Lung Institutes Medical Director Celebrates 55th Anniversary in Medical Practice

Tampa, FL (PRWEB) July 29, 2014

This month marks a milestone for the Lung Institutes Medical Director, Dr. Burton Feinerman, as he celebrates his 55th anniversary in the medical field. Practicing medicine for over half a century, Dr. Feinerman has distinguished himself as a world-renowned physician in the field of regenerative medicine with the development of innovative stem cell treatments for lung diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Dr. Feinermans medical career has been punctuated by many firsts. In the 1950s and 1960s, Dr. Feinerman was the owner of Opa-Locka General Hospital, the only private hospital accepting African Americans in Miami, Florida. He also set up the first Pediatric Emergency Rooms in South Florida at Parkway Hospital and Miami General Hospital.

The Lung Institutes medical director was also involved with the first successful allogeneic (genetically dissimilar) bone marrow transplant performed on a 10-month-old child with severe combined/immunodeficiency, known as bubble baby. This patient, who was given a very poor prognosis of life expectancy, is now 36-years-old and a high school teacher. In 1998, Dr. Feinerman set up the first medical service website site, Webmedicalservices.com, to directly answer patient questions, which later became a public company.

It was during his time in Hawaii as the first physician to offer cosmetic dermatology and anti-aging medicine that Dr. Feinerman initially became interested in stem cells. Over subsequent years, he developed stem cell patents for a variety of disorders including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Parkinsons, Alzheimers, multiple sclerosis, autism, cerebral palsy, COPD, pulmonary fibrosis, diabetes types 1 and 2, end-stage kidney disease and brain damage in children and adults. He also developed patents for gene therapies to treat such conditions as Tay-Sachs, Sandhoff disease, Huntingtons disease and metachromatic leukodystrophy.

Dr. Feinermans stem cell quest continues at Regenerative Medicine Solutions and Lung Institute, with his current research aimed at conquering neurological and chronic lung diseases as well as diseases causing blindness such as age-related macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, and stargardts disease.

I am humbled at the acknowledgement of my role as a catalyst for change in medicine, confessed Dr. Feinerman who was honored last year as Lifetime Achievement Award finalist for the Tampa Bay Business Journals Healthcare Heroes. When I reflect back on my medical career, I only see my patients.

About the Lung Institute At the Lung Institute, we are changing the lives of hundreds of people across the nation through the innovative technology of regenerative medicine. We are committed to providing patients a more effective way to address pulmonary conditions and improve quality of life. Our physicians, through their designated practices, have gained worldwide recognition for the successful application of revolutionary minimally invasive stem cell therapies. With over a century of combined medical experience, our doctors have established a patient experience designed with the highest concern for patient safety and quality of care. For more information, visit our website at LungInstitute.com, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or call us today at (855) 469-5864.

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Lung Institutes Medical Director Celebrates 55th Anniversary in Medical Practice

Regenerative Medicine Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2013 – 2019

(PRWEB) July 28, 2014

According to a new market research report published by Transparency Market Research "Regenerative Medicine (Bone and Joint) Market (By Technology - Stem Cell Therapy, Biomaterial and Tissue Engineering; By Applications - Bone Graft Substitutes, Osteoarticular Diseases, Allogeneic Products, Autogenic Products and Others) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 - 2019" the global regenerative medicine (bone and joint) market was valued at USD 2.6 billion in 2012 and is estimated to reach a market worth of USD 6.5 billion in 2019 growing at a CAGR of 12.8% from 2013 to 2019.

