In 2004, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) was established with the passage of proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Act. The CIRM is tasked with distributing $3 billion dollars in grants for stem cell research and the construction of new science facilities. This state investment has the potential to change the face of medical research to include underserved and minority communities long ignored by the sciences.

Greenlining believes that institutes must set goals to include underserved populations and that the public must be informed on the diversity of all persons receiving state monies from these grants. Also, with the potential to create thousands of new jobs and varying industries, contracts paid for by the state fund must be distributed equitably so that minority businesses do get redlined.

On October 14th, 2006, The Greenlining Institute, the UC Berkeley Project on Stem Cells and Society, and the Children's Hospital of Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) partnered up to host a conference dedicated to addressing the issues of diversity in stem cell research most affecting minority populations. The conference united leaders from minority communities, academia, and the sciences to discuss the importance of ethnic diversity at all levels of stem cell research in California.

Opening Remarks

Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, University of California, Berkeley
John Gamboa, Executive Director of the Greenlining Institute

Session One:
Stem Cell Research and Diversity: What are the opportunities?

Presenters:
John Matsui, Biology Scholars Program UCB
Ortensia Lopez and Dr. Alberto Perez Rendon, El Concilio of San Mateo
José Ramón Fernández-Peña, Director, Welcome Back Initiative; Co-Director, Community Health Works of San Francisco
Yesenia Valenzuela, FACES for the Future, Children's Hospital of Oakland
Ho Tran, Executive Director, Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum

Lunch Presentation:
Hope in Cures

Presenters:
The Coutté Family from CHORI's cord-blood stem cell, sickle cell disease and thalassemia center

Session Two:
Protecting and Including Diverse Populations in Stem Cell Research

Presenters:
Patricia Berne, Project Director on Race, Disability and Eugenics,
   Center for Genetics and Society
Jenny Reardon, University of California, Santa Cruz
Lisa Ikemoto, University of California, Davis
Gil Sambrano, California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Bertram Lubin, President, Children's Hospital of Oakland Research Institute

Session Three:
Affordability and Access to Cures

Presenters:
Pilar Ossorio, University of California, Berkeley; Boalt School of Law
Keith Wailoo, Rutgers University
Sujatha Jesudason, Program Director on Gender, Justice & Human Genetics, Center for Genetics and Society
Josef Tayag, The Greenlining Institute
Frank Staggers, Alta Bates Medical Center, Ethnic Health Institute

Conference Closing Remarks

Evelynn Hammonds, Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Diversity
Harvard University