a few members of the Committee would need to be recused for the discussion of specific applications, but that Dr. Sturman would first be providing members with information about the evaluation process and reviewing the applications for which there were no conflicts of interest. Dr. Sturman and Ms. Brautigam reminded members of the evaluation criteria included in the RFA and provided members with information about the peer review evaluation and scoring process. Dr. Sturman then provided the Committee with information about possible funding cut-offs for the best-scoring IDEA and IIRP applications that would use $33.4 million of the $35 million available for the RFA. Dr. Sturman advised members that the remaining funds allotted for this RFA could be used to provide funding for some of the applications in the next-highest scoring tier if the Committee identified appropriate criteria for selecting among the applications that received the same score in that tier. Several Committee members expressed an interest in using the additional funds to support more research projects. Dr. Sturman suggested the Committee could use the scores for “significance and innovativeness” and “impact” for the IDEA applications and the scores for “innovativeness” and “approach” for the IIRP applications to select one more IDEA application and one more IIRP application to fund. It was noted that this was similar to the criteria used in prior Committee deliberations to select among similar-scoring applications and that these criteria reflected the Board’s programmatic preference to fund the most innovative and promising science. Committee members expressed support for the criteria recommended by Dr. Sturman for selecting among the applications receiving the same overall scores and commented that the criteria were rational, appropriate and consistent with the desired emphasis. Several Committee members also stated that they were impressed with the overall quality of the applications submitted in response to the RFA, the quality of the peer reviews of the applications and the manner in which the information was organized for the members. The Committee was then provided with information relating to the individual applications while members who were identified as having a potential conflict of interest for certain applications left the room during consideration of those applications. Motion to Adjourn Executive Session Dr. Daines then asked for a motion to adjourn the executive session and reconvene in public. Dr. Spiegel so moved and Mr. Adams seconded the motion. The motion passed. Public Session - Opening Remarks and Introductions Dr. Daines called the meeting to order and welcomed Board members, staff and the public. Dr. Daines then asked members and staff to introduce themselves. Recommendations for Approval of Investigator-Initiated Research Projects (IIRP) and Innovative, Developmental or Exploratory Activities (IDEA) in Stem Cell Research Following the introductions, Dr. Daines advised the Committee that it would be voting on the Committee’s recommendations for awards to applicants who responded to the RFA for funding of IIRP and IDEA awards. Dr. Daines noted that the applications were reviewed by a panel of independent experts from outside New York State and that summaries of the reviews were discussed by the Funding Committee in executive session. Ms. Brautigam provided an overview of the evaluation criteria and process. Dr. Daines advised members that they would first act on the recommendation for the IDEA awards for which no Committee members had declared a conflict of interest and then take up the applications for which members had identified a conflict of interest. Dr. Sturman then provided 2 the Committee with the application numbers, sponsoring institutions, principal investigator names and recommended funding amounts for the following IDEA applications for which no Committee member had a conflict of interest: App # Sponsoring Institution PI Proposal Title Recommended Funding Roles for the Putative Longevity N09G‐ Determinants HCF1 and HCF2 in Stem Cell 142 Cornell University Lee, Siu Sylvia Function $321,242 Translational Control of Human N09G‐ Memorial Sloan‐ Chambers, Pluripotent Cell Maintenance and Neural 036 Kettering Cancer Center Stuart M. Differentiation $274,744 Modulating Hematopoietic Stem Cell N09G‐ Memorial Sloan‐ Nimer, Quiescence to Improve Leukemia 164 Kettering Cancer Center Stephen D. Treatment $170,400 SUNY at Stony Brook, N09G‐ The Research Colognato, Extracellular Matrix Regulation of the 044 Foundation of SUNY Holly Neural Stem Cell Niche $240,000 Disease Modeling of Congenital Insensitivity to Pain and Anhidrosis (CIPA) N09G‐ Memorial Sloan‐ Disease Using Human iPSC and Rescue of 141 Kettering Cancer Center Lee, Gabsang its Phenotypes $251,232 N09G‐ Mount Sinai School of Wang, An Extended Protein Interaction Network 315 Medicine Jianlong for Stem Cell and Induced Pluripotency $329,808 N09G‐ Memorial Sloan‐ Hadjantonakis, Pdgfra Signaling and the Stem Cells of the 097 Kettering Cancer Center Anna‐Katerina Early Mammalian Embryo $329,844 N09G‐ Mount Sinai School of Reprogramming the Hair Follicle Stem Cell 225 Medicine Rendl, Michael Niche in Uncommitted Skin Fibroblasts $330,000 SUNY at Stony Brook, N09G‐ The Research Sirotkin, Regulation of Stem Cell Pluripotency by 267 Foundation of SUNY Howard I. REST/NRSF $316,609 N09G‐ Memorial Sloan‐ Multipotential Cancer Stem Cells in 282 Kettering Cancer Center Tabar, Viviane Gliomas $330,000 Investigating How DNA Damage Response Mechanisms Regulate the Tumorigenic Potential of Pluripotent Cell Types Using N09G‐ Weiss, Robert Mouse Models of Testicular Germ Cell 320 Cornell University S. Tumors $321,699 Use of Modified Transcriptional N09G‐ Memorial Sloan‐ Regulators to Probe Mechanism and to 217 Kettering Cancer Center Ptashne, Mark Enhance Efficiencies of iPS Cell Formation $329,987 Dermal Papilla Cells: An Accessible and N09G‐ Mount Sinai School of Highly Reprogrammable Source for the 224 Medicine Rendl, Michael Generation of Pluripotent Stem Cells $330,000 Investigation of Adult Neural Progenitor N09G‐ Rensselaer Polytechnic Thompson, Fate in Response to Endothelial Produced 297 Institute Deanna M. Factors $308,780 3 Dr. Daines noted that since Dr. Fischbach was already out of the room, the Committee could also act on the applications for which Dr. Fischbach has a conflict of interest. Dr. Sturman then provided information concerning the following applications: App # Sponsoring Institution PI Proposal Title Recommended Funding N09G‐ Cerebrospinal Fluid Regulation of 057 Columbia University Doetsch, Fiona Adult Neural Stem Cells $327,822 Directed Differentiation of N09G‐ Embryonic Stem Cells into 223 Columbia University Reizis, Boris Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells $299,700 Dr. Stocker moved to recommend approval of the awards for which there were no conflicts of interest and for those for which Dr. Fischbach had a conflict of interest in the amounts recommended by staff. Dr. Spiegel seconded the motion. The motion passed. Dr. Fischbach returned to the room and Dr. Spiegel recused himself and left the room during consideration of the following application: App # Sponsoring Institution PI Proposal Title Recommended Funding Dynamic Genome‐Wide Albert Einstein Transcription Factor‐Chromatin N09G‐ College of Yeshiva Interactions During Hematopoietic 273 University Steidl, Ulrich Stem Cell Differentiation $330,000 Dr. Stocker moved to recommend approval of the award in the amount recommended by staff. Dr. Dutton seconded the motion. The motion passed. Dr. Spiegel returned to the room and Dr. Daines asked Dr. Stocker to chair the meeting while he recused himself and left the room along with Drs. Hohn and Holm during consideration of the following applications: App # Sponsoring Institution PI Proposal Title Recommended Funding SUNY at Buffalo, The N09G‐ Research Foundation Induction