Regenerative medicine is considered as an emerging field of medical science that aims to regenerate, repair or replace damaged tissue and organs. U.S. National Institute of Health stated that regenerative medicine is the process of creating functional tissue to repair and replace tissue or organ which has lost their function due to damage, congenital defects, disease and age. Technological advancement in tissue engineering and stem cell therapy is expected to drive the global market for regenerative medicine (bone and joint). Moreover, growing prevalence of bone and joint disorder has also accounted for the market growth of the global regenerative medicine (bone and joint) market. However, ethical issues pertaining to stem cell therapy and fear of disease transmission due to allogeneic bone implantation are considered as market hindering factors during the study period. Companies operating in this market focus on investing in emerging economies of Asia-Pacific such as India, China, Japan and South Korea. These economies represent huge potential for various bone and joint reconstructive products due to rising healthcare expenditure and presence of large patient pool suffering from arthritis disorder (rheumatoid arthritis).

Title: Regenerative Medicine (Bone and Joint) Market Published: 1 July 2014 Pages: 85 Price: US$ 4,795.00 (Single User) For further inquiries, click here: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=419.

The global market for regenerative medicine is segmented based on technology as stem cell therapy, biomaterials and tissue engineering. In 2012, biomaterials segment accounted for the largest market share in the global regenerative medicine (bone and joint) market owing to favorable reimbursement policies and strong demand of biomaterials in the global market. However, high cost associated with biomaterials is a factor that would restrict the global market demand to some extent during the study period.

In addition, based on applications the global market for regenerative medicine (bone and joint) is segmented as bone graft substitute, osteoarticular diseases, allergenic bones, autogenic bones and others. In 2012, bone graft substitute segment accounted for the largest market share in the global regenerative medicine bone and joint application market owing to growing demand of bone graft substitute in orthopaedic surgeries. However, post implantation rejection associated with bone graft substitute is considered as a crucial factor that would restrict the global market demand of bone graft substitute.

Browse the Press Release of Regenerative Medicine Market @ http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/pressrelease/regenerative-medicines-market.htm

On the basis of geography, the regenerative medicine (bone and joint) market is segmented as North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). North America accounted for the largest market share for regenerative medicine (bone and joint) globally in 2012 owing to increase in orthopaedic re-constructive surgeries and introduction of technologically advanced medical devices and products. According to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), prevalence of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis (LSS) is increasing with rise in elderly population and is estimated that approximately 2.4 million Americans would be affected by LSS by 2021. It has also stated that in 1990 approximately 129,000 Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) surgeries were performed in the U.S. Europe accounted for the second largest share in the global regenerative medicine (bone and joint) market in 2012.

Large geriatric population base is one of the important factors driving the growth of regenerative medicine bone and joint application market in this region. Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at the highest CAGR from 2013 to 2019, due to large pool of potential reconstructive surgery patients and strong support from federal government. Additionally, companies are expecting large revenue with sufficient market penetration from Asia-Pacific region and thereby focusing on increasing investments in this region. For instance, in May 2013, Smith & Nephew acquired Sushrut Surgical Pvt. Ltd. an Indian medical technology company. Sushrut Surgicals product portfolio includes trauma implants and instruments, spine and limb salvage products. This acquisition would expand and enhance the product offerings of Smith & Nephew and would also assist in capturing lucrative market share in Asia-Pacific region.

Major market players having presence in the global regenerative medicine (bone and joint) market include DePuy Synthes, Inc. (HEALOS Bone Graft), Medtronic, Inc. (INFUSE Bone Graft) and Zimmer Holdings, Inc. (CopiOs Bone Void Filler), Orthofix, Inc. (Trinity Evolution) and NuVasive, Inc. (Osteocel Plus).

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Regenerative Medicine Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2013 - 2019

Tissue Collection Aids Search for Neurologic and Neuromuscular Disease Causes and Cures

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Newswise LOS ANGELES (July 24, 2014) Like other major research centers studying genetic causes of uncommon and poorly understood nervous system disorders, Cedars-Sinai maintains a growing collection of DNA and tissue samples donated by patients.

What sets Cedars-Sinais Repository of Neurologic and Neuromuscular Disorders apart is its special emphasis on tissue collection part of its focus on creating future individualized treatments for patients.

