How is stem cell research funding on a state level awarded?

Every week stories appear in the American press relating to grants being given to fund stem cell research, huge sums of money are mentioned, frequently in the tens of millions of dollars. But what most articles fail to mention is how decisions are made as to whom grants and funding for research are given.

However, a recent article in the Washington Post gives us an insight into how one state, Maryland, proposes to grant up to $20 million to stem cell researchers:

The board of the state Technology Development Corporation, ‘Tedco’, will consider grants for research using embryonic stem cells, as well as adult cells. The main aim is to fund research that has the best chance of success.

A seven-member advisory panel of academicians and representatives from biotech and venture capital companies will set policy and make final decisions about the funding whilst a second panel of experts in stem cell biology, related research and entrepreneurial businesses would review proposals and make recommendations. (That board would be modeled on the scientific peer review panels of the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.)

Grants ranging from $500,000 to $1.5 million, for up to three years, would be awarded on the recommendation of the peer review panel.

Taxpayers will be relieved to know that members of the Maryland General Assembly have confirmed that the state won’t simply provide $20 million without some strings being attached. Democratic Delegate Frank S. Turner is quoted as saying “It's unrealistic for us not to do anything and just say, 'Here it is. Go spend it'.”

Read the original article here: A Peek at How the State Would Award Stem Cell Funding