Aggregated News
The former president of the $3 billion California stem cell agency received $443,500 in total compensation from the Bay Area stem cell company that appointed him to its board of directors only seven days after he left his state post.
The stock and cash were provided over a two-year period to Alan Trounson by Newark-based StemCells Inc., a firm that was awarded more than $40 million in funding while Trounson headed the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, as the state stem cell agency is formally known.
In 2014, when Trounson served less than six months on the StemCells Inc. board, his total compensation was more than double that of any other board member.
The surprise appointment of Trounson almost immediately after he left CIRM in 2014 generated allegations of conflict of interest. The size of Trounson’s total compensation, however, was not available at that time.
Conflict-of-interest allegations have dogged the agency since it was created in 2004 by California voters to use state bond proceeds to finance stem cell research.
In 2008, the respected scientific journal Nature warned about “cronyism”...