One of our major priorities is to advance the concept of personalized medicine. The idea is to take DNA from a patient, look at the cells derived from their tissue, and try to understand why this particular person got this disease. Then we can determine which therapy or therapies would work for each individual by first testing their cells. Many centers look at the genetics; ours is dedicated to looking at the genetics and the patients tissues, combining the two to understand how to treat the disease, said Robert H. Baloh, MD, PhD, director of neuromuscular medicine in the Department of Neurology and director of the ALS Program for research and treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrigs disease.

This individualized treatment approach depends on collaborative efforts among doctors and researchers who treat and study individual diseases and scientists at the Cedars-Sinai Regenerative Medicine Institute, one of a very few hospital-based centers devoted to stem cell research. The teams work together to discover disease-generating molecular and cellular defects, make disease-in-a-dish models and begin to fashion personalized stem cell-based research interventions.

We know that nearly every disease has some genetic component some more than others so we collect DNA for research to identify those genetic elements. But weve also expanded our focus to include the collection of skin and blood samples that can be turned into specialized stem cells. Patients are usually very willing to donate tissue to try and help us understand the causes of their neurologic or neuromuscular disease, said Baloh, a member of the Brain Program at the Regenerative Medicine Institute.

Baloh and colleagues recently showed this approach is feasible, using skin biopsies from patients with ALS. With induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs, they created ALS neurons in a lab dish. Then, inserting molecules made of small stretches of genetic material, they blocked the damaging effects of a defective gene. This provided proof of concept for a new therapeutic strategy an important step in moving research findings into clinical trials.

Baloh, the repositorys principal investigator, has a particular interest in ALS and other neuromuscular disorders, but DNA, tissue and data collection is conducted for Cedars-Sinai neuroscience researchers studying virtually any disease. And its holdings can have widespread influence: Repositories of genetic material enable scientists studying similar diseases at multiple research centers to access patient data in larger quantities than any single site could provide.

We work with many other research institutions across the country to share the samples themselves as well as de-identified information about the patients what disease they have, the severity of their disease, and similar disorder-related details. This improves our ability to find new gene abnormalities, because it cant always be done with just tens or even hundreds of patients. We may need thousands of patients, especially for very rare genetic forms of disease that have very subtle genetic effects. Therefore, we study our own patients in great detail, but we also share our resources more broadly, said Baloh, adding that genetic discoveries often have implications even for patients who dont have genetic forms of disease.

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Tissue Collection Aids Search for Neurologic and Neuromuscular Disease Causes and Cures

Stem cell agency tightens ethics rules

Stem cell agency President C. Randal Mills (left) and Chairman of the Board Jonathan Thomas.

Responding to his predecessor's ethically controversial departure, the president and chief executive of California's stem cell agency said Thursday he is taking legal steps to minimize conflicts of interests with those who have business before the agency.

C. Randal Mills said he will not take a job with any company funded by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine for one year after he departs the agency. In addition, he also will not accept gifts or travel payments from any company, institution or person who gets agency funding.

Mills' action, announced at the agency's meeting in Millbrae, will be enforced with a legal agreement he will sign. His action comes less than a month after he replaced Alan Trounson as the agency chief. One week after his departure, CIRM-funded StemCells Inc. announced it had appointed Trounson to its board. StemCells Inc. had received an award of nearly $20 million from the agency to develop a therapy for Alzheimers disease.

While Trounson's appointment wasn't illegal, critics said it was unseemly for him to join a company that had received agency funding so soon after he left CIRM. An ethical controversy could harm the agency's chances of getting more funding from California voters, who gave the agency $3 billion with the passage of Proposition 71 in 2004.

Mills said the new rules apply only to himself, because of his central role at CIRM.

"This specifically addresses an issue where an individual in an organization has a disproportionate amount of power, and I want to make sure it's known that power will not be abused," Mills said.

Mills made the right decision, said Jeanne Loring, a CIRM-funded stem cell researcher at The Scripps Research Institute.

"There's a difference between what is legal and what is ethical," said Loring, who attended the meeting. "And he's going to be pushing the needle a lot more toward the ethical side without worrying whether he can get away with stuff."

John Simpson of Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog, who has often criticized CIRM for conflicts of interest, also praised the decision.

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Stem cell agency tightens ethics rules

StemGenex Gives Hope to Parkinsons Patients through New Stem Cell Clinical Study

La Jolla, CA (PRWEB) July 23, 2014

StemGenex, the leading resource for adult adipose stem cell therapy in the US aimed at improving the lives of patients dealing with degenerative diseases today announced their newest clinical study for Parkinsons disease. StemGenex believes that a commitment to the safety and efficacy of stem cell therapy are paramount when providing care to patients with degenerative diseases.

This clinical study makes stem cell therapy accessible to the millions of individuals currently living with Parkinsons disease. The protocol used in these stem cell treatments is unique to StemGenex, having the possibility of being more effective than other stem cell treatments currently available. StemGenex has developed a multiple administration protocol for patients suffering from Parkinsons disease which includes targeted methods of stem cell delivery. Among these methods is a novel approach for delivering stem cells past the blood brain barrier an issue most stem cell treatments have been challenged by.

Principal Investigator Dr. Jeremiah McDole, Ph.D. stated, As is the case with most neurodegenerative conditions, there are few available drugs to treat Parkinsons disease. The handful of drugs that are available can only ameliorate symptoms and unfortunately, prolonged usage can create terrible side-effects. Further, these drugs do not halt disease progression or aid in the repair of established damage. Our goal is to provide regenerative medicine applications that address these critical issues. The study we are conducting is designed to provide us with a large amount of rigorously collected data so that we can better understand the clinical benefit of Parkinsons patients treated with stem cells.

This study is registered through The National Institutes of Health which can be found at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov and is being conducted under IRB approval. According to StemGenex Director of Patient Advocacy, Joe Perricone, It is important patients have access to top-tier stem cell therapy. By providing access to registered clinical studies through The National Institutes of Health, we are providing patients with the ability to choose a stem cell treatment center with the highest standard of care.

Rita Alexander, founder and president of StemGenex stated, Parkinson's disease affects a very small part of the brain but anyone suffering with this disease understands the negative impact on his or her life is very big, actually, enormous. Over the last several years we have observed significant improvement in the symptoms of Parkinsons patients through stem cell treatment. We are determined to be part of the solution and are eager to document and publish our findings in the next few years.

Stem cell treatment studies are currently being offered by StemGenex to patients diagnosed with Parkinsons disease and other degenerative neurological diseases. StemGenex takes a unique approach of compassion and empowerment while providing access to the latest stem cell therapies for degenerative neurological diseases including Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimers disease, stroke recovery and others.

To find out more about stem cell therapy, contact StemGenex either by phone at (800) 609-7795 or email Contact(at)stemgenex(dot)com.

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StemGenex Gives Hope to Parkinsons Patients through New Stem Cell Clinical Study

Stem Cells: Promises and Reality

Renowned Israeli stem-cell researcher in Fairfield Aug. 6

By Cindy Mindell

Dr. Yaqub Hanna

A leading Israeli scientist who has pioneered groundbreaking stem-cell reprogamming research will discuss his work on Wednesday, Aug. 6 at Jewish Senior Services in Fairfield.

Together with a team of researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science Department of Molecular Genetics in Rehovot, Israel, Dr. Jacob (Yaqub) Hanna has overcome a major roadblock in the use of human stem cells for medical purposes. Funded by a grant from the Israel Cancer Research Fund, their pioneering breakthrough was recently published in the peer-reviewed international science journal, Nature.

Its not only Hannas work that is note-worthy: the award-winning research scientist is a Palestinian living in Israel, a native of Kafr Rama in the Galilee and the son of two medical doctors.

Hanna earned a BS in medical sciences summa cum laude in 2001, an MS in microbiology and immunology in 2003, and a PhD-MD in immunology summa cum laude in 2007, all from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he was among the top five percent of all Israeli medical-school graduates. After completing his PhD, Hanna decided to abandon clinical medicine and focus on research, and spent four years conducting postdoctoral research in the lab, part of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT.

During his postdoctoral work, Hanna was the first non-American to receive a prestigious Novartis Fellowship from the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation. He joined the Weizmann Institute Department of Molecular Genetics upon his return to Israel in 2011. That year, he received the Clore Prize for distinguished new faculty at the Weizmann Institute and was accepted as a Yigal Alon Program Scholar for junior faculty in Israel. He is also the recipient of the Wolf Foundations Krill Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research and the 2013 Rappaport Prize in Biomedical Research.

Hanna has had to find a way to navigate between his personal and professional identities.

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Stem Cells: Promises and Reality

BUSM study: Obesity may be impacted by stress

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

15-Jul-2014

Contact: Jenny Eriksen Leary jenny.eriksen@bmc.org 617-638-6841 Boston University Medical Center

Using experimental models, researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) showed that adenosine, a metabolite released when the body is under stress or during an inflammatory response, stops the process of adipogenesis, when adipose (fat) stem cells differentiate into adult fat cells.

Previous studies have indicated adipogenesis plays a central role in maintaining healthy fat homeostasis by properly storing fat within cells so that it does not accumulate at high levels in the bloodstream. The current findings indicate that the body's response to stress, potentially stopping the production of fat cell development, might be doing more harm than good under conditions of obesity and/or high levels of circulating blood fat.

The process is halted due to a newly identified signaling from an adenosine receptor, the A2b adenosine receptor (A2bAR) to a stem cell factor, known as KLF4, which regulates stem cell maintenance. When A2bAR is expressed, KLF4 level is augmented, leading to inhibition of differentiation of fat stem cells. The correlation between these two factors leads to an interruption of fat cell development, which could result in issues with fat storage within the cells and it getting into the bloodstream.

While the majority of the study was carried out in experimental models, the group also showed that A2bAR activation inhibits adipogenesis in a human primary preadipocyte culture system. Finally, analysis of adipose tissue of obese subjects showed a strong association between A2bAR and KLF4 expression in both subcutaneous (under the skin) and visceral (internal organ) human fat.

"It may seem counterintuitive, but our body needs fat tissue in order to function properly, and certain biochemical cellular processes are necessary for this to happen," said Katya Ravid, DSc/PhD, professor of medicine and biochemistry at BUSM and director of the Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research who led the study. "Our study indicates that a dysfunction resulting from stress or inflammation can disrupt the process of fat tissue development, which could have a negative impact on processes dependent on proper fat cell homeostasis."

This study is part of ongoing research interest and investigations by researchers in Ravid's lab examining the differentiation of bone marrow and tissue stem cells and the role of adenosine receptors in this process.

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BUSM study: Obesity may be impacted by stress

Zhichan decoction increases dopaminergic neurons from transplanted NSCs in PD

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

15-Jul-2014

Contact: Meng Zhao eic@nrren.org 86-138-049-98773 Neural Regeneration Research

There is an increasing interest in Parkinson's disease (PD) treatment by increasing dopamine content and reducing dopaminergic metabolites in the brain. Xuming Yang, Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China and his team detected dopamine content and dopaminergic metabolites in the midbrain of PD rats, which were treated by neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation and Zhichan decoction administration, using high-performance liquid chromatography, and determined global optimization of dihydroxyphenylacetic acid and homovanillic acid levels using genetic algorithm. Results showed that NSC transplantation and Zhichan decoction administration increased dihydroxyphenylacetic acid levels up to 10-fold, while NSC transplantation alone resulted in a 3-fold increment. Homovanillic acid levels showed no apparent change. These findings indicate that after NSC transplantation in PD rats, Zhichan decoction can promote differentiation of NSCs into dopaminergic neurons. Related results were published in Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 9, No. 9, 2014).

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Article: " Zhichan decoction induces differentiation of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease rats after neural stem cell transplantation," by Huifen Shi1, Jie Song2, Xuming Yang3 (1 Department of Neurology, Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China; 2 Department of Encephalopathy, Liu'an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Liu'an, Anhui Province, China; 3 College of Acupuncture and Massage, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China) Shi HF, Song J, Yang XM. Zhichan decoction induces differentiation of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease rats after neural stem cell transplantation. Neural Regen Res. 2014;9(9):931-936.

Contact: Meng Zhao

eic@nrren.org

86-138-049-98773

Neural Regeneration Research

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Zhichan decoction increases dopaminergic neurons from transplanted NSCs in PD

Wisconsin Scientists Find Genetic Recipe To Turn Stem Cells To Blood

University of Wisconsin-Madison

The ability to reliably and safely make in the laboratory all of the different types of cells in human blood is one key step closer to reality.

Writing today in the journal Nature Communications, a group led by University of Wisconsin-Madison stem cell researcher Igor Slukvin reports the discovery of two genetic programs responsible for taking blank-slate stem cells and turning them into both red and the array of white cells that make up human blood.

[ Watch the Video: What Are Stem Cells? ]

The research is important because it identifies how nature itself makes blood products at the earliest stages of development. The discovery gives scientists the tools to make the cells themselves, investigate how blood cells develop and produce clinically relevant blood products.

This is the first demonstration of the production of different kinds of cells from human pluripotent stem cells using transcription factors, explains Slukvin, referencing the proteins that bind to DNA and control the flow of genetic information, which ultimately determines the developmental fate of undifferentiated stem cells.

During development, blood cells emerge in the aorta, a major blood vessel in the embryo. There, blood cells, including hematopoietic stem cells, are generated by budding from a unique population of what scientists call hemogenic endothelial cells. The new report identifies two distinct groups of transcription factors that can directly convert human stem cells into the hemogenic endothelial cells, which subsequently develop into various types of blood cells.

The factors identified by Slukvins group were capable of making the range of human blood cells, including white blood cells, red blood cells and megakaryocytes, commonly used blood products.

By overexpressing just two transcription factors, we can, in the laboratory dish, reproduce the sequence of events we see in the embryo where blood is made, says Slukvin of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center.

The method developed by Slukvins group was shown to produce blood cells in abundance. For every million stem cells, the researchers were able to produce 30 million blood cells.

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Wisconsin Scientists Find Genetic Recipe To Turn Stem Cells To Blood

Conflicts of interest at stem-cell agency yet again

Here we go again. In the decade since California voters established a one-of-a-kind state stem-cell research agency with $3 billion in bond funding, the agency has been in the news over and over because of conflicts of interests.

Members of the board governing the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine often are employed by institutions seeking board grants. While these members cant vote directly to give grants to their employers, the incentive for mutually beneficial voting is obvious. Thats why ethical complaints began almost as soon as the first grants were made.

Last year, finally, the institute added some strong new safeguards. Its key members then made the rounds at California newspapers to argue that it was time for the medias focus to shift to all the promising work that agency grants had yielded. Their argument seemed reasonable.

But this week, the U-T reported that recently resigned institute President Alan Trounson is joining the board of StemCells Inc. which got $19.4 million in grants from the agency.

Trounson hasnt broken any law, and agency officials are properly critical of his decision. But this still makes the stem-cell institute look shabby and the timing could hardly be worse. The original $3 billion in funding will be used up within three years.

Whether the institute seeks additional money from voters or the Legislature, its unsavory history will be hard to overcome.

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Conflicts of interest at stem-cell agency yet